Exegesis:

Iēsoun zēteite tōn Nazarēnon ton estaurōmenon ‘you seek Jesus the Nazarene the crucified (one)’: by some this is taken as a question (cf. Moffatt, Montgomery), but the majority translate it as a statement.

zēteō (cf. 3.32) ‘look for,’ ‘seek.’

ho Nazarēnos (cf. 14.67) ‘the Nazarene’: here, as in 14.67, more of a title than a geographical description.

ho estaurōmenos (cf. 15.13) ‘he who has been crucified,’ ‘the crucified one’: in apposition to ‘the Nazarene,’ this perfect passive participle with the definite article is probably to be taken as a title, and not simply translated as a relative clause (as done by Revised Standard Version and the majority of translations). Cf. its use in 1 Co. 1.23, 2.2, Gal. 3.1. Cf. The Modern Speech New Testament ‘the crucified one,’ and Zürcher Bibel den Gekreuzigten.

ēgerthē (cf. 1.31) ‘he was raised’: in conformance with the uniform use of the passive form of the verb in Mark, in speaking of resurrection (cf. 14.28), the verb should be translated here as a passive, ‘he has been raised’ or even (in English) ‘he is risen,’ rather than as an active, ‘he has risen’ (Revised Standard Version).

ide ho topos hopou ethēkan autōn ‘look! (this is) the place where they placed him,’ ‘here (is) the place where they laid him’: it should be noticed that ide (cf. 2.24) is an exclamation, and ho topos ‘the place’ is not the direct object (as Revised Standard Version‘s ‘see the place’ would make it appear).

ho topos ‘the place’: not the grave or tomb itself, but inside the tomb (v. 5) the shelf or alcove where Jesus’ body had been placed (cf. Taylor).

ethēkan ‘they placed,’ ‘they laid’: this is clearly an impersonal plural; ‘they placed him’ is equivalent to ‘he was placed.’

Translation:

You seek may be rendered as ‘you are looking for’ or ‘you are trying to find.’

Though of Nazareth is probably more correctly conceived of as a title, it is rare that such a connotation can be given to this type of place name (see 14.67).

For expressions relating to rising from the dead see 8.31 and 9.9.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .