Psalms 35:15-16

35:15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together;

they gathered together to ambush me. ¹ 

They tore at me without stopping to rest. ² 

35:16 When I tripped, they taunted me relentlessly, ³ 

and tried to bite me. ⁴ 

Matthew 9:24

9:24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but asleep.” And they began making fun of him. ⁵ 

Matthew 27:29

27:29 and after braiding ⁶  a crown of thorns, ⁷  they put it on his head. They ⁸  put a staff ⁹  in his right hand, and kneeling down before him, they mocked him: ¹⁰  “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹¹ 

Matthew 27:39

27:39 Those ¹²  who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads

Mark 15:20

15:20 When they had finished mocking ¹³  him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes back on him. Then ¹⁴  they led him away to crucify him. ¹⁵ 

Mark 15:29

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,

Luke 16:14

More Warnings about the Pharisees

16:14 The Pharisees ¹⁶  (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed ¹⁷  him.

Luke 23:11

23:11 Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, ¹⁸  dressing him in elegant clothes, ¹⁹  Herod ²⁰  sent him back to Pilate.

Luke 23:35-39

23:35 The people also stood there watching, but the rulers ridiculed ²¹  him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save ²²  himself if ²³  he is the Christ ²⁴  of God, his chosen one!” 23:36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, ²⁵  23:37 and saying, “If ²⁶  you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” 23:38 There was also an inscription ²⁷  over him, “This is the king of the Jews.”

23:39 One of the criminals who was hanging there railed at him, saying, “Aren’t ²⁸  you the Christ? ²⁹  Save yourself and us!”

[35:15]  ¹ tn Heb “they gathered together against me, stricken [ones], and I did not know.” The Hebrew form נֵכִים (nekhim, “stricken ones” ?) is problematic. Some suggest an emendation to נָכְרִים[כְ] (kÿnokhÿrim, “foreigners”) or “like foreigners,” which would fit with what follows, “[like] foreigners that I do not recognize.” Perhaps the form should be read as a Qal active participle, נֹכִים (nokhim, “ones who strike”) from the verbal root נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike”). The Qal of this verb is unattested in biblical Hebrew, but the peal (basic) stem appears in Old Aramaic (J. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire [BibOr], 114; DNWSI 1:730.) In this case one might translate, “attackers gathered together against me though I was not aware of it” (cf. NASB “smiters”; NEB, NRSV “ruffians”; NIV “attackers”).

[35:15]  ² tn Heb “they tore and did not keep quiet.” By using the verb “tear,” the psalmist likens his enemies to a wild animal (see Hos 13:8). In v. 17 he compares them to hungry young lions.

[35:16]  ³ tc The MT reads “as profane [ones] of mockers of food,” which is nonsensical. The present translation assumes (1) an emendation of בְּחַנְפֵי (bÿkhanfey, “as profane men”) to בְּחַנְפִי (bekhanfiy, “when I tripped”; preposition + Qal infinitive construct from II חָנַף [“limp”] + first common singular pronominal suffix) and (2) an emendation of לַעֲגֵי מָעוֹג (la’agey ma’og, “mockers of food”) to עָגוּ[ם]לַעְגָּ (la’gam ’agu, “[with] taunting they taunted”; masculine plural noun with enclitic mem + Qal perfect third common plural from לַּעַג [la’ag, “taunt”]).

[35:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “gnashing at me with their teeth.” The infinitive absolute adds a complementary action – they gnashed with their teeth as they taunted.

[9:24]  ⁵ tn Grk “They were laughing at him.” The imperfect verb has been taken ingressively.

[27:29]  ⁶ tn Or “weaving.”

[27:29]  ⁷ sn The crown may have been made from palm spines or some other thorny plant common in Israel. In placing the crown of thorns on his head, the soldiers were unwittingly symbolizing God’s curse on humanity (cf. Gen 3:18) being placed on Jesus. Their purpose would have been to mock Jesus’ claim to be a king; the crown of thorns would have represented the “radiant corona” portrayed on the heads of rulers on coins and other artifacts in the 1st century.

[27:29]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:29]  ⁹ tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BDAG 502 s.v. κάλαμος 2.

[27:29]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “they mocked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

[27:29]  ¹¹ tn Or “Long live the King of the Jews!”

[27:39]  ¹² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[15:20]  ¹³ tn The aorist tense is taken consummatively here.

[15:20]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:20]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on Crucify in 15:13.

[16:14]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[16:14]  ¹⁷ tn A figurative extension of the literal meaning “to turn one’s nose up at someone”; here “ridicule, sneer at, show contempt for” (L&N 33.409).

[23:11]  ¹⁸ tn This is a continuation of the previous Greek sentence, but because of its length and complexity, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying “then” to indicate the sequence of events.

[23:11]  ¹⁹ sn This mockery involved putting elegant royal clothes on Jesus, either white or purple (the colors of royalty). This was no doubt a mockery of Jesus’ claim to be a king.

[23:11]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:35]  ²¹ tn A figurative extension of the literal meaning “to turn one’s nose up at someone”; here “ridicule, sneer at, show contempt for” (L&N 33.409).

[23:35]  ²² sn The irony in the statement Let him save himself is that salvation did come, but later, not while on the cross.

[23:35]  ²³ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text.

[23:35]  ²⁴ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[23:36]  ²⁵ sn Sour wine was cheap wine, called in Latin posca, and referred to a cheap vinegar wine diluted heavily with water. It was the drink of slaves and soldiers, and the soldiers who had performed the crucifixion, who had some on hand, now used it to taunt Jesus further.

[23:37]  ²⁶ tn This is also a first class condition in the Greek text.

[23:38]  ²⁷ 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.

[23:39]  ²⁸ tc Most mss (A C³ W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat) read εἰ σὺ εἶ (ei su ei, “If you are”) here, while οὐχὶ σὺ εἶ (ouci su ei, “Are you not”) is found in overall better and earlier witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א B C* L 070 1241 pc it). The “if” clause reading creates a parallel with the earlier taunts (vv. 35, 37), and thus is most likely a motivated reading.

[23:39]  ²⁹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”