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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar_15:6-15
6Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. 7The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. 8The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. 9Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" 10For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. 11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. 12Answering again, Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?" 13They shouted back, "Crucify Him!" 14But Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify Him!" 15Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.
Mar_15:6 "the feast" This refers to the Passover. Scholars have often debated the length of Jesus' public ministry. The only reason church tradition affirms a three-year public ministry is because of the three Passovers mentioned in John's Gospel. However, in John there is a mention of "the feast," as here, which implies another Passover. I think Jesus may have had a four-year or possibly five or six-year public ministry. It is obvious the Gospel writers were not concerned with chronology per se, but theology. The Gospels are not western histories, but eastern theological accounts. They are neither biographies or autobiographies. They are a genre to themselves. Gospel writers, under inspiration, had the freedom to select, adapt, and rearrange the words and actions of Jesus to present Him to their target audiences. I do not believe they had the freedom to put words in His mouth; however, eyewitness material written down at a much later time, along with the theological purposes and differing target audiences, answers the questions about why the four Gospels differ.
▣ "he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested" This seems to have become an annual Roman tradition in Palestine of Jesus' day. There is no historical corroboration for this except Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 20:9:3. Pilate was trying to get the crowd to feel sympathy for Jesus so that he could let Him go free (cf. Mar_15:14; Luk_23:14-16; Joh_18:38-39; Joh_19:4).
Mar_15:7 "Barabbas" This name is a combination of Bar = "son of" and Abbas = "father." The non-canonical Gospel of Hebrews has Bar Rabbas, "son of Rabbi." Several Greek MSS of Mat_27:16-17 have "Jesus Barabbas," which is an attempt at irony based on both being called "Jesus," who was truly "the Son of the Father."
▣ "with the insurrectionists" The man the crowd wanted released was the very type of person they were accusing Jesus of being. What irony!
Mar_15:8 "The crowd" Some think Barabbas' friends were waiting for this annual opportunity. Others feel the crowd was made up not of pilgrims, but of the false witnesses and others involved in the night trials. These had nothing in common except that they both wanted Barabbas released, but for very different reasons.
The city was full of pilgrims, many from Galilee, but they would not have been up this early, nor at Pilate's court.
NASB, NJB "went up"
NKJV "crying aloud"
NRSV "came"
TEV "gathered"
The Greek words "go up" (anabainô) and "cry aloud" (anaboaô) are spelled and pronounced similarly, which means they were easily confused by the ancient method or making copies of the NT by one scribe reading the text aloud and several others making copies. The Greek manuscript tradition is split:
1. "went up" aorist active participle in MSS à *, B, and the Vulgate.
2. "cried aloud" aorist active participle in MSS à cf8 i2, A, C, W, and the Peshitta.
"Cried aloud" is not found in Mark in any other place, but "went up" is found nine times for:
1. things growing (Mar_4:7)
2. boarding a ship (Mar_6:51)
3. going up (Mar_15:8)
Probably NASB and NJB are correct.
Mar_15:9 Mark, like Luke (i.e., in both his Gospel and Acts), writes to show that Christianity was no threat to the Roman authorities.
Mar_15:10 "because of envy" Pilate understood the motives of the Sanhedrin (cf. Mat_27:18), but refused to act in justice!
Jealousy is surely a possible motive of the Jewish leadership, but I am surprised that their theological and political motives were not also obvious to Pilate (i.e., Luk_23:2). It is also possible that Pilate had heard of Jesus through spies or informants (or even his wife, cf. Mat_27:19).
Mar_15:12 "'Him whom you call the King of the Jews'" Joh_19:15 records that this mob of Jews (i.e., insurrectionists and Jewish leaders) said "We have no King but Caesar." What irony!
Mar_15:13
NASB, NRSV,
TEV, NJB "they shouted back"
NKJV "they cried out again"
The Greek term palin is interpreted as "back" by modern translations. Both "again" and "back" are standard translation options in Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich and Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 606. The context here demands "back."
Mar_15:14 "'what evil has He done'" John's Gospel parallels this statement of Pilate three times in Joh_18:38; Joh_19:4; Joh_19:6. Pilate tried to gain sympathy for Jesus and release Him (cf. Joh_18:38; Joh_19:6; Joh_19:12), but this biased crowd would not have it!
Mar_15:15
NASB, NRSV "wishing to satisfy the crowd"
NKJV "wanting to gratify the crowd"
TEV "wanted to please the crowd"
NJB "anxious to placate the crowd"
For Pilate civil order was more important than justice. These Jewish leaders had succeeded in intimidating Pilate (cf. Joh_19:12). Pilate had been accused of many things to the authorities in Syria and Rome. He could not afford more charges. They knew this and used it!
Several modern linguists note that the Greek words hikanon poiçsai are a Latin idiom (i.e., Bauer, Arndt and Gingrich, p. 374; Moulton and Milligan, p. 302; C. F. D. Moule, An Idiom Book of the New Testament Greek, p. 192). This is significant because Mark has so many Latin words, phrases, and idioms, probably because it was written to witness to Romans.
▣ "scourged" This is a fulfillment of Isa_53:5. Flogging was the standard Roman preliminary procedure for those being crucified. It was a horrible beating. A man was bent over and his hands tied to a low stake. Then two soldiers, one on each side, beat him with whips made out of nine leather straps with some hard objects attached to each of the strap's ends. Often prisoners died just from this beating.