Exegesis:

empaixousin (15.20, 31) ‘they will ridicule,’ ‘they will make fun of,’ ‘they will mock.’

emptusousin (14.65; 15.19, cf. ptuō 7.33; 8.23) ‘they will spit on.’

mastigōsousin (only here in Mark; cf. mastix 3.10; 5.29, 34) ‘they will scourge,’ ‘they will flog’: here the verb refers to the whipping given those who were condemned to death (Latin verberatio).

The other words have already been dealt with: for apokteinō ‘kill’ cf. 3.4; meta treis hēmeras ‘after three days’ cf. 8.31; anastēnai ‘to rise (from the dead)’ cf. 8.31.

Translation:

They refers to the Gentiles.

In some languages the equivalent of and connecting a series of events is ‘then,’ e.g. ‘they will mock him; then they will spit on him; then they will….’

In some parts of the world spitting is regarded as a symbol of blessing, e.g. among the Shilluk. In this instance one must translate so that the people will understand that spitting among the people of ancient Palestine had a different meaning, e.g. ‘spit on him to show they hate him’ (or ‘despise him’).

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 .