Ask or Beg?
There are two Greek words which are often translated “ask”: αἰτέω (ai-te-o) and ἐρωτάω (er-o-ta-w). Both of them are used in the passage where Jesus appears before Pilate in Mark 15. When Pilate is asking questions ἐρωτάω is used. Later when the ESV version states: “Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked.” The […]
Who Arrested Jesus?
Here’s a translation of Mark 14:43 where I substitute modern terminology for certain institutions of the ancient world: “…Judas, one of the twelve, arrives and with him a mob with swords and clubs from the hereditary elite, the intellectual elite, and those with entrenched interest in maintaining the status quo.” The words in italics are what “the […]
Wait Here and Watch
After all the disciples had declared they were loyal to the death, Jesus took his inner circle of Peter, James, and John to a more secluded area of the Mount of Olives called Gethsemane and told them he was “very sorrowful.” The word used here is περιλυπός (peri-lup-os). “Peri” is something that surrounds or encompasses another […]