12:12 Now 1 they wanted to arrest him (but they feared the crowd), because they realized that he told this parable against them. So 2 they left him and went away. 3
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to introduce a somewhat parenthetical remark by the author.
2 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
3 sn The point of the parable in Mark 12:1-12 is that the leaders of the nation have been rejected by God and the vineyard (v. 9, referring to the nation and its privileged status) will be taken from them and given to others (an allusion to the Gentiles).
4 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
5 tn The Greek term φραγελλόω (fragellow) refers to flogging. BDAG 1064 s.v. states, “flog, scourge, a punishment inflicted on slaves and provincials after a sentence of death had been pronounced on them. So in the case of Jesus before the crucifixion…Mt 27:26; Mk 15:15.”
sn A Roman flogging (traditionally, “scourging”) was an excruciating punishment. The victim was stripped of his clothes and bound to a post with his hands fastened above him (or sometimes he was thrown to the ground). Guards standing on either side of the victim would incessantly beat him with a whip (flagellum) made out of leather with pieces of lead and bone inserted into its ends. While the Jews only allowed 39 lashes, the Romans had no such limit; many people who received such a beating died as a result. See C. Schneider, TDNT, 4:515-19.
6 tn Or “delivered him up.”