Text:

Instead of anabas ‘coming up’ of the modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus has anaboēsas ‘crying out.’

After kathōs ‘even as’ Textus Receptus and Merk add aei ‘on every occasion,’ which is omitted by the majority of modern editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

anabas (cf. 1.10) ‘coming up’ of, ‘going up’: the verb describes the movement of the crowd up to Pilate, in the praetorium (v. 16). The exact location of Pilate’s residence, in Jerusalem, is a matter of dispute.

ērxato aiteisthai kathōs epoiei autois ‘(the crowd) began to ask (Pilate to do) as he (always) did for them’: in order to fill out the meaning of the Greek, which is concisely stated, it is necessary to add the words in parentheses. The imperfect epoiei indicates habitual action, ‘he always did,’ ‘he was in the habit of doing’ (cf. apeluen in v. 6).

Translation:

Came up may be rendered literally, implying that the crowd ascended into the palace, or may be translated as ‘approached’ or ‘came up to.’

Ask Pilate to do … must sometimes be shifted into the form of direct discourse, e.g. ‘asked Pilate, Do for us what you always do at this time of year.’ ‘At this time of year’ may be required in order to indicate that the action requested was not habitual throughout the year. However, such an addition may not be required if the rendering of ‘at the feast’ sufficiently clarifies the context.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .