Home
Mark Chapter 15

Mark Chapter 15

(Underlining marks a quotation/allusion. [Brackets] mark a textual variant.fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability.  "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love".  However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior.  It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings.  (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".)  Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé".  Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing.  It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)

Glossary

Note: this glossary is currently a work in progress; entries that do not expand will be added as time permits

Ages/of ages
“ages” and “of ages” are the Greek words “αἰών” (aión, noun form) and “αἰώνιος” (aiónios, adjective form) respectively.  The adjective form is typically translated “eternal”, as in “eternal life”. The noun form refers to a whole time period, (Keizer, “Life Time Entirety”) such as a person’s lifetime (an older Greek sense), an age/epoch (e.g., 2 Cor 4:4), or even time in its entirety, making its meaning similar to “forever” (e.g., John 14:16). The adjective form is similarly context-dependent, and the New Testament context often dictates a meaning similar to “forever” (but not always: e.g. 2 Tim 1:9).  Alternately or additionally, it can indicate the quality of a time period — indicating greatness/severity — like the English idiom “of ages” (e.g. “battle of the ages”). Thus, “of ages” was chosen for the adjective form so that both the time and quality senses remain visible.

Clean/unclean

Covenant

Faith

Flesh

Forgive/forgiveness

Grace
The Greek word is “χάρις” (charis), most often translated “grace”, “gift”, or “thanks”. It was a technical term in the 1st century, referring to the Patronage system in place. The Patron (from “pater” = “father”) would give gifts or do favors (both called a charis). A charis was always given/done freely to anyone who would be grateful for it, and this person then became a “client” of the patron. The clients were expected to reciprocate by telling everyone what the patron had done, and offering their services to the patron whenever the patron needed them. This reciprocal act was also called “charis”, and the ones who reciprocated were “being faithful” by giving thanks in this way. Both were done out of gratitude, not legal obligation. A client who wasn’t faithful and grateful probably wouldn’t receive any more charis from his patron, or any other patrons. The patron was responsible for taking care of all his clients, and making sure their needs were met. New Testament usage typically casts God the Father as a Heavenly Patron, to whom Christians should be grateful and faithful because of the gifts He has given us. (e.g. salvation, provision, protection, etc.)

Holy

Justification

Law (Torah)

Make purification

Pure/Impure

Purification offering
In the Old Testament, this is typically the Hebrew “חַטָּ֖את” (khat-tat); in the New Testament, it’s typically “περὶ ἁμαρτίας” (peri hamartias), which is what the Septuagint (an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek) used to translate the Hebrew. It’s traditionally translated “sin offering”, but that translation has less support in high-level scholarship. The Hebrew word can mean “sin”, but it can also mean “purification” (e.g. Numbers 8:7). This offering was used to purify uncleanness, whether or not a sin was committed. Thus, it was required even when no sin was committed, such as after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8), for certain diseases (Leviticus 14), etc. High-level, peer-reviewed scholarship dedicated to the field (e.g. Milgrom, Levine, Gane, Sklar, Wright, Gorman, etc.) is largely united on the “purification offering” understanding. The BOS Bible has aligned itself with that high-level, peer-reviewed scholarship in its translation.

Ransom

Redemption

Repent/repentance

Righteous/righteousness

Salvation/save

Soul
“soul” is the Greek word “ψυχή/psuché” and Hebrew word “נֶפֶשׁ/nephesh”. The BOS Bible translates these words as “soul” for consistency, and so the full meaning of “soul” isn’t obscured by different translations in different places. They closely overlap in meaning and are typically translated “soul” or “life”. They refer to the animating force of a living thing, and thus can also refer to its life, or to the whole of any person or creature, including animals (e.g. fish in Revelation 8:9 and Genesis 1). They are frequently used as an emphatic reference to a person’s whole self, including longings, deep emotions, and inner life. (e.g. Ps 42:11) Note: while “soul” has significant overlap in meaning with “spirit”, the words have distinct meanings and usages throughout scripture. For example, lions tear apart a soul in Psalm 7:2, and a “dead soul” is mentioned in Leviticus 21:11; “spirit” has no analogous usages, and it returns to God at death (Ecc 12:7; Acts 7:59). The adjective forms of soul and spirit are contrasted in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; see also: Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

Sin

Click to Collapse the Glossary
Jesus before Pilate
  1. And having immediately formed a council at dawn, the chief priests with the elders, and scribes and the whole Sanhedrin bound Jesus, carried Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate.
  2. And Pilate questioned Him: “Are you the King of the Jews?”  And answering him, He says: “You saidfn“You said” is literally “You say” or “You are saying”.  However, “you said” conveys the idomatic sense better in English it.”
  3. And the chief priests were accusing Him of many things.
  4. And Pilate was questioning Him again, saying: “You don’t answer anything?  Look at how many things they’re accusing you of.”
  5. But Jesus no longer answered anything, so then Pilate began to marvel.
  6. And at the festival, he would usually release one prisoner to them whom they were requesting.
  7. And there was one man named Barabbas who was *bound with his fellow rebels, who had committed murder in the rebellion.
  8. And having risen, the crowd began to ask him to do just as he usually was doing for them.
  9. And Pilate answered them saying: “Do you want me to release the King of the Jews for you?”
  10. For he was recognizing that the chief priests had handed Him over because of malicious envy.fn“malicious envy” is one word in Greek. It refers to envy/jealousness that doesn’t seek to take what another has, but rather to tear down the object of the envy
  11. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd so he might release Barabbas to them instead.
  12. And answering again, Pilate was saying to them: “Then what should I do to the One whom you call the King of the Jews?”
  13. And again they cried out: “Crucify Him!”
  14. But Pilate was saying to them: “For what evil that He did?”  But they cried out “Crucify Him!” abundantly more.
  15. And Pilate – resolving to do what was acceptable to the crowd – released Barabbas to them.  And having flogged Jesus, he handed Him over so He would be crucified.
Jesus is mocked and crucified
  1. And, the soldiers led Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and assemble the whole cohort.fn“cohort”.  The cohort was a basic unit of the Roman military, which consisted of 480 soldiers plus 120 servants.  A standard cohort was comprised of 6 “centuries”, which consisted of 80 men plus 20 servants.  However, the first cohort in every Roman Legion was composed of five double strength centuries, or 800 soldiers plus 200 servants.
  2. And they clothe Him in purple, and having braided a crown of thorns, they put it on Him.
  3. And they began to greet Him: “Hail King of the Jews!”
  4. And they were hitting His head with a reed and were spitting on Him; and bending the knees, they were bowing down to Him.
  5. And when they had mocked Him, they stripped the purple robe off of Him and clothed Him in His [own] clothes.  And they lead Him out so they might crucify Him.
  6. And they compel a man coming from the country and passing by – Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus –  so that he would carry His cross.
  7. And they bring Him to Golgotha, the place which is translated: “Place of a Skull.”
  8. And they were offering Him wine *mixed with myrrh, but He didn’t take it.
  9. And after crucifying Him, they also distribute His clothes, casting a lot for themfnquotation/allusion to Psalm 22:18 to see who should take what.
  10. And it was the third hourfnThe third hour is approximately 9 in the morning. and they crucified Him.
  11. And there was a *written inscription of the charge against Him: “The King of the Jews”
  12. And they crucify two robbers with Him, one on His right hand and one on His left.
  13. [And the scripture was fulfilled, the one saying: “And He was counted with the lawless.”]fnquotation to Isaiah 53:12
  14. And the men passing by were slandering Him, shaking their heads, and saying: “Aha!  You’re the man destroying the temple and rebuilding it in three days.
  15. Having descended from the cross, save yourself.”
  16. In a similar way also, the chief priests with the scribes are mocking Him to one another and were saying: “He saved others, He isn’t able to save Himself.
  17. “The Anointed, the King of Israel!  Let Him come down from the cross now so we might see and believe.”  And the men who were *crucified with Him were insulting Him.
The death of Jesus
  1. And it having become the sixth hour,fnThe sixth hour is about noon darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.fnThe ninth hour is approximately 3 in the afternoon
  2. And at the ninth hour, Jesus called out in a loud voice: “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”, which is translated: “My God, My God, why did you abandon Me?”fnquotation/allusion to Psalm 22:1
  3. And having heard this, some of the men *standing nearby were saying: “Behold, He calls for Elijah.”
  4. And having run up, and filled a sponge with vinegar, and wrapped it around a reed, one of them was giving Him a drink, saying: “Leave Him alone, we’ll see if Elijah comes to take Him down.”
  5. But having uttered a loud cry, Jesus breathed His last.
  6. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
  7. And having seen that He breathed His last this way, the centurion *standing opposite Him said: “Truly this man was God’s Son.”
  8. And, there were also women watching from afar, among whom were also Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Little and Joseph, and Salome.
  9. (Women who were following Him and were serving Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women came up with Him to Jerusalem.)
The burial of Jesus
  1. And it already having become evening, since it was the Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath),
  2. having come, Joseph of Arimathea – a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who himself was also awaiting the kingdom of God – boldly went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
  3. But Pilate wondered if He already *died.  And having summoned the centurion, he asked him if He already died.
  4. And having learned the answer from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.
  5. And having bought a fine linen cloth and taken Him down, he wrapped Him in the fine linen cloth and put Him in a tomb which was *cut out of a rock.  And he rolled a stone onto the door of the tomb.
  6. And, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph were watching where He was *laid.

 

Next: Mark chapter 16

Previous: Mark chapter 14

Up: The Book of Mark

Up: BOS Bible Index

 

Note: If you think a word, phrase, or passage could be better translated - or is wrong - then Please Say Something. This is an open source Bible that's accountable to all Christians. See this link for details.

Legal Use: Please feel free to quote the BOS Bible, but follow the guidelines on the Legal Use page when doing so. They are easy and mostly common sense.