1
Καὶ ⸀εὐθὺς πρωῒ συμβούλιον ποιήσαντες οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς μετὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ γραμματέων καὶ ὅλον τὸ συνέδριον δήσαντες τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀπήνεγκαν καὶ ⸀παρέδωκαν Πιλάτῳ.
And at once, early in the morning, the chief priests, having held a council with the elders and scribes and the whole Sanhedrin, bound Jesus and led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
2
καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτὸν ὁ Πιλᾶτος· Σὺ εἶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων; ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς ⸂αὐτῷ λέγει⸃· Σὺ λέγεις.
And Pilate questioned him: “Are you the king of the Jews?” And answering him he says, “You say so.”
3
καὶ κατηγόρουν αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς πολλά.
And the chief priests were accusing him of many things.
4
ὁ δὲ Πιλᾶτος πάλιν ⸀ἐπηρώτα αὐτὸν λέγων· Οὐκ ἀποκρίνῃ οὐδέν; ἴδε πόσα σου ⸀κατηγοροῦσιν.
And Pilate questioned him again, saying, “Do you answer nothing? See how many things they accuse you of.”
5
ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς οὐκέτι οὐδὲν ἀπεκρίθη, ὥστε θαυμάζειν τὸν Πιλᾶτον.
But Jesus answered nothing further, so that Pilate marvelled.
6
Κατὰ δὲ ἑορτὴν ἀπέλυεν αὐτοῖς ἕνα δέσμιον ⸂ὃν παρῃτοῦντο⸃.
Now at the feast he used to release to them one prisoner, whomever they requested.
7
ἦν δὲ ὁ λεγόμενος Βαραββᾶς μετὰ τῶν ⸀στασιαστῶν δεδεμένος οἵτινες ἐν τῇ στάσει φόνον πεποιήκεισαν.
And there was a man called Barabbas, imprisoned with the insurrectionists, men who had committed murder in the uprising.
8
καὶ ⸀ἀναβὰς ὁ ὄχλος ἤρξατο αἰτεῖσθαι ⸀καθὼς ἐποίει αὐτοῖς.
And the crowd came up and began to ask him to do as he always did for them.
9
ὁ δὲ Πιλᾶτος ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς λέγων· Θέλετε ἀπολύσω ὑμῖν τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἰουδαίων;
And Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”
10
ἐγίνωσκεν γὰρ ὅτι διὰ φθόνον παραδεδώκεισαν αὐτὸν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς.
For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over out of envy.
11
οἱ δὲ ἀρχιερεῖς ἀνέσεισαν τὸν ὄχλον ἵνα μᾶλλον τὸν Βαραββᾶν ἀπολύσῃ αὐτοῖς.
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, that he should rather release Barabbas to them.
12
ὁ δὲ Πιλᾶτος ⸂πάλιν ἀποκριθεὶς ἔλεγεν⸃ αὐτοῖς· Τί οὖν ⸀θέλετε ποιήσω ⸂ὃν λέγετε⸃ ⸀τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἰουδαίων;
And Pilate answered them again, saying, “What then do you want me to do with the one you call the king of the Jews?”
13
οἱ δὲ πάλιν ἔκραξαν· Σταύρωσον αὐτόν.
And they cried out again, “Crucify him.”
14
ὁ δὲ Πιλᾶτος ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· Τί γὰρ ⸂ἐποίησεν κακόν⸃; οἱ δὲ ⸀περισσῶς ἔκραξαν· Σταύρωσον αὐτόν.
And Pilate was saying to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify him.”
15
ὁ δὲ Πιλᾶτος βουλόμενος τῷ ὄχλῳ τὸ ἱκανὸν ποιῆσαι ἀπέλυσεν αὐτοῖς τὸν Βαραββᾶν, καὶ παρέδωκεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν φραγελλώσας ἵνα σταυρωθῇ.
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and having flogged Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.
16
Οἱ δὲ στρατιῶται ἀπήγαγον αὐτὸν ἔσω τῆς αὐλῆς, ὅ ἐστιν πραιτώριον, καὶ συγκαλοῦσιν ὅλην τὴν σπεῖραν.
And the soldiers led him away inside the courtyard, that is, the praetorium, and they call together the whole cohort.
17
καὶ ⸀ἐνδιδύσκουσιν αὐτὸν πορφύραν καὶ περιτιθέασιν αὐτῷ πλέξαντες ἀκάνθινον στέφανον·
And they clothe him in purple, and twisting together a crown of thorns they put it on him.
18
καὶ ἤρξαντο ἀσπάζεσθαι αὐτόν· Χαῖρε, ⸀βασιλεῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων·
And they began to greet him: “Hail, king of the Jews!”
19
καὶ ἔτυπτον αὐτοῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν καλάμῳ καὶ ἐνέπτυον αὐτῷ, καὶ τιθέντες τὰ γόνατα προσεκύνουν αὐτῷ.
And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him, and bending their knees they were bowing to him.
20
καὶ ὅτε ἐνέπαιξαν αὐτῷ, ἐξέδυσαν αὐτὸν τὴν πορφύραν καὶ ἐνέδυσαν αὐτὸν τὰ ἱμάτια ⸂τὰ ἴδια⸃. καὶ ἐξάγουσιν αὐτὸν ἵνα ⸀σταυρώσωσιν αὐτόν.
And when they had mocked him, they stripped the purple off him and put his own garments on him. And they lead him out to crucify him.
21
Καὶ ἀγγαρεύουσιν παράγοντά τινα Σίμωνα Κυρηναῖον ἐρχόμενον ἀπ’ ἀγροῦ, τὸν πατέρα Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Ῥούφου, ἵνα ἄρῃ τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ.
And they press into service a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
22
καὶ φέρουσιν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ ⸀τὸν ⸀Γολγοθᾶν τόπον, ὅ ἐστιν ⸀μεθερμηνευόμενον Κρανίου Τόπος.
And they bring him to the place Golgotha — which translated is Place of a Skull.
23
καὶ ἐδίδουν ⸀αὐτῷ ἐσμυρνισμένον οἶνον, ⸀ὃς δὲ οὐκ ἔλαβεν.
And they were giving him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
24
καὶ ⸂σταυροῦσιν αὐτὸν καὶ⸃ διαμερίζονται τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ, βάλλοντες κλῆρον ἐπ’ αὐτὰ τίς τί ἄρῃ.
And they crucify him, and divide his garments among them, casting lots for them, who should take what.
25
Ἦν δὲ ὥρα τρίτη καὶ ἐσταύρωσαν αὐτόν.
It was the third hour, and they crucified him.
Why this rendering
Mark.15.25 Observation
Syntactic observation
Mark builds this chapter on a clock: crucified at the third hour (25), darkness from the sixth to the ninth (33), the cry at the ninth (34), burial at evening (42) — four regular time-marks. And inside this corpus that produces a collision: John 19:14 places the moment before Pilate has even given sentence at ὥρα ἦν ὡς ἕκτη, about the sixth hour. In Mark he is already nailed up at the third; in John the trial is still running at the sixth. Since we are translating both books we cannot hide the discrepancy, and the text gives no ground for deciding between them. This is not a variant but a difference between two authors. If a translation converts the hours to a modern clock (nine in the morning) the collision becomes sharper; if it keeps the third hour, the reader does the arithmetic.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “It was the third hour, and they crucified him.”
Basis Keeps the text's own reckoning. Since John is likewise printed with the sixth hour, both books use one reckoning and the reader can see the discrepancy directly.
“It was nine in the morning when they crucified him.”
Basis Converts to a modern clock.
Rejected The conversion is helpful but does the arithmetic for the reader, and it must fix a reckoning — from sunrise or from midnight — that the text does not supply.
26
καὶ ἦν ἡ ἐπιγραφὴ τῆς αἰτίας αὐτοῦ ἐπιγεγραμμένη· Ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων.
And the inscription of the charge against him was written up: The King of the Jews.
27
καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ σταυροῦσιν δύο λῃστάς, ἕνα ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ ἕνα ἐξ εὐωνύμων ⸀αὐτοῦ.
And with him they crucify two robbers, one at his right and one at his left.
Why this rendering
Mark.15.27 Observation
Syntactic observation
λῃστής arrives for the third and last time. At 11:17 Jesus called the temple a den of λῃσταί; at 14:48 he asked whether they came out as against a λῃστής; at 15:27 he hangs between two λῃσταί. One word crosses three scenes and comes back to him. The placement echoes too — ἕνα ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ ἕνα ἐξ εὐωνύμων, one at his right and one at his left, is word for word the place James and John asked for at 10:37. **And SBLGNT has no verse 28** — 27 is followed by 29. The Textus Receptus prints here: and the scripture was fulfilled which says, he was numbered with the lawless. It is the same kind of verse as Mark 7:16, 9:44, 46 and 11:26, and 개역한글 too prints no verse 28 here. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀αὐτοῦ.).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted From 27 to 29 — no verse 28
Basis Follows the base text and lets the numbering skip.
Print verse 28
Basis Follows the Textus Receptus.
Rejected By our base-text decision we follow SBLGNT. Adding a fulfilment-citation is a common direction in the copying tradition.
29
Καὶ οἱ παραπορευόμενοι ἐβλασφήμουν αὐτὸν κινοῦντες τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν καὶ λέγοντες· Οὐὰ ὁ καταλύων τὸν ναὸν καὶ ⸂οἰκοδομῶν ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις⸃,
And those passing by were blaspheming him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha — you who destroy the temple and build it in three days,
30
σῶσον σεαυτὸν ⸀καταβὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ.
save yourself, coming down from the cross.”
31
ὁμοίως καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἐμπαίζοντες πρὸς ἀλλήλους μετὰ τῶν γραμματέων ἔλεγον· Ἄλλους ἔσωσεν, ἑαυτὸν οὐ δύναται σῶσαι·
Likewise the chief priests too, mocking among themselves with the scribes, were saying, “He saved others; himself he cannot save.
32
ὁ χριστὸς ὁ ⸀βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ καταβάτω νῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ, ἵνα ἴδωμεν καὶ ⸀πιστεύσωμεν. καὶ οἱ συνεσταυρωμένοι ⸀σὺν αὐτῷ ὠνείδιζον αὐτόν.
Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe.” And those crucified with him were reviling him.
33
⸂Καὶ γενομένης⸃ ὥρας ἕκτης σκότος ἐγένετο ἐφ’ ὅλην τὴν γῆν ἕως ὥρας ἐνάτης.
And when the sixth hour came, dark fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.
34
καὶ τῇ ⸂ἐνάτῃ ὥρᾳ⸃ ἐβόησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς φωνῇ ⸀μεγάλῃ· Ἐλωῒ ἐλωῒ ⸀λεμὰ σαβαχθάνι; ὅ ἐστιν μεθερμηνευόμενον Ὁ θεός μου ὁ θεός μου, εἰς τί ⸂ἐγκατέλιπές με⸃;
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, eloi, lema sabachthani?” — which translated is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Why this rendering
Mark.15.34 Observation
Syntactic observation
The last words Jesus speaks in Mark, in a Semitic tongue, with the author's translation attached. μεθερμηνεύω, which translated means, comes three times in Mark — 5:41 (Talitha koum), 15:22 (Golgotha), 15:34: the words that raised a dead girl, the name of the place of execution, and this cry. SBLGNT prints Ἐλωῒ ἐλωῒ λεμὰ σαβαχθάνι; 개역한글 uses a different form, 엘리 엘리 라마 사박다니. ἐγκαταλείπω, to forsake, is unique in Mark. And in the next verse the bystanders mishear it — Ἠλίαν φωνεῖ, he is calling Elijah. That the sounds are close the text does not say; it records only that the misunderstanding happened. At v.37 he gives a φωνὴν μεγάλην again and ἐξέπνευσεν, breathed out — ἐκπνέω occurs only at 15:37 and 39, and that breath is what the centurion sees. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸂ἐνάτῃ ὥρᾳ⸃ ⸀μεγάλῃ· ⸀λεμὰ ⸂ἐγκατέλιπές με⸃;).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “Eloi, eloi, lema sabachthani” — which translated is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Basis Transliterates the form the base text prints and sets the gloss as running text.
“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani.”
Basis Uses the more familiar form.
Rejected What the base text prints is Ἐλωΐ, not Ἠλί. Change the form and the distance between the cry and the mishearing of v.35 changes with it, since what was misheard hangs on the sounds.
Lost in translation
the nearness of the sounds For the mishearing of v.35 to work, the cry and Elijah must be close to the ear; transliteration keeps the letters but a Korean or English reader does not hear the nearness.
35
καί τινες τῶν παρεστηκότων ἀκούσαντες ἔλεγον· ⸀Ἴδε Ἠλίαν φωνεῖ.
And some of those standing by, hearing it, were saying, “Look, he is calling Elijah.”
36
δραμὼν δέ ⸂τις καὶ⸃ γεμίσας σπόγγον ὄξους ⸀περιθεὶς καλάμῳ ἐπότιζεν αὐτόν, λέγων· Ἄφετε ἴδωμεν εἰ ἔρχεται Ἠλίας καθελεῖν αὐτόν.
And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave him to drink, saying, “Let be — let us see whether Elijah comes to take him down.”
37
ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἀφεὶς φωνὴν μεγάλην ἐξέπνευσεν.
But Jesus, letting out a loud cry, breathed out his last.
38
καὶ τὸ καταπέτασμα τοῦ ναοῦ ἐσχίσθη εἰς δύο ἀπ’ ἄνωθεν ἕως κάτω.
And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
39
ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ κεντυρίων ὁ παρεστηκὼς ἐξ ἐναντίας αὐτοῦ ὅτι ⸀οὕτως ἐξέπνευσεν εἶπεν· Ἀληθῶς ⸂οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος⸃ υἱὸς ⸂θεοῦ ἦν⸃.
And the centurion, standing facing him, seeing that he breathed out his last like this, said, “Truly this man was God's Son.”
Why this rendering
Mark.15.39 Observation
Syntactic observation
υἱὸς θεοῦ has no article. In Greek a predicate noun can be definite without one, so both the Son of God and a son of a god stand open grammatically — and that the speaker is a Roman centurion widens the opening. κεντυρίων is itself the Latin centurio in Greek letters, occurring three times in Mark, all in this scene (39, 44, 45) — the same handling as praetorium (15:16) and Legion (5:9). Greek has ἑκατόνταρχος for the same rank, and Mark never uses it — he took the Latin. With the corpus widened to Matthew the choice stands out further: Matthew uses only the ἑκατόνταρχος family, four times (8:5, 8, 13, 27:54), and never κεντυρίων. The two lists are exactly complementary. What he saw was not a miracle but a manner of dying: ὅτι οὕτως ἐξέπνευσεν, that he breathed out like this. And this is the first place in the book where a human being calls Jesus son of God — before it, only the voice from heaven (1:11, 9:7) and the unclean spirits (3:11, 5:7) had done so. Since SBLGNT does not print Son of God in the opening line of 1:1, the first time the title is heard from a human mouth in this book is at the foot of the cross. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀οὕτως ⸂οὗτος ἄνθρωπος⸃ ⸂θεοῦ ἦν⸃.).
Rendering options · 4
Adopted “Truly this man was God's Son.”
Basis Reads the anarthrous predicate as definite, in line with the book's other places for son of God.
“Truly this man was a son of a god.”
Basis Reads the absence of the article as indefinite and keeps the speaker Roman.
Rejected Grammar does not forbid it; the ground for rejecting it is context — the book has used the phrase at 1:11, 3:11, 5:7, 9:7, and the arrangement that puts it last in a human mouth is where this sentence sits. That the article is absent is nonetheless erased in translation, so it is recorded here.
Adopted “centurion” — the Latin kept
Basis Keeps the Latin word. English centurion already is the Latin; only Korean 백부장 renders the sense.
“captain of a hundred”
Basis Renders the sense of the rank.
Rejected Having transliterated praetorium, Legion and kodrantes in this corpus, there is no ground for rendering this Latin word alone by sense — and that Mark chose the Latin over the Greek disappears from the rendering.
Lost in translation
the absent article Korean has no articles; English must choose the or a. What the Greek leaves open, a translation closes one way or the other.
40
Ἦσαν δὲ καὶ γυναῖκες ἀπὸ μακρόθεν θεωροῦσαι, ἐν ⸀αἷς καὶ ⸀Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ καὶ Μαρία ⸀ἡ Ἰακώβου τοῦ μικροῦ καὶ ⸀Ἰωσῆτος μήτηρ καὶ Σαλώμη,
And there were also women watching from a distance, among them Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome —
41
⸀αἳ ὅτε ἦν ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ ἠκολούθουν αὐτῷ καὶ διηκόνουν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἄλλαι πολλαὶ αἱ συναναβᾶσαι αὐτῷ εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα.
who used to follow him and serve him when he was in Galilee — and many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
42
Καὶ ἤδη ὀψίας γενομένης, ἐπεὶ ἦν παρασκευή, ὅ ἐστιν ⸀προσάββατον,
And when evening had already come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
43
⸀ἐλθὼν Ἰωσὴφ ⸀ὁ ἀπὸ Ἁριμαθαίας εὐσχήμων βουλευτής, ὃς καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν προσδεχόμενος τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ, τολμήσας εἰσῆλθεν πρὸς ⸀τὸν Πιλᾶτον καὶ ᾐτήσατο τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ.
Joseph of Arimathea came, a respected member of the council, who was himself also waiting for the kingdom of God; and taking courage he went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
44
ὁ δὲ Πιλᾶτος ἐθαύμασεν εἰ ἤδη τέθνηκεν, καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος τὸν κεντυρίωνα ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτὸν εἰ ⸀πάλαι ἀπέθανεν·
And Pilate marvelled that he was already dead, and summoning the centurion he asked him whether he had died some time ago.
45
καὶ γνοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ κεντυρίωνος ἐδωρήσατο τὸ ⸀πτῶμα τῷ Ἰωσήφ.
And learning it from the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph.
Why this rendering
Mark.15.45 Observation
Syntactic observation
What Pilate grants Joseph is not σῶμα, a body, but πτῶμα — a fallen thing, a corpse. At v.43 what Joseph asked for was τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, the body of Jesus; at v.45 what is handed over has become a πτῶμα. The word asked for and the word given are not the same. πτῶμα occurs twice in Mark, the other at 6:29, where John the Baptist's disciples came and took his πτῶμα and laid it in a tomb. Two executions, two corpses, one word. And the σινδών of v.46 is the word of 14:51-52, the cloth the young man abandoned. This paragraph gathers the vocabulary of the two scenes before it. ἐδωρήσατο, made a gift of, is unique in Mark, laying over the transfer a grain of giving without payment. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀πτῶμα).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted body in v.43, corpse in v.45 — the two words kept apart
Basis The change of word is the content of the sentence. The same word is used at 6:29 so the two corpses stay joined.
Render both as body
Basis Smooths the scene and keeps a respectful register.
Rejected It gains smoothness by erasing a fact: Mark wrote one word for what Joseph asked and another for what Pilate released, and the difference shows how the transaction looks from the Roman side. The link to 6:29 is cut as well.
Lost in translation
the root of πτῶμα From πίπτω, to fall, so the picture of a fallen thing sits inside it. Corpse carries the death but not the falling.
46
καὶ ἀγοράσας ⸀σινδόνα καθελὼν αὐτὸν ἐνείλησεν τῇ σινδόνι καὶ ⸀ἔθηκεν αὐτὸν ἐν ⸀μνημείῳ ὃ ἦν λελατομημένον ἐκ πέτρας, καὶ προσεκύλισεν λίθον ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν τοῦ μνημείου.
And Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking him down he wrapped him in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of rock, and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.
47
ἡ δὲ Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ καὶ Μαρία ⸂ἡ Ἰωσῆτος⸃ ἐθεώρουν ποῦ ⸀τέθειται.
And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where he was laid.