Markus 15:6-10

Jesus and Barabbas

15:6 During the feast it was customary to release one prisoner to the people, ¹  whomever they requested. 15:7 A man named Barabbas was imprisoned with rebels who had committed murder during an insurrection. 15:8 Then the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to release a prisoner for them, as was his custom. ²  15:9 So Pilate asked them, ³  “Do you want me to release the king of the Jews for you?” 15:10 (For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.) ⁴ 

[15:6]  ¹ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  sn The custom of Pilate to release one prisoner to them is unknown outside the gospels in Jewish writings, but it was a Roman custom at the time and thus probably used in Palestine as well (cf. Matt 27:15; John 18:39); see W. W. Wessel, “Mark,” EBC 8:773-74.

[15:8]  ² tn Grk “Coming up the crowd began to ask [him to do] as he was doing for them.”

[15:9]  ³ tn Grk “Pilate answered them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[15:10]  ⁴ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.