What Does Mark 15:3 Mean?
And the chief priests accused him of many things, but he answered nothing.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.THE KEY
Their many accusations gain a public voice, but their volume does not decide what is true.
THE MEANING
When accusations gather around you, their number can feel like proof, but many claims are still claims. The accused does not answer, and the accusers’ words do not define him or settle the truth.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Many accusations do not become true by being many, and silence is not itself a confession.
THE ROOT
κατηγόρουν
katēgoroun
GROWS FROM
κατηγορέω (katēgoreō), from κατά (katá, against) + ἀγορεύω (agoreúō, speak publicly)
To speak publicly against someone; to accuse.
“accused” in this verse is katēgoroun. The accusation word carries public speech inside it: this is a charge voiced before others. The verse sets that many-sided public speech beside silence, showing that a claim’s reach and volume do not make it true.
ALSO GROWS
agoreúō: Speak publicly or in an assembly.
ἀγορεύω
This branch makes visible the public speech contained in the accusation.
agorá: Assembly or public marketplace.
ἀγορά
This related word preserves the public setting: the charge is spoken where others can hear it.
ἀπεκρίνατο
apekrinato
GROWS FROM
ἀποκρίνομαι (apokrínomai), from ἀπό (apó, away) + κρίνω (krínō, distinguish, decide)
To answer or respond; the verb is formed from language of distinguishing or deciding.
“answered” in this verse is apekrinato. The answer verb is built around krínō, the language of distinguishing and deciding. Here no counterstatement divides or contests the charges; the absence of an answer makes the public flood of accusation stand on its own.
ALSO GROWS
krínō: Distinguish, decide, or judge.
κρίνω
This root connects answering with making a distinction or decision in response.
apókrisis: An answer or reply.
ἀπόκρισις
This related noun names the reply that the verse says does not come.
THE PATTERN
Public accusation can multiply without compelling a reply or determining the truth.
He was pressed, and he was bowed low, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb he was led to the slaughter, and like a ewe before her shearers he was mute, so he did not open his mouth.Who, when he was insulted, hurled no insult back; when he suffered, he threatened not; but handed himself over to the one who judges by alignment.THE THREAD
When he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.Matthew repeats the same Greek verbs for “accused” and “answered,” carrying both the public charge and the silence into another account. The repeated wording shows that the unanswered accusation is central to the scene.
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