MARK 15:17 Interlinear View

1. Greek word
2. Greek lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. Καί
2. kai
3. And
4. and
5. 25320
6. C·······
7. and
8. and
9. S
10. Y33
11. 36169
1. ἐνδιδύσκουσιν
2. endiduskō
3. they are dressing in
4. dressing
5. 17370
6. VIPA3··P
7. ˱they˲ ˓are˒ dressing_in
8. ˱they˲ ˓are˒ dressing_in
9. -
10. Y33; R36151
11. 36170
1. ἐνδύουσιν
2. enduō
3. -
4. -
5. 17460
6. VIPA3··P
7. ˱they˲ ˓are˒ dressing_in
8. ˱they˲ ˓are˒ dressing_in
9. -
10. -
11. 36171
1. αὐτόν
2. autos
3. him
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3AMS
7. him
8. him
9. -
10. Y33
11. 36172
1. πορφύραν
2. porfura
3. purple
4. -
5. 42090
6. N····AFS
7. purple
8. purple
9. -
10. Y33
11. 36173
1. καί
2. kai
3. and
4. -
5. 25320
6. C·······
7. and
8. and
9. -
10. Y33
11. 36174
1. ἐπιτιθέασιν
2. epitithēmi
3. -
4. -
5. 20070
6. VIPA3··P
7. ˓are˒ putting_on
8. ˓are˒ putting_on
9. -
10. -
11. 36175
1. περιτιθέασιν
2. peritithēmi
3. they are putting around
4. -
5. 40600
6. VIPA3··P
7. ˱they˲ ˓are˒ putting_around
8. ˱they˲ ˓are˒ putting_around
9. -
10. Y33; R36151
11. 36176
1. αὐτῷ
2. autos
3. to him
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3DMS
7. ˱to˲ him
8. ˱to˲ him
9. -
10. Y33; R36144; Person=Jesus
11. 36177
1. πλέξαντες
2. plekō
3. having twisted together
4. twisted together
5. 41200
6. VPAA·NMP
7. ˓having˒ twisted_together
8. ˓having˒ twisted_together
9. -
10. Y33; R36151
11. 36178
1. ἀκάνθινον
2. akanthinos
3. +a thorny
4. thorns
5. 1740
6. A····AMS
7. ˓a˒ thorny
8. ˓a˒ thorny
9. -
10. Y33
11. 36179
1. στέφανον
2. stefanos
3. crown
4. crown
5. 47350
6. N····AMS
7. crown
8. crown
9. -
10. Y33
11. 36180

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 15:16–20: The Roman soldiers mocked Jesus

The events of this section occurred immediately after the soldiers whipped Jesus in 15:15. One crime that the Jewish leaders accused Jesus of was that he claimed to be the king of the Jews (see Luke 23:2 and John 19:12). The soldiers did not believe Jesus was a king, so they mocked him by pretending that he was a king. They gave him a robe like a king’s robe and a crown of thorns in place of a king’s crown. They greeted him like a king, and they bowed before him in false honor. At the same time they treated him cruelly and shamefully by striking him on the head and spitting on him.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus was mocked by Roman soldiers

The soldiers mistreated/mocked Jesus

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 27:27–31 and John 19:2–3.

Paragraph 15:16–20

The place where Pilate met with Jesus and the Jewish leaders (15:1–15) was probably in the public square in front of the palace. The events in this paragraph happened inside the palace. The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, lived in the palace when he was in Jerusalem. He also used this palace as his headquarters when he was there.

15:17–19

In these verses, the soldiers were cruel to Jesus and mocked his kingship. However, mockery is not explicitly mentioned until 15:20. The mockery included:

dressing Jesus in a purple robe (15:17a)
placing a crown of thorns on his head (15:17b)
crying out “Hail, King of the Jews” (15:18)
bowing before him (15:19b).

If people might not understand these actions as mockery, consider making the idea of mockery explicit in each action. For example:

they mocked him by dressing him in a purple/royal robe

they dressed him in a purple robe to pretend he was a king

15:17a

They dressed Him in a purple robe,

They dressed Jesus in a red/purple robe.
The soldiers placed a robe on Jesus pretending it was a royal/king’s robe to mock him.

Mark 15:20c says that the soldiers put Jesus’ clothes on him. But Mark never says when they took off his clothes. Matthew 27:28 mentions that the soldiers first took Jesus’ clothes off before they put the purple robe on him. Consider if it may be necessary or more natural in your language to mention this here.

They dressed Him in a purple robe: A purple robe was a type of outer garment or coat that kings wore. The robe was dyed a purple color. These clothes generally cost a lot of money because the material and the purple dye were expensive. The soldiers put a purple robe on Jesus in mockery of his kingship.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Translate it literally. For example:
purple robe/coat
Use a cultural substitute. If there is an expensive piece of clothing from your culture that people of high status wear, you could use it here. You should say that the color of the clothing was purple. If you translate in this way, you may want to include a footnote to explain the significance of the color. For example:
Purple clothing was very expensive and was commonly worn by kings. The soldiers dressed Jesus in purple in mockery of the idea that he was a king.
If the color purple is difficult to translate, you could translate this simply as a “royal robe” and not translate the color. Most likely, the robe was not an actual royal robe, but a robe put on Jesus which imitated a royal robe. For example:
they put a robe on him in place/imitation of a royal robe
they put a robe on him as if it were a royal robe
they put a robe on him pretending it was a royal robe

purple: The Greek word that the BSB translates as purple describes a color that could either be dark red or dark blue. (Purple is a color between red and blue).

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Use a term that describes the color that is closest to dark red or dark blue. For example:
a kind of blue/black/red
like blue/black/red If you have to choose between red and blue, choose red. See Matthew 27:28, which describes the robe as being red or scarlet.
Use a term that describes the color of something known in your culture that is dark red or dark blue. For example, a flower, berry, or bird.

15:17b

twisted together a crown of thorns,

Then they twisted/wove thorn branches together into the shape of a crown,
They also made a circle of thorny branches as if it were what a king would wear on his head

twisted together a crown of thorns: The soldiers made a mock crown for Jesus out of small branches or twigs. These branches had sharp thorns. The Greek word that the BSB translates as twisted together indicates that the soldiers wove or braided the branches together.

crown: A crown is a type of hat that kings wear. It is a symbol of the king’s authority. Roman crowns were often made of leafy branches woven together into a circle. Some crowns were made of gold and were shaped like leafy branches.

If you do not have a specific word in your language for crown, you could say:

they…wove together some branches with thorns in a circle like a king’s hat/headpiece

they…made something like what a king wears on his head out of thorny branches that were twisted together

15:17c

and set it on His head.

and they placed it/them on his head.
and put it on Jesus’ head.

and set it on His head: The phrase set it on His head indicates that the soldiers placed the crown of thorns on Jesus’ head.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἐνδιδύσκουσιν αὐτὸν πορφύραν, καὶ περιτιθέασιν αὐτῷ πλέξαντες ἀκάνθινον στέφανον

˱they˲_˓are˒_dressing_in (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐνδιδύσκουσιν αὐτόν πορφύραν καί περιτιθέασιν αὐτῷ πλέξαντες ἀκάνθινον στέφανον)

In Roman culture, a purple robe was like the expensive clothing worn by kings, and in that culture a king usually wore a crown. The soldiers put a purple robe and a crown of thorns on Jesus to pretend that he was a king, even though they did not think that he really was a king. They did this to mock him. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: [put on him a purple robe in mockery and place on him, having woven it together, a crown of thorns as if he were a king] or [put on him a purple robe and place on him, having woven it together, a crown of thorns. They did these things in order to mock him by pretending that they believed he really was a king]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

καὶ ἐνδιδύσκουσιν αὐτὸν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐνδιδύσκουσιν αὐτόν πορφύραν καί περιτιθέασιν αὐτῷ πλέξαντες ἀκάνθινον στέφανον)

As [15:20](../15/20.md) indicates, the soldiers took Jesus’ own clothes off before putting the purple robe on him. If it would be helpful in your language, you could indicate that more explicitly here. Alternate translation: [and, having taken off his garments, put on him]

Note 3 topic: translate-unknown

πορφύραν

purple

The word purple refers to a color that is a combination of blue and red. If your readers would be unfamiliar with the color purple, you could refer to a similar color. Alternate translation: [a lavender robe] or [a reddish-blue robe]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

ἀκάνθινον στέφανον

˓a˒_thorny crown

Mark is using the possessive form to describe a crown that is made from branches with thorns on them. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a different expression. Alternate translation: [a crown made from thorns]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἀκάνθινον

˓a˒_thorny

Mark uses the word thorns to refer to small branches with thorns on them. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [of thorny branches]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear MARK 15:17