15:21 The soldiers 1 forced 2 a passerby to carry his cross, 3 Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country 4 (he was the father of Alexander and Rufus). 15:22 They brought Jesus 5 to a place called Golgotha 6 (which is translated, “Place of the Skull”). 7 15:23 They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, 8 but he did not take it. 15:24 Then 9 they crucified 10 him and divided his clothes, throwing dice 11 for them, to decide what each would take. 15:25 It was nine o’clock in the morning 12 when they crucified him. 15:26 The inscription 13 of the charge against him read, “The king of the Jews.” 15:27 And they crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left. 15:28 [[EMPTY]] 14 15:29 Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 15:30 save yourself and come down from the cross!” 15 15:31 In the same way even the chief priests – together with the experts in the law 16 – were mocking him among themselves: 17 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! 15:32 Let the Christ, 18 the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. 19
15:33 Now 20 when it was noon, 21 darkness came over the whole land 22 until three in the afternoon. 23 15:34 Around three o’clock 24 Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 25 15:35 When some of the bystanders heard it they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah!” 26 15:36 Then someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, 27 put it on a stick, 28 and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down!” 15:37 But Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. 15:38 And the temple curtain 29 was torn in two, from top to bottom. 15:39 Now when the centurion, 30 who stood in front of him, saw how he died, 31 he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”
1 tn Grk “They”; the referent (the soldiers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Or “conscripted”; or “pressed into service.”
3 sn Jesus was beaten severely with a whip before this (the prelude to crucifixion, known to the Romans as verberatio, mentioned in Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1), so he would have been weak from trauma and loss of blood. Apparently he was unable to bear the cross himself, so Simon was conscripted to help (in all probability this was only the crossbeam, called in Latin the patibulum, since the upright beam usually remained in the ground at the place of execution). Cyrene was located in North Africa where Tripoli is today. Nothing more is known about this Simon.
4 tn Or perhaps, “was coming in from his field” outside the city (BDAG 15-16 s.v. ἀγρός 1).
5 tn Grk “him.”
6 tn Grk “a place, Golgotha.” This is an Aramaic name; see John 19:17.
7 sn The place called Golgotha (which is translated “Place of the Skull”). This location is north and just outside of Jerusalem. The hill on which it is located protruded much like a skull, giving the place its name. The Latin word for the Greek term κρανίον (kranion) is calvaria, from which the English word “Calvary” is derived (cf. Luke 23:33 in the KJV).
8 sn It is difficult to say for certain who gave Jesus this drink of wine mixed with myrrh (e.g., the executioner, or perhaps women from Jerusalem). In any case, whoever gave it to him most likely did so in order to relieve his pain, but Jesus was unwilling to take it.
9 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
10 sn See the note on Crucify in 15:13.
11 tn Grk “by throwing the lot” (probably by using marked pebbles or broken pieces of pottery). A modern equivalent, “throwing dice,” was chosen here because of its association with gambling. According to L&N 6.219 a term for “dice” is particularly appropriate.
12 tn Grk “It was the third hour.” This time would have been approximate, and could refer to the beginning of the process, some time before Jesus was lifted on the cross.
13 sn Mention of the inscription is an important detail, because the inscription would normally give the reason for the execution. It shows that Jesus was executed for claiming to be a king. It was also probably written with irony from the executioners’ point of view.
14 tc Most later
15 sn There is rich irony in the statement of those who were passing by, “Save yourself and come down from the cross!” In summary, they wanted Jesus to come down from the cross and save his physical life, but it was indeed his staying on the cross and giving his physical life that led to the fact that they could experience a resurrection from death to life. There is a similar kind of irony in the statement made by the chief priests and experts in the law in 15:31.
16 tn Or “with the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22. Only “chief priests” is in the nominative case; this sentence structure attempts to capture this emphasis.
17 tn Grk “Mocking him, the chief priests…said among themselves.”
18 tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
19 sn Mark’s wording suggests that both of the criminals spoke abusively to him. If so, one of them quickly changed his attitude toward Jesus (see Luke 23:40-43).
20 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
21 tn Grk “When the sixth hour had come.”
22 sn This imagery has parallels to the Day of the Lord: Joel 2:10; Amos 8:9; Zeph 1:15.
23 tn Grk “until the ninth hour.”
24 tn The repetition of the phrase “three o’clock” preserves the author’s rougher, less elegant style (cf. Matt 27:45-46; Luke 23:44). Although such stylistic matters are frequently handled differently in the translation, because the issue of synoptic literary dependence is involved here, it was considered important to reflect some of the stylistic differences among the synoptics in the translation, so that the English reader can be aware of them.
25 sn A quotation from Ps 22:1.
26 sn Perhaps the crowd thought Jesus was calling for Elijah because the exclamation “my God, my God” (i.e., in Aramaic, Eloi, Eloi) sounds like the name Elijah.
27 sn Sour wine refers to cheap wine that was called in Latin posca, a cheap vinegar wine diluted heavily with water. It was the drink of slaves and soldiers, and was probably there for the soldiers who had performed the crucifixion.
28 tn Grk “a reed.”
29 tn The referent of this term, καταπέτασμα (katapetasma), is not entirely clear. It could refer to the curtain separating the holy of holies from the holy place (Josephus, J. W. 5.5.5 [5.219]), or it could refer to one at the entrance of the temple court (Josephus, J. W. 5.5.4 [5.212]). Many argue that the inner curtain is meant because another term, κάλυμμα (kalumma), is also used for the outer curtain. Others see a reference to the outer curtain as more likely because of the public nature of this sign. Either way, the symbolism means that access to God has been opened up. It also pictures a judgment that includes the sacrifices.
30 sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like Paul.
31 tn Grk “the way he breathed his last”; or “the way he expired”; or “that he thus breathed no more.”