soldier

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “soldier” in English didn’t have a direct equivalent in Enlhet so it was translated with “those that bind us” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. ) and in Noongar it is mammarapa-bakadjiny or “men of fighting” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

Mark 15:16 - 20 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 15:16-20 into Mexican Sign Language with back-translations into Spanish and English underneath:


© La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)

En la casa del gobernador romano los soldados agarraron a Jesús y lo llevaron a la plaza. Llamaron a todos los soldados y muchos soldados vinieron.

Los soldados quitaron la ropa de Jesús y la tiraron en el piso, lo pusieron una copa de color vino rojo fuerte.

Los soldados agarraron una planta de espinas, tejieron una corona y la pusieron en la cabeza de Jesús. Las espinas lo pincharon y los soldados se burlaron y se arrodillaron (diciendo): “Tú eres el rey de los judíos.”

Los soldados agarraron una vara y golpearon a Jesús en la cabeza, y los soldados escupieron a Jesús en la cara. Los soldados se arrodillaron y se postraron en honor y reían y burlaron de la chiste.

Le quitaron la ropa de color vino rojo fuerte y la tiraron en el piso, y tomaron la propia ropa de Jesús y se la pusieron (y dijeron): “Vamonos a crucificarlo”. Jesús tomó la cruz en el hombro y la cargó.


The soldiers grabbed Jesus in the house of the roman governor and took him to the square. They called all the soldiers and many soldiers came.

The soldiers took off Jesus’ clothes and threw them on the floor, they put a cape on Jesus of a strong wine-red color.

The soldiers took a thorny plant, wove a crown and put it on Jesus’ head. The thorns pricked in his head and the soldiers laughed at him and knelt (saying): “You are the king of the Jews.”

The soldiers grabbed a stick and beat Jesus on the head, and the soldiers spit Jesus in the face. The soldiers knelt and bowed down in honor and they laughed at the joke.

They took off the clothes of the strong wine-red color and threw them on the floor, and they took Jesus’ own clothes and put them on him (and they said): “Let’s go and crucify him.” Jesus took the cross on his shoulder and carried it.

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

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Mark 15:16-32 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 15:16-32 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

The Roman soldiers seized Jesus and took him to the soldiers’ quarters. They also called other soldiers; they came and gathered around Jesus. They took a red cloak and put it on him. They took thorny branches and made a crown out of them. They put this crown on Jesus’ head. The crown had thorns, they cut his head, and blood flowed. And the soldiers mocked Jesus, mocked him and shouted:

— We greet you, King of the Jews!

For fun, they knelt before him and bowed low to the ground. Then they took a stick and began to hit him on the head. They spat and mocked him in every way. Then they took the red cloak back from him and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him to the place of crucifixion. They ordered Jesus to carry the cross.

On the way, they met a man named Simon. He was from the city of Cyrene. He had two sons: one named Alexander, the other Rufus. This man named Simon was walking after working in the fields. Some soldiers were passing by. They grabbed Simon and forced him to carry the cross. Simon took the cross of Jesus and carried it. The soldiers took Jesus to a mountain called Golgotha. It means “skull”. Because it looks like a skull. When they got there, the soldiers took bitter wine, poured it into a cup, and offered Jesus to drink. Jesus refused. The soldiers divided his clothes among themselves and nailed Jesus to the cross. They nailed his hands and feet. They took a board, wrote on it “King of the Jews” and nailed this board to the cross, above his head. So they crucified Jesus on the cross. This was at nine o’clock in the morning. That same day, two more people were crucified. They were hung on crosses, one on the right of Jesus, the other on the left. Different people walked past, scolded him, and shouted:

— Hey! You said that in three days you would destroy the temple and then build it again! Save yourself! Come down from the cross, and we will see.

And the chief priests and scribes also mocked him and said to each other:

— He saved other people, but he cannot save himself! He said that he was Christ, the king of Israel. Well, try, come down from the cross, we’ll see how you come down from the cross, then we’ll believe.

Also, the criminals who were crucified on the right and left also scolded Jesus.

Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):

Римские воины схватили Иисуса, повели в помещение для солдат. Также они позвали других воинов; те пришли, собрались вокруг Иисуса. Они взяли красный плащ и надели на него. Взяли колючие ветки и сделали из них венок. Они надели этот венок на голову Иисуса. У венка были колючие шипы, они ранили голову, шла кровь. А солдаты издевались над Иисусом, глумились и кричали:

— Приветствуем тебя царь иудейский!

Они для потехи вставали перед ним на колени и низко кланялись до самой земли. Потом они взяли палку и начали бить его по голове. Плевались и всячески издевались. Потом сняли с него обратно этот красный плащ и надели на него его собственную одежду. Потом повели его к месту распятия. Они приказали Иисусу нести крест.

По дороге им встретился один человек, которого звали Симон. Он был из города Кирена. У него были два сына: одного звали Александр, другого — Руф. Вот этот человек по имени Симон, шел после полевых работ. Мимо проходили воины. Они схватили Симона и заставили его нести крест. Симон взял крест Иисуса и понес его. Воины привели Иисуса к горе, которая называется Голгофа. Это означает «череп». Потому что она похожа на череп. Когда они пришли к тому месту, воины взяли горькое вино, налили в чашу, и предложили Иисус выпить. Иисус отказался. Воины поделили между собой его одежду и прибили Иисуса ко кресту. Прибили гвоздями руки и ноги. Они взяли дощечку, написали на ней «Царь иудейский» и прибили эту дощечку ко кресту, над его головой. Так они распяли Иисуса на кресте. Это было в девять часов утра. В тот же день, распяли еще двоих человек. Их повесили на крестах, одного справа от Иисуса, другого слева.

Разные люди ходили мимо, ругали его, и кричали:

— Эй! Ты говорил, что за три дня разрушишь храм и потом построишь заново! Спаси себя самого! Сойди с креста, а мы посмотрим.

А первосвященники и книжники тоже издевались над ним и говорили друг другу:

— Других людей спасал, а себя спасти не может! Он говорил, что он Христос, царь Израиля. Ну, попробуй, сойди с креста, мы посмотрим, как ты сойдёшь креста, тогда мы поверим.

Также преступники, которые были распяты справа и слева, тоже ругали Иисуса.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

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Mark 15:33-47 in Russian Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 15:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 15:16:

  • Uma: “After that the soldiers took Yesus to their dwelling in the Gubernur’s house, and they called all their companions to come.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then Isa was taken by the soldiers to the yard of the palace of the governor. And they called all the soldiers of one company to gather.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then the soldiers brought Jesus inside the yard of the palace of the governor, and they gathered together the whole company of soldiers.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The soldiers brought-in Jesus to the house of the governor and gathered-together all their companions.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus was taken by the soldiers inside the house of the governor. And then they gathered together all their fellow soldiers.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 15:16

Exegesis:

stratiōtai (only here in Mark) ‘soldiers’: these are probably soldiers of Pilate himself (as Mt. 27.27 has it).

apēgagon (cf. 14.44) ‘they led away,’ ‘they took off.’

esō tēs aulēs (cf. 14.54) ‘inside the court’: here aulē is the ‘court’ of a prince, from which the sense ‘palace’ derives. By Suidas the word was defined as ‘the house of the king’ (cf. Moulton & Milligan).

esō ‘within,’ ‘inside’: only here in the N.T. does esō function as a preposition.

praitōrion ‘praetorium’ is a Latin loanword praetorium, the governor’s official residence (cf. the many examples in Moulton & Milligan).

sugkalousin (only here in Mark) ‘they call together,’ ‘they summon.’

holēn tēn speiran (only here in Mark is speira used) ‘the whole cohort,’ ‘the entire contingent (of men),’ ‘the whole detachment’ speira is the Greek word which translates the Latin cohors, normally composed of 600 men (i.e. one-tenth of the legion). It is not necessary to suppose, however, that anywhere near that number of soldiers were there present or took part in the mockery.

Translation:

Palace is often ‘the house of the ruler’ or ‘the governor’s building.’

That is, the praetorium may be treated as an explanatory phrase, involving a transliteration of praetorium, but this may not be very meaningful, for explanatory additions are supposed to elucidate, while in this instance praetorium would mean much less than a translation of palace. Accordingly, some translators have rendered the passage as ‘that is the place called praetorium,’ in order that the word may be readily identified as a borrowing.

The whole battalion may be ‘the rest of the group of soldiers,’ for the soldiers mentioned as subject of the sentence also belonged to this same battalion.

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 .

SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 15:16

Section 15:16–20

The Roman soldiers mocked Jesus

The events of this section occurred immediately after the soldiers whipped Jesus in 15:15. One crime that the Jewish leaders accused Jesus of was that he claimed to be the king of the Jews (see Luke 23:2 and John 19:12). The soldiers did not believe Jesus was a king, so they mocked him by pretending that he was a king. They gave him a robe like a king’s robe and a crown of thorns in place of a king’s crown. They greeted him like a king, and they bowed before him in false honor. At the same time they treated him cruelly and shamefully by striking him on the head and spitting on him.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus was mocked by Roman soldiers
-or-
The soldiers mistreated/mocked Jesus

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 27:27–31 and John 19:2–3.

Paragraph 15:16–20

The place where Pilate met with Jesus and the Jewish leaders (15:1–15) was probably in the public square in front of the palace. The events in this paragraph happened inside the palace. The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, lived in the palace when he was in Jerusalem. He also used this palace as his headquarters when he was there.

15:16a

The part of the story that is in 15:16–20 began immediately after the part of the story in 15:1–15.

Then: In some languages, it is natural to begin a new part of a story with a time word or phrase. For example:

But before they crucified Jesus

In other languages, a time word or phrase may not be necessary. Introduce this story in a natural way in your language.

the soldiers: The phrase the soldiers probably refers to the soldiers in 15:15d. Pilate had given Jesus to these soldiers to be crucified (though they were not specifically mentioned there). If you have not mentioned soldiers in 15:15, you may want to introduce them here in a general way. For example:

Some soldiers
-or-
His/Pilate’s soldiers

led Jesus away: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as led…away here means to lead someone from one place to another. This was done as part of the legal process (The person was led to trial, to punishment/prison, or to execution). If possible, use a word that can describe leading a prisoner or captive by force or leading him toward punishment.

into the palace: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as palace can refer to the palace building itself. Or it can refer to a courtyard inside the palace compound. This scene probably took place in the large inner courtyard of the palace compound.

You can translate this either as:

the palace (New International Version)
-or-
the courtyard of the palace (God’s Word)

palace: A palace is a large, beautiful house that a king or other high official lives in.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

governor’s/king’s house
-or-
royal house

15:16b

(that is, the Praetorium): The phrase that is, the Praetorium identifies which palace was meant in 15:16a. The Berean Standard Bible puts this phrase in parentheses to show that it is background information.

Praetorium: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible transliterates as Praetorium is a borrowed Latin word. It refers to the residence and headquarters of a Roman governor. The Praetorium also had barracks where the governor’s soldiers stayed.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

where the governor stayed/lived
-or-
in which the governor, Pilate, stayed
-or-
of the governor/leader
-or-
That place/building was the government headquarters.

15:16c

and called the whole company together: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as called…together here means that the soldiers asked or told other soldiers to come and gather together.

the whole company: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the whole company refers to a group/troop of about six hundred soldiers. Here it probably refers to all the soldiers of the company who were on duty and were there at that moment. It probably does not indicate that all six hundred soldiers were called. Translate this with a word in your language that refers to a large group of soldiers.

Some soldiers of the company did the calling. So it may be more natural in some languages to say that they called together the other soldiers. For example:

the rest of the company (Good News Bible)
-or-
the other soldiers in their troop/group

General Comment on 15:16c

In some languages it may be natural to express this with direct speech. For example:

…and said to other soldiers in their troop/group, “Come here.”

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