Translation commentary on Mark 15:20

Exegesis:

enepaixan (cf. 10.34) ‘they ridiculed,’ ‘they made fun of,’ ‘they mocked’: the aorist here indicates the action as completed, ‘when they had finished mocking him.’

exedusan (only here in Mark) ‘they stripped off,’ ‘they undressed.’

tēn porphuran (cf. v. 17) ‘the purple cloak.’

enedusan (cf. 1.6) ‘they put on,’ ‘they dressed.’

ta himatia autou (cf. 2.21) ‘his own clothes.’

exagousin (only here in Mark; cf. agō 13.11) ‘they lead out’: primarily, ‘out of the praetorium,’ though the further sense ‘out of the city’ may also be implied.

hina staurōsōsin auton ‘that they should crucify him,’ ‘in order to crucify him.’ For stauroō ‘crucify’ cf. v. 13.

Translation:

For purple cloak see verse 17.

Stripped him is translated as ‘took away’ or ‘grabbed off of him.’

For led him see 15.1 and for crucify see 15.13.

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 15:20

15:20a

After they had mocked Him: The phrase After they had mocked him in this context means “and when they had finished mocking him.” Some English versions make this clear. For example:

And when they had finished making fun of him (New Jerusalem Bible)

mocked: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as mocked means “ridiculed” or “made fun of” Jesus. Here the soldiers mocked Jesus to humiliate and shame him.

This word also occurs in 10:34a.

15:20b–c

they removed the purple robe and put His own clothes back on Him: The phrase put His own clothes back on him implies that the soldiers had previously taken off Jesus’ clothes. Matthew 27:28 indicates that they did this before they put the royal robe on him.

In some languages, it may be natural to say that the soldiers took Jesus’ clothes off before saying that they put them back on him. See the note on 15:17a.

15:20d

they led Him out: As in 15:1c and 15:16a, your verb for led should describe leading a prisoner or captive.

In some languages, it may be necessary to say from where the soldiers led Jesus out. If so, you could say that they led him out of the palace. For example, the New Century Version says:

they led him out of the palace to be crucified. (New Century Version)

they: The pronoun they here refers to the Roman soldiers responsible for crucifying Jesus. Generally four soldiers plus one officer (a centurion) were responsible for crucifying someone. The pronoun does not refer to the whole company of soldiers that took part in mocking Jesus in 15:16–20.

to crucify Him: The word crucify means to execute (kill) someone by nailing or tying him to a cross, then setting the cross upright. This was a Roman way to cause criminals to die a slow and painful death.

Here are some other ways to translate crucify him:

to kill/execute him on a cross
-or-
to nail/fasten him to a cross to kill him

See the note on “crucify” at 15:13.

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