Bible Strands
Mark 15:15
And wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Pilate acts at the moment the crowd shouts for crucifixion, responding to their pressure by choosing a political resolution over his own declared lack of found guilt. He releases Barabbas to the crowd while ordering Jesus to be flogged and handed over for execution.
The words — βουλόμενος (boulomenos) translates literally as "desiring," and ἱκανόν (hikanon) means "satisfactory" or "enough." The text states Pilate's action is motivated by a desire to render the crowd's demands sufficient.
The thread — The combined sequence of releasing Barabbas and handing Jesus over to be crucified appears in Matthew 27:26, while John 19:1 records only the flogging. Isaiah 50:6 is cited in the supply as anticipating the physical abuse through its imagery of offering one's back to strikers.
Why it lands — The text records a judicial figure yielding to popular demand, explicitly framing the decision as crowd appeasement rather than legal verdict. It requires the reader to note how political calculation overrides declared innocence without adding interpretive moralizing.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 50:6 I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.
- Matthew 27:26 So Pilate released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.
- John 19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged.
- Psalms 129:3 The plowmen plowed over my back; they made their furrows long.
- Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high.
- Mark 10:34 who will mock Him and spit on Him and flog Him and kill Him. And after three days He will rise again.”
- Psalms 57:11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; may Your glory cover all the earth.
- John 19:16 Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified, and the soldiers took Him away.
- 1 Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
- Matthew 20:19 and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. And on the third day He will be raised to life.”