15:4a

Then Pilate questioned Him again, “Have You no answer?: The leaders of a court normally allowed the accused person to defend himself. Pilate expected Jesus to defend himself. That is why he asked Jesus another question.

It is clear that Jesus did not answer the accusations. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit and put some information from 15:5a here. For example:

But Jesus did not reply. So Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer?”

Pilate questioned Him again: The clause Pilate questioned Him again means “Pilate continued to question him” or “Pilate asked him another question.” It does not mean that Pilate asked him the same question a second time. For example, you could say:

Pilate asked Jesus another question (New Century Version)
-or-
Pilate questioned Jesus some more

Have You no answer?: This is a real question. Pilate asked this question and expected Jesus to respond. Pilate’s question implied that Jesus ought to answer the accusations.

15:4b

Look: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Look has a figurative meaning here. Pilate used this word to call attention to and emphasize what follows in the sentence. It does not literally mean “to see with the eyes.”

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Pay attention
-or-
Listen carefully
-or-
Take this seriously

how many charges they are bringing against You!:

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

the many things/crimes of which they are accusing you
-or-
all the accusations of wrong behavior they are bringing against you

In some languages, it may be effective to use a rhetorical question for 15:4b. This could be combined with the emphatic statement in 15:4a. For example:

4aYou should defend yourself! 4bDon’t you hear all these accusations being brought against you?

General Comment on 15:4a–b

Verse 15:4b gives the reason why Jesus should do as Pilate suggested in 15:4a. So in some languages, it will be more natural to change the order of 15:4a and 15:4b. For example, the New Century Version says:

4bYou can see that they are accusing you of many things. 4aAren’t you going to answer?

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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