Mark 15:8
in Mark 15So the crowd went up and began asking Pilate to keep his custom.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the multitude went up and began to ask him to do as he was wont to do unto them.
KJV
And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them.
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This verse in Mark 15
Commentary
11 notes on this verseHere are two goats; one is the scape goat, that is, one loosed and sent out into the wilderness of hell with the sin of the people; the other is slain, as a lamb, for the sins of those who are forgiven. The Lord's portion is always slain; the devil's part, (for he is the master of those men, which is the meaning of Barabbas,) when freed, is cast headlong into hell.
This site's exposition
Pilate’s custom at the feast
on Mark 15:6-8
It was Pilate’s custom at the feast to release to the people a prisoner of their choosing. No record of the custom survives outside the Gospels, though a governor's amnesty at a local festival was known in the Roman world.
This site's exposition
keep his custom
Manuscripts differ on the crowd's first move. Gill knew both readings, a crowd that went up to Pilate and a crowd that shouted, and he preferred the second. The verse above follows the first.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
And "the clouds were commanded not to rain a shower upon the vineyard of Sorek," -the clouds being celestial benefits, which were commanded not to be forthcoming to the house of Israel; for it "had borne thorns"-whereof that house of Israel had wrought a crown for Christ-and not "righteousness, but a clamour,"-the clamour whereby it had extorted His surrender to the cross.
(ubi sup.) No one can feel it a difficulty that Matthew is silent as to their asking some one to be released unto them, which Mark here mentions; for it is a thing of no consequence that one should mention a thing which another leaves out. There follows: But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? For he knew that the Chief Priests had delivered him for envy. Some one may ask, which were the words of which Pilate made use, those which are related by Matthew, or those which Mark relates; for there seems to be a difference between, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? as Matthew has it; and, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? (Matt. 27:17) as is here said. But since they gave to kings the name of Christs, he who said this man or that must have asked whether they wished the King of the Jews to be released unto them, that is, Christ. It makes no difference to the sense that Mark has said nothing of Barabbas, wishing only to mention what belonged to the Lord, since by their answer he sufficiently showed whom they wished to have released to them. For there follows, But the Chief Priests moved the people that he should rather release unto them Barabbas.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And that the wickedness of the Jews might appear the greater, the enormity of the sin of the robber, whom they preferred to Christ, is next described. Wherefore there follows: And there was one Barabbas, who lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
); it was not an ill usage, but they would have it kept up. Now Pilate perceived that the chief priests delivered up Jesus for envy, because he had got such a reputation among the people as eclipsed theirs,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And the multitude crying aloud,.... The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, and when the "multitude", or "people went up", to the place called the pavement, where the judgment seat was; and so it is read in Beza's most ancient copy; but the former reading is to be preferred: began to desire him to do as he had ever done to them: that is, release a prisoner to them, as he had done at every passover, since he had been a governor over them.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The multitude crying aloud - Αναβοησας. The word itself strongly marks the vociferations, or, to come nearer the original word, the bellowing of the multitude. It signifies, properly, a loud and long cry, such as Christ emitted on the cross. See the whole history of these proceedings against our Lord treated at large, on Matthew 27 (note).
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
These verses begin the chapter in which Mark describes the slaying of "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." It is a part of the Gospel history which should always be read with peculiar reverence. We should call to mind, that Christ was cut off, not for Himself, but for us. (Dan. 9:26.) We should remember that His death is the life of our souls, and that unless His blood had been shed, we must have perished miserably in our sins.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
These verses begin the chapter in which Mark describes the slaying of "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." It is a part of the Gospel history which should always be read with peculiar reverence. We should call to mind, that Christ was cut off, not for Himself, but for us. (Dan. 9:26.) We should remember that His death is the life of our souls, and that unless His blood had been shed, we must have perished miserably in our sins. Let us mark in these verses, what a striking proof the Jewish rulers gave to their own nation that the times of Messiah had come . The chapter opens with the fact, that the chief priests bound Jesus and "delivered Him to Pilate," the Roman Governor. Why did they do so? Because they had no longer the power of putting any one to death, and were under the dominion of the Romans. By this one act and deed they declared that the prophecy of Jacob was fulfilled. "The scepter had departed from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet," and Shiloh the Messiah, whom God had promised to send, must have come. (Gen. 49:10.) Yet there is nothing whatever to show that they remembered this prophecy. Their eyes were blinded. They either could not, or would not, see what they were doing. Let us never forget that wicked men are often fulfilling God's predictions to their own ruin, and yet know it not. In the very height of their madness, folly, and unbelief, they are often unconsciously supplying fresh evidence that the Bible is true. The unhappy scoffers who make a jest of all serious religion, and can scarcely talk of Christianity without ridicule and scorn, would do well to remember that their conduct was long ago foreseen and foretold. "There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts." (2 Peter 3:3) Let us mark, secondly, in these verses, the meekness and lowliness of our Lord Jesus Christ .
The words behind it
9 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἀναβὰς | anabas | having come up | G305 → | 82 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὄχλος | ochlos | crowd | G3793 → | 175 times |
| ἤρξατο | erxato | began | G757 → | 85 times |
| αἰτεῖσθαι | aiteisthai | to beg [him to do] | G154 → | 70 times |
| καθὼς | kathos | even as | G2531 → | 182 times |
| ἐποίει | epoiei | he was doing | G4160 → | 569 times |
| αὐτοῖς.¶ | autois | for them. | G846 → | 5565 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἀναβὰςhaving come up
anabasG305 →82 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
ὄχλοςcrowd
ochlosG3793 →175 times
ἤρξατοbegan
erxatoG757 →85 times
αἰτεῖσθαιto beg [him to do]
aiteisthaiG154 →70 times
καθὼςeven as
kathosG2531 →182 times
ἐποίειhe was doing
epoieiG4160 →569 times
αὐτοῖς.¶for them.
autoisG846 →5565 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Mark
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Glossa Ordinaria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews.