Translation commentary on Mark 15:18

Exegesis:

aspazesthai (cf. 9.15) ‘to salute,’ ‘to hail.’

chaire (as a salutation only here in Mark; in form it is the imperative of chairō ‘rejoice’ – cf. 14.11) ‘hail!’ ‘welcome!’ The Latin of the soldiers’ mock salute would be Ave, rex Judaeorum!

Translation:

Salute implies formal address or greeting, as offered to a dignitary, translated in Guerrero Amuzgo as ‘greeting him as though honoring.’

Hail can be translated by the indigenous equivalent of ‘Long live the King,’ e.g. ‘live long’ (Amganad Ifugao), ‘we wish you have a long life’ (San Blas Kuna), ‘viva,’ borrowed from Spanish (Copainalá Zoque).

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 .

SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 15:18

15:18a

they began to salute Him: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as began means that the soldiers started greeting Jesus in a mocking way. Then they continued doing this over a period of time. In this context it does not imply that the soldiers began to call out but did not finish calling out to him.

Here is another way to translate this idea:

Then they repeatedly called out to him

You may also follow versions like the New Living Translation, 1996 edition that leave this idea implicit:

Then they saluted, yelling, “Hail! King of the Jews!” (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)

to salute: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to salute means “to greet.” Here it refers to formal words of greeting spoken to a king.

15:18b

Hail, King of the Jews!: The soldiers said Hail, King of the Jews! to imitate how people would greet the Roman emperor. People greeted the emperor like this to wish him health and happiness. The soldiers spoke these words to mock Jesus.

If you have an expression that you use in your language to greet a king or some other important person, consider using it here. A common phrase used in Europe to greet a king would be something like “Long live the king!”

Here are some other ways to translate this:

King of the Jews, we greet you!
-or-
Honor to you, O King of the Jews!

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