The Fallible Study Bible

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Mark15:12–15

Pilate Delivers Up Jesus

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Mark 15:12–15 — Pilate Delivers Up Jesus. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

12

So Pilate asked them again, “What then do you want me to do with the One you call the King of the Jews?”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Ho Pilatos apokritheis elegen autois palin Ti oun thelete poiēsō hon legete ton Basilea tōn Ioudaiōn

Word by word17 · parsed
δὲde[So]G1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
δέ: but, and Mark's ordinary narrative connective, here marking the turn back to Pilate.
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ΠιλᾶτοςPilatosPilateG4091
√ Πιλᾶτος — close-pressed, iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἀποκριθεὶςapokritheisaskedG611
√ ἀποκρίνομαι — to conclude for oneself, iVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
ἀποκρίνομαι: to conclude for oneself, to answer Aorist Participle Passive. A very common lexeme (231 verses in the Verifier's count), and the participle is idiomatic rather than weighty on its own. Its force here is positional: Pilate answers, which means the crowd has set the agenda.
ἔλεγενelegen. . .G2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautoisthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
πάλινpalinagainG3825
√ πάλιν — (adverbially) anew, iAdverb
ΤίTiWhatG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
οὖνounthenG3767
√ οὖν — (adverbially) certainly, or (conjunctionally) accordinglyConjunction
θέλετεtheletedo you wantG2309
√ θέλω — to determine (as an active option from subjective impulseVerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
θέλω: to determine, to will Present Indicative Active, 2nd plural. Strong's glosses θέλω as an active option from subjective impulse. The judge asks the mob what it wills, and in 15:15 the same territory is held by βουλόμενος: Pilate's own willing has become a function of theirs.
ποιήσωpoiēsōme to doG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active1st Person Singular
ποιέω: to make or do Aorist Subjunctive Active, 1st singular, deliberative. The verb of decision. It recurs at 15:14 word 8 (“what evil has He done”) and at 15:15 word 2 (“to do the satisfying”), so Mark's whole unit turns on one root: what will Pilate do, what has Jesus done, what does the crowd get done. Pilate finally does not do justice but does enough.
ὃνhonwith the [One]G3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Masculine Singular
λέγετεlegeteyou callG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
λέγω: to lay forth, to say Present Indicative Active, 2nd plural. Pilate will not own the title; he lodges it with them. Cambridge notes that the same crowd's city had recently cried “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David” (Mark 11:10), so the title being disowned here was theirs first.
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ΒασιλέαBasileaKingG935
√ βασιλεύς — a sovereign (abstractly, relatively, or figuratively)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
βασιλεύς: a sovereign Accusative Masculine Singular. The word that governs the whole Roman trial in Mark (15:2, 15:9, 15:12, 15:18, 15:26, 15:32). In Pilate's mouth it is an accusation and a taunt; on the placard it becomes, against his intent, an accurate inscription. The Verifier lists G935 shared with John 19:15 and Mark 15:9.
τῶνtōnof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
ἸουδαίωνIoudaiōnJewsG2453
√ Ἰουδαῖος — Judæan, iAdjectiveGenitive Masculine Plural
Ἰουδαῖος: Judaean, Jewish Genitive plural. The forensic charge as Rome understood it: a rival king is sedition. Mark records no defense of the title from Jesus at this point, and the silence is itself part of the scene.
13

And they shouted back, “Crucify Him!”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Hoi ekraxan palin Staurōson auton

Word by word6 · parsed
δὲdeAndG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΟἱHoiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ἔκραξανekraxanthey shoutedG2896
√ κράζω — properly, to "croak" (as a raven) or scream, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
κράζω: to croak, to scream Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd plural. The verb of inarticulate clamor. Mark uses it twice in three verses (15:13, 15:14), the second time intensified by περισσῶς, so the only development in the crowd between Pilate's two questions is volume.
πάλινpalinbackG3825
√ πάλιν — (adverbially) anew, iAdverb
πάλιν: anew, again The repetition marker; Gill points to Luke 23:21 for the earlier cry Mark does not record.
ΣταύρωσονStaurōsonCrucifyG4717
√ σταυρόω — to impale on the crossVerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
σταυρόω: to impale on the cross Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd singular. The lexeme that will close the unit in the passive (15:15 word 19, σταυρωθῇ). Between the two stands the whole legal transaction: what the crowd commands in the active, Pilate hands over to be suffered in the passive. The Verifier finds G4717 shared with Matthew 27:22-23, 27:26, John 19:6 and 19:10.
αὐτόνautonHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
αὐτός: self, him The accusative object, and the only naming the crowd gives him. Mark's crowd never says “Jesus.”
14

“Why?” asked Pilate. “What evil has He done?” But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar de elegen Ho Pilatos autois Ti kakon epoiēsen de Hoi ekraxan perissōs Staurōson auton

Word by word15 · parsed
γὰρgarWhyG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
γάρ: for, assigning a reason A reasoning particle, not an interrogative; it belongs with Τί.
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ἔλεγενelegenaskedG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ΠιλᾶτοςPilatosPilateG4091
√ Πιλᾶτος — close-pressed, iNounNominative Masculine Singular
αὐτοῖςautoisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ΤίTiWhatG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
τίς: who, which, what The second of Pilate's two questions in this unit, and the last piece of judicial procedure in it: with γάρ it demands the legal ground of a sentence. After this he asks nothing; he calculates. Cambridge's summary of the crowd's side is that there were no questions with them, which is the exact contrast Mark's grammar draws, an interrogative from the bench against an imperative from the pavement.
κακόνkakonevilG2556
√ κακός — worthless (intrinsically, suchAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Singular
κακός: worthless, intrinsically bad Accusative Neuter Singular. The forensic term for a proved wrong. Mark's irony is dense here: the only man in the narrative of whom no κακόν can be named is the one condemned, while the man released (15:15) is named in Mark 15:7 as a killer.
ἐποίησενepoiēsenhas He doneG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ποιέω: to make or do Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd singular. The deed that cannot be produced.
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΟἱHoiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ἔκραξανekraxanthey shoutedG2896
√ κράζω — properly, to "croak" (as a raven) or scream, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
κράζω: to croak, to scream Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd plural, the second occurrence in two verses.
περισσῶςperissōsall the louderG4057
√ περισσῶς — superabundantlyAdverb
περισσῶς: superabundantly Adverb of excess. Pulpit distinguishes it from the comparative περισσοτέρως: not “more exceedingly” but simply “exceedingly,” beyond measure. It is the only thing in the scene that grows, and Cambridge's reading is blunt: “They were resolved to have His life.”
ΣταύρωσονStaurōsonCrucifyG4717
√ σταυρόω — to impale on the crossVerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
σταυρόω: to impale on the cross Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd singular, repeated verbatim from 15:13. The crowd adds no argument, only repetition and volume.
αὐτόνautonHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
15

And wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de boulomenos poiēsai to hikanon tō ochlō Ho Pilatos apelysen ton Barabban autois kai ton Iēsoun phragellōsas paredōken hina staurōthē

Word by word20 · parsed
δὲdeAndG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
βουλόμενοςboulomenoswishingG1014
√ βούλομαι — to "will," iVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
βούλομαι: to will, to purpose Present Participle. The causal participle that governs the verse: everything Pilate does proceeds from a decided will, which makes the plea of helplessness unavailable to him. Gill is severe about it: Pilate acted “contrary to law and justice, to the violation of his own conscience.”
ποιῆσαιpoiēsaitoG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Infinitive Active
ποιέω: to make or do Aorist Infinitive Active, completing the Latinism with ἱκανόν.
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
ἱκανὸνhikanonsatisfyG2425
√ ἱκανός — competent (as if coming in season), iAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Singular
ἱκανός: competent, sufficient, enough Accusative Neuter Singular. Strong's sense is “competent, as if coming in season.” The phrase τὸ ἱκανὸν ποιῆσαι is Mark's satis facere, and the theological sting is that it is the language of satisfaction. Pilate renders what is enough to the crowd; the unit's own subject, Cambridge and Henry both note, is the one rendering what is enough to God.
τῷtōtheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
ὄχλῳochlōcrowdG3793
√ ὄχλος — a throng (as borne along)NounDative Masculine Singular
ὄχλος: a throng, as borne along Dative Masculine Singular. Strong's etymology is a crowd carried along, which is exactly Mark's picture: stirred by the chief priests in 15:11, it now carries the governor with it. The Verifier links the shared ὄχλος with Mark 15:11 and Matthew 27:20.
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ΠιλᾶτοςPilatosPilateG4091
√ Πιλᾶτος — close-pressed, iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἀπέλυσενapelysenreleasedG630
√ ἀπολύω — to free fully, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἀπολύω: to free fully, to release Aorist Indicative Active. Strong's root sense is not a pardon but a full loosing, to free completely, and Mark uses it three times in this chapter (15:6, 15:9, 15:11) as the governor's one available mercy. The Verifier finds the same lexeme in Mark 15:11 and Luke 23:18. It is spent here, entirely and legally, on a murderer, and it is the only full release the chapter records.
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ΒαραββᾶνBarabbanBarabbasG912
√ Βαραββᾶς — son of AbbaNounAccusative Masculine Singular
Βαραββᾶς: son of Abba (son of the father) A rare name: the Verifier finds it in only 10 verses in the canon. Mark 15:7 has already identified him as bound with rebels who had committed murder in the insurrection. The exchange is stated by Mark without comment: the son of the father goes free, the Son goes to the cross.
αὐτοῖςautoisto themG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
καὶkaiButG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ἸησοῦνIēsoun{he had} JesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
φραγελλώσαςphragellōsasfloggedG5417
√ φραγελλόω — to whip, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
φραγελλόω: to whip, to scourge Aorist Participle Active, from Latin flagellum, found in only 2 verses. Cambridge notes that this punishment was normally administered by lictors, which Pilate as sub-governor did not have, so soldiers did it, and that sufferers “not unfrequently died under the infliction.” Cambridge also records the disagreement: John presents the scourging as an attempt to release Jesus, Mark and Matthew as the opening act of the crucifixion.
παρέδωκενparedōken[and] handed Him overG3860
√ παραδίδωμι — to surrender, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
παραδίδωμι: to surrender, to deliver up Aorist Indicative Active. The verb that has run through Mark's Passion from Judas onward, now spoken of the Roman judge. In Mark's telling every party hands him on, and no one keeps him.
ἵναhinatoG2443
√ ἵνα — compare G3588 (ὁ))Conjunction
σταυρωθῇstaurōthēbe crucifiedG4717
√ σταυρόω — to impale on the crossVerbAorist Subjunctive Passive3rd Person Singular
σταυρόω: to impale on the cross Aorist Subjunctive Passive, 3rd singular, inside a ἵνα clause. The unit began with Pilate asking what he should do and ends with a passive verb and no agent named. Grammatically, the sentence runs out of anyone willing to own the act.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The question a judge should never ask — 15:12

Mark's Greek makes Pilate the respondent: ἀποκριθεὶς (G611) puts him second in the exchange, and ἔλεγεν is imperfect, a man repeating himself. The decisive form is ποιήσω (G4160), an aorist subjunctive first person singular: a deliberative “what am I to do?” addressed to a crowd. ⚙ The grammar itself is the abdication, before any act of it. Cambridge reads the tone as “put in disdain and anger; disdain at their fickleness,” and hears in “whom ye call the King of the Jews” an appeal to the crowd that had lately cried “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David” (Mark 11:10). Ellicott reads the same phrase as a Roman's stubbornness: the same determination to fasten upon the Jews the reproach that it was their king he had condemned, of a piece with the title he later refused to change (John 19:21-22). Pulpit adds the third layer, that Pilate was putting the matter in their power so that the clemency might be theirs, and that the chief priests pressed on “little dreaming that they were doing what” Pulpit then quotes from Acts 4:28. Three commentators, three motives, one verb: Pilate asks.

ii. A command in the singular — 15:13, 15:14

The crowd answers with ἔκραξαν (G2896), a verb Strong's traces to croaking or screaming, and with Σταύρωσον (G4717) in the aorist imperative second person singular. ⚙ That singular is easy to lose in English and hard to unhear once seen: the mob is not chanting, it is commanding one man. Pilate's reply is still forensic, Τί γὰρ κακὸν ἐποίησεν;, and Gill's summary is exact: “They had charged him with many things, but proved nothing against him.” Cambridge answers on the crowd's behalf, that there were no questions with them, they were resolved to have His life. What changes between verse 13 and verse 14 is only περισσῶς (G4057), excess; and Pulpit is careful that Mark wrote περισσῶς, not the comparative περισσοτέρως. Henry, writing across the whole hearing, draws the conclusion the text will not state: that the shameful treatment of the only perfectly wise and holy Person leads the serious mind to strong views of man's wickedness and enmity to God.

iii. Satis facere: enough for the crowd — 15:15

Mark's last sentence is built on a Latinism. τὸ ἱκανὸν ποιῆσαι (G2425 with G4160) is “to do the sufficient thing,” and Ellicott identifies it as the Greek equivalent of the Latin satisfacere, taking it as evidence of Mark's connection with Rome; Cambridge agrees and cites Wyclif's rendering “willinge for to do ynow to þe peple.” The second Latinism follows at once: φραγελλώσας (G5417) is built on flagellum, and Ellicott counts it another link in the same chain. Cambridge supplies what the word covers, that lead and sharp bone were plaited into the scourges and that sufferers not unfrequently died under it, and notes the honest divergence between the Evangelists: John presents the scourging as one of Pilate's attempts to release Jesus, Mark and Matthew as the first act of the Crucifixion. Pulpit argues from the same comparison that our Lord was not scourged twice. Gill's verdict on the governor is the harshest and the plainest: he acted contrary to law and justice, against his own conscience, to gratify the humour of the people. ⚙ Note where Mark's grammar leaves the reader: παρέδωκεν is active with Pilate as subject, but the final clause is ἵνα σταυρωθῇ, aorist subjunctive passive with no agent named at all. The sentence runs out of anyone prepared to own the deed.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested by Scripture and not to be received as Scripture. Mark has arranged the unit around a single root, ποιέω: Pilate asks what he should do (15:12), demands what evil Jesus did (15:14), and finally does the sufficient thing for the crowd (15:15). The trial therefore collapses into a question of whose deed is on record, and the answer the text gives is that no κακόν was ever produced against the accused, while the deeds of everyone else are named exactly: the priests stirred, the crowd screamed, the governor released a murderer and flogged an innocent. Under Sola Scriptura this passage needs no allegory to accuse us; it is already a plain account of a legal system working correctly in every part except the part that matters, which is the truth. And the word Mark reaches for is satisfaction. Pilate does what is enough for a crowd, and it costs him a conscience; the same verse shows a man scourged and handed over who, the rest of the New Testament will say, does what is enough for God. Mark does not draw that line here, and this reading holds it loosely: the Evangelist simply reports, and the report is heavier than any comment on it.

Pilate did what was enough for the crowd; the man he flogged was doing what was enough for God. (a fallible interpretive line, not a verse of Scripture)

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The two-verse word: φραγελλόω in Matthew and Mark verbal / quotation: confirmed

The Latin loanword φραγελλώσας (phragellōsas, G5417) occurs in only two verses in the whole Verifier index, and both are this scene: Mark 15:15 and Matthew 27:26. The pair also shares σταυρόω (G4717). Ellicott treats the Latinism as evidence of Mark's Roman setting; Cambridge notes the same for the satis facere idiom in the same verse. ⚙ Because the lexeme is genuinely rare and both references are Greek New Testament texts, this is a real verbal link and not merely a thematic one, though it is a synoptic parallel rather than a quotation of one book by another.

Matthew 27:26

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G5417 φραγελλόω (in only 2 vv, the rarest lexeme in this unit) and G4717 σταυρόω (in 42 vv); both refs are Greek NT, so a true shared-lexeme link. Synoptic parallel, not a formal quotation.

Barabbas: the rare name that ties four accounts together verbal / quotation: confirmed

Βαραββᾶν (Barabban, G912) appears in only ten verses in the canon, and the Verifier finds it shared with Matthew 27:16, Matthew 27:20, Matthew 27:21, Mark 15:7, Luke 23:18 and John 18:40. Mark 15:7 identifies him as bound with rebels who had committed murder in the insurrection; Gill calls him “the seditious person, robber, and murderer, as they desired.” Luke 23:18 and John 18:40 add the crowd's demand for him in their own words. ⚙ The link is verbal in the plain sense that the same rare proper noun stands in all of them, but it is a shared name across parallel accounts, not one text quoting another.

Mark 15:7 · Luke 23:18 · John 18:40 · Matthew 27:16

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G912 Βαραββᾶς (in 10 vv, rare), with G630 ἀπολύω (in 61 vv) shared with Luke 23:18 and Mark 15:11, and G3825 πάλιν (in 136 vv) with John 18:40. All refs Greek NT. A shared rare proper noun across parallel narratives, not a quotation.

The back given to the smiters typological

Mark reports the scourging in one participle, φραγελλώσας, and says nothing about its meaning. Isaiah 50:6 has the Servant say “I gave My back to those who struck Me,” and Psalm 129:3 says “The plowers plowed upon my back; they made their furrows long.” Deuteronomy 25:2-3 caps a lawful beating at forty stripes so that a brother not be degraded in one's sight; Cambridge records that the Roman scourge had no such limit and that sufferers not unfrequently died under it. ⚙ The Deuteronomy text is included here not as a prophecy but as a measure: it shows what the law of Israel would not permit, against what Rome did. None of these links can be verbal, because the Gospel is Greek and the three Old Testament texts are Hebrew and share no Strong's numbers with Mark. They are offered as figural and structural readings, and the Isaiah 50:6 reading of the Servant's scourging is an ancient and widely-held one.

Isaiah 50:6 · Psalm 129:3 · Deuteronomy 25:2-3

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek Mark to Hebrew Isaiah, Psalms, Deuteronomy): no shared Strong's numbers are possible, so no verbal tier. Basis is the shared figure of a back given to the scourge (Isaiah 50:6, Psalm 129:3) and the contrast of a legal stripe-limit (Deuteronomy 25:2-3) with unlimited Roman flogging, which Cambridge documents. Figural, not quotation.

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil structural / thematic: confirmed

Exodus 23:2 forbids following a multitude to do evil and forbids testifying in a dispute so as to turn aside after a crowd. Mark's sentence describes precisely that act in Roman form: βουλόμενος τὸ ἱκανὸν ποιῆσαι τῷ ὄχλῳ, a judge purposing to do what is enough for the throng. Strong's derives ὄχλος (G3793) from the sense of a crowd borne along, and Mark 15:11 has already said who set it moving. Gill states the charge without hedging: Pilate acted contrary to law and justice, against his own conscience, merely to gratify the humour of the people. ⚙ This is a structural and moral correspondence, not a citation; Mark never appeals to Exodus, and the two texts share no lexeme because they are in different languages.

Exodus 23:2 · Mark 15:11

basis: Mark 15:11 is a Verifier candidate sharing G3793 ὄχλος (in 170 vv), G912 Βαραββᾶς (in 10 vv) and G630 ἀπολύω (in 61 vv) with this unit. The Exodus 23:2 link is cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong's exists and no verbal tier is possible: the recorded basis is the shared judicial pattern of a magistrate yielding to a multitude.

Pilate in the fourfold record structural / thematic: confirmed

The Verifier finds Πιλᾶτος (G4091) shared with Matthew 27:17, Matthew 27:22, Mark 15:9, Luke 23:20, John 19:6, John 19:10 and John 19:15, several of these also sharing σταυρόω (G4717) or βασιλεύς (G935). Cambridge draws on John 19:12 for the cry that finally turned Pilate (“thou art not Cæsar's friend”) and on John 19:16 for the irrevocable word; Pulpit uses John's sequence to argue that there was only one scourging. ⚙ These are parallel and supplementary accounts of one event, and the shared lexemes are common ones (G4091 in 53 verses, G935 in 105), so the honest tier is structural rather than verbal: the link is narrative identity, not distinctive vocabulary.

Matthew 27:22 · John 19:6 · John 19:15 · Luke 23:20

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4091 Πιλᾶτος (in 53 vv), G4717 σταυρόω (in 42 vv), G935 βασιλεύς (in 105 vv), G611 ἀποκρίνομαι (in 231 vv), G2309 θέλω (in 199 vv). All are common lexemes, so the link is downgraded from verbal to structural: shared narrative of one hearing, not distinctive shared wording.

Handed over: παραδίδωμι and the Servant given up typological

Mark's verb for Pilate's final act is παρέδωκεν (paredōken, G3860), “to surrender, deliver up.” Isaiah 53:6 says the LORD laid on Him the iniquity of us all, Isaiah 53:8 that He was taken away by oppression and judgment, and Isaiah 53:5 that He was pierced for our transgressions. ⚙ The apostolic writings elsewhere use the handing-over verb of God as well as of men, and Pulpit already quotes Acts 4:28 on this scene, that the chief priests were doing what had been determined beforehand. This reading is offered as typological and cannot be verbal: Isaiah is Hebrew and shares no Strong's number with Mark, and Mark himself makes no citation here.

Isaiah 53:5 · Isaiah 53:6 · Isaiah 53:8

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek Mark to Hebrew Isaiah): shared Strong's numbers are impossible, so no verbal tier. Basis is the figural correspondence between Mark's παραδίδωμι (G3860) handover of a man against whom no κακόν was proved and Isaiah's Servant delivered up, pierced and taken away. Mark makes no explicit citation; the reading is ancient but inferred.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The King they named and would not have ancient/widely-held

Pilate will not own the title; he lodges it with the crowd: ὃν λέγετε τὸν Βασιλέα τῶν Ἰουδαίων, “whom ye call the King of the Jews.” Ellicott reads this as a Roman fastening the reproach on them, of a piece with the title he later refused to alter (John 19:21-22). Cambridge hears an appeal to a city that had recently cried “Blessed is the king that cometh in the name of the Lord” and “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David” (Luke 19:38, Mark 11:10), and says Pilate “was bitterly deceived.” Pulpit sees the same shrewdness, an appeal to national pride and national hope. ⚙ The result is that the only true statement about Jesus spoken in the whole trial is spoken by men who mean it as a charge and by a judge who means it as a taunt, and it is spoken three ways: as accusation, as disowned title, and finally as a placard over a cross. Henry's line for the whole hearing is that by delivering up the King they in effect delivered up the kingdom of God.

Mark 11:10 · Luke 19:38 · John 19:21-22 · Mark 15:26

Barabbas goes free ancient/widely-held

Mark states the exchange without a word of interpretation: ἀπέλυσεν τὸν Βαραββᾶν αὐτοῖς, and then the flogging and the handing over. Mark 15:7 has already told us Barabbas was bound with the rebels who had committed murder in the insurrection; Gill names him “the seditious person, robber, and murderer, as they desired.” ⚙ The plain shape of the sentence is a substitution: one guilty man walks out under the word ἀπολύω, “to free fully,” and one man against whom Pilate could name no κακόν goes to the cross in his place. The Evangelist draws no moral, and this reading does not claim that he does; it claims only that the narrative order itself is the doctrine, and that the whole New Testament doctrine of substitution has this scene as its plainest picture. The name means son of the father, which the commentators in this unit do not press and neither will we.

Mark 15:7 · Luke 23:18-19 · Isaiah 53:6

Satis facere: the word for what he was doing novel

Ellicott and Cambridge agree that τὸ ἱκανὸν ποιῆσαι is Greek wearing Latin clothes, the exact equivalent of satisfacere, and Cambridge gives Wyclif's “willinge for to do ynow to þe peple.” ⚙ Here is the reading this tool offers as its own and marks as inferred rather than stated by Mark: the Evangelist's only use of satisfaction language in the Passion falls on Pilate, who renders what is enough to a crowd and is remembered for it, while in the same sentence the man being flogged is doing what Henry says of the whole sequence, that God having been dishonoured by the sin of man, Christ made satisfaction by submitting to the greatest disgrace human nature could be loaded with. Henry says it of the scene; Mark's Greek puts the word in Pilate's clause. The juxtaposition is real; the inference from it is ours.

Isaiah 53:5 · Mark 10:45

The passive at the end of the sentence novel

The unit closes on ἵνα σταυρωθῇ, aorist subjunctive passive, with no agent named. The crowd's Σταύρωσον was active and imperative; Pilate's παρέδωκεν was active and indicative; the cross itself arrives in the passive, belonging grammatically to no one. ⚙ This observation is ours, from the parse alone. Read alongside Pulpit's quotation on this scene, that the chief priests pressed for crucifixion “little dreaming” they were doing what had been determined beforehand, the empty agent slot is not an accident of style: in Mark's account every human actor hands him on and none of them keeps the deed, which is exactly the situation the apostolic preaching later addresses when it names both the lawless hands and the determinate counsel.

Mark 15:13 · Mark 15:15

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text: BSB (CC0) with the Berean interlinear and Strong's numbers as supplied in the brief. Every parse, gloss and lexeme frequency above is taken from that source and not from the machine's memory. ⚙ marks synthesis; ✦ material is quoted verbatim from named public-domain commentators.

Source coverage in this unit is uneven and should be known. Barnes writes nothing on these four verses beyond “See the principal events in this chapter explained in the notes at Matthew 27”; Poole refers the reader to his note on Mark 15:2; JFB supplies only a chapter heading and a cross-reference to John 18:28 through 19:16; Geneva's entries here reproduce the verse text with the heading “EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)” and carry no gloss. No excerpt has been taken from those four, because there is nothing in them on this passage to excerpt. The substantive voices are Ellicott, Henry, Gill, Cambridge and Pulpit. Henry's notes are written on the blocks 15:1-14 and 15:15-21 rather than verse by verse, so his comments range wider than the verse they are attached to, and his reference to the crown of thorns anticipates Mark 15:17.

Two points of real uncertainty are recorded rather than smoothed. First, the sequence of the scourging: Cambridge notes that John presents it as one of Pilate's final attempts to release Jesus while Mark and Matthew treat it as the opening act of the crucifixion, and says “Both views are equally true”; Pulpit argues from the same comparison that there was only one scourging and that Pilate anticipated its usual time. This synthesis takes no side. Second, the variant at Mark 15:12: Pulpit states that “again” has the support of three great uncials and the best of the cursives, which is a positive note about a reading and implies that it was disputed. Pulpit also corrects an older reading at verse 8 and insists the word in verse 14 is περισσῶς and not περισσοτέρως.

On the cross-references: no formal Old Testament quotation occurs in this unit. Every thread pairing Mark with Isaiah, the Psalms, Exodus or Deuteronomy is tiered structural or typological and never verbal, because a Greek text and a Hebrew text cannot share a Strong's number and no verbal basis can be computed for them. The two threads tiered verbal (Matthew 27:26 and the Barabbas group) are Greek-to-Greek and rest on the Verifier's computed shared lexemes, the rarest being G5417 φραγελλόω at two verses. The Pilate thread has been deliberately downgraded from verbal to structural because its shared lexemes are common. Cambridge's classical citations (Horace, Apuleius, Josephus, Livy, Suetonius, Tacitus) and its archaeological remarks, like Pulpit's report of Captain Warren's subterranean chamber and the truncated column, are nineteenth-century scholarship reproduced here as that commentator's own claim, not verified by this tool.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)