12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, 10 by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God 11 – which is your reasonable service.
3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths,
1 tn Aram “were saying.”
2 tn Aram “unless we find [it] against him.”
3 sn Crucifixion was the cruelest form of punishment practiced by the Romans. Roman citizens could not normally undergo it. It was reserved for the worst crimes, like treason and evasion of due process in a capital case. The Roman statesman and orator Cicero (106-43
4 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from context.
5 tn Grk “said to them.” The words “to them” are not translated because they are unnecessary in contemporary English style.
6 sn How are Pilate’s words “You take him and crucify him” to be understood? Was he offering a serious alternative to the priests who wanted Jesus crucified? Was he offering them an exception to the statement in 18:31 that the Jewish authorities did not have the power to carry out a death penalty? Although a few scholars have suggested that the situation was at this point so far out of Pilate’s control that he really was telling the high priests they could go ahead and crucify a man he had found to be innocent, this seems unlikely. It is far more likely that Pilate’s statement should be understood as one of frustration and perhaps sarcasm. This seems to be supported by the context, for the Jewish authorities make no attempt at this point to seize Jesus and crucify him. Rather they continue to pester Pilate to order the crucifixion.
7 tn On this use of γάρ (gar) used in exclamations and strong affirmations, see BDAG 190 s.v. γάρ 3.
8 tn Or “find no basis for an accusation”; Grk “find no cause.”
9 tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.
10 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
11 tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.