What Does Mark 15:20 Mean in the King James?
And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verb frames their contempt as play-acting, but the body they carry to the cross is real.
THE MEANING
Contempt can move in stages: a person is made a spectacle, the visible signs of status are stripped away, and the body is carried toward execution. Returning his own clothes changes his appearance; it does nothing to stop the violence.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that mockery is harmless because it is only a performance; here, the performance ends with a person led to crucifixion.
THE ROOT
ἐνέπαιξαν
enépaixan
GROWS FROM
παιζ-
paiz-
Play or make sport; ἐμπαίζω means to make sport of someone, hence to mock.
“mocked” in this verse is enépaixan. The word carries the sense of making sport of someone, so the purple robe belongs to an enacted scene of ridicule. The scene ends with the costume removed, while the person remains on the path to crucifixion.
ALSO GROWS
paizō: To play or make sport
παίζω
This is the verb family beneath the word for mockery, revealing its performative edge.
empaigmos: Mockery or derision
ἐμπαιγμός
This noun carries the same idea of making sport of someone; here, the mockery accompanies a real act of violence.
σταυρώσωσιν
staurōsōsin
GROWS FROM
σταυρ-
staur-
Cross; the action of execution on a cross.
“crucify” in this verse is staurōsōsin. The verb names a concrete execution, not an abstract hardship. After the mock regalia are removed, the scene still moves toward the cross.
ALSO GROWS
stauros: Cross
σταυρός
The instrument named by the root is the destination toward which they lead him.
stauroō: Crucify
σταυρόω
This verb names the act the crowd is carrying out after the mockery ends.
THE PATTERN
Public mockery can become the first act in a sequence that carries a person into bodily violence.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.THE THREAD
And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.Mark 10:34 uses ἐμπαίζω (empaizō, “mock”), the same verb family as “mocked” here, and places it beside scourging, spitting, and killing. Mark 15:20 shows that sequence unfolding: the mockery is done, the robe comes off, and the walk toward crucifixion begins.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us