9:27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, shouting, 1 “Have mercy 2 on us, Son of David!” 3
27:57 Now 5 when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. 6 27:58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 7 Then Pilate ordered that it be given to him.
1 tn Grk “shouting, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
2 sn Have mercy on us is a request for healing. It is not owed to the men. They simply ask for God’s kind grace.
3 sn There was a tradition in Judaism that the Son of David (Solomon) had great powers of healing (Josephus, Ant. 8.2.5 [8.42-49]).
4 tn Grk “Now the.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
7 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
8 sn Though some dispute that Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple of Jesus, his actions regarding Jesus’ burial suggest otherwise.
10 sn Asking for the body of Jesus was indeed a bold move on the part of Joseph of Arimathea, for it clearly and openly identified him with a man who had just been condemned and executed, namely, Jesus. His faith is exemplary, especially for someone who was a member of the council that handed Jesus over for crucifixion (cf. Mark 15:43, Luke 23:51). He did this because he sought to give Jesus an honorable burial.