What Does Mark 15:5 Mean?
But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.
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
But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.THE KEY
The one with power to question becomes the one whose inner state changes: the silence makes Pilate marvel.
THE MEANING
When no answer is given, the silence still changes what is happening: Pilate is the one left astonished. The verse makes the lack of speech active in the room, even while Jesus says nothing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Silence does not always mean that nothing is happening; here it leaves the one questioning astonished.
THE ROOT
θαυμάζειν
thaumazein
GROWS FROM
θαυμ-
thaum-
Wonder, astonishment; being struck with wonder.
“marveled” in this verse is thaumazein. The narrator uses the wonder-word family for Pilate’s reaction: the silence does not leave a blank where an answer should be; it produces astonishment. The word family links what is wondered at with what is called wondrous, giving the silence force in the scene.
ALSO GROWS
thauma: A wonder or marvel that draws astonishment.
θαῦμα
This branch shows the kind of response the silence produces in Pilate.
thaumastos: Marked by wonder or astonishment.
θαυμαστός
This branch gives the quality that the verse’s silence seems to take on through Pilate’s reaction.
ἀπεκρίθη
apekrithē
GROWS FROM
κρίνω
krinō
To distinguish, decide, or judge; in the compound answering verb, to respond.
“answered” in this verse is apekrithē. The verb here means “answer” or “respond,” while its Greek word family also names judgment and the judge. That shared stem places answering beside judging in this courtroom scene, a resonance the English word alone does not show.
ALSO GROWS
krisis: A judgment or decision.
κρίσις
This branch echoes the judgment surrounding the unanswered question.
kritēs: A person who judges or decides.
κριτής
This branch links the answer-word’s root to the role Pilate holds in the scene.
THE PATTERN
Across accusation and suffering, withholding an answer or counterattack leaves violence unanswered rather than echoed.
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.But he kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said to him, Are you the Anointed One, the Son of the Praised One?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
But he kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said to him, Are you the Anointed One, the Son of the Praised One?The same Greek answer-word appears when Jesus gives no answer before the high priest. That repeated silence carries into the hearing before Pilate, where the verse names its effect: Pilate marvels.
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