15:6 During the feast it was customary to release one prisoner to the people, 10 whomever they requested.
1 tn Grk “And they were discussing with one another that they had no bread.”
2 tn Grk “And they said to him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
3 sn The appearance of Elijah would mean that the end time had come. According to 2 Kgs 2:11, Elijah was still alive. In Mal 4:5 it is said that Elijah would be the precursor of Messiah.
4 tn Grk “But they were even more astonished, saying.” The participle λέγονες (legontes) has been translated here as a finite verb to emphasize the sequence of events: The disciples were astonished, then they spoke.
5 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of thought.
6 sn The assumption is that the rich are blessed, so if they risk exclusion, who is left to be saved?
7 tn Grk “took a wife” (an idiom for marrying a woman).
8 tn Or “Be on guard.”
9 tn The word “expensive” is not in the Greek text but has been included to suggest a connection to the lengthy phrase “costly aromatic oil from pure nard” occurring earlier in v. 3. The author of Mark shortened this long phrase to just one word in Greek when repeated here, and the phrase “expensive ointment” used in the translation is intended as an abbreviated paraphrase.
10 tn Grk “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
sn The custom of Pilate to release one prisoner to them is unknown outside the gospels in Jewish writings, but it was a Roman custom at the time and thus probably used in Palestine as well (cf. Matt 27:15; John 18:39); see W. W. Wessel, “Mark,” EBC 8:773-74.