Mark 15:25

American Standard Version

And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Now it was nine in the morning when they crucified him.

King James Version (1611)
And it was the third houre, and they crucified him.

King James Version
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.

English Standard Version
And it was the third hour when they crucified him.

New American Standard Bible
Now it was the third hour when they crucified Him.

New Century Version
It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified Jesus.

Amplified Bible
It was the third hour (9:00 a.m.) when they crucified Him.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
It was the third hour when they crucified Him.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.

Berean Standard Bible
It was the third hour when they crucified Him.

Contemporary English Version
It was about nine o'clock in the morning when they nailed him to the cross.

Complete Jewish Bible
It was nine in the morning when they nailed him to the stake.

Darby Translation
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.

Easy-to-Read Version
It was nine o'clock in the morning when they nailed Jesus to the cross.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And it was the third houre, when they crucified him.

George Lamsa Translation
It was the third hour when they crucified him.

Good News Translation
It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him.

Lexham English Bible
Now it was the third hour when they crucified him.

Literal Translation
And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.

Bible in Basic English
And it was the third hour when they put him on the cross.

Hebrew Names Version
It was the third hour, and they crucified him.

International Standard Version
It was nine in the morningthe third hour">[fn] when they crucified him.Matthew 27:45; Luke 23:44; John 19:14;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
And it was the third hour when they crucified him.

Murdock Translation
And it was the third hour when they crucified him.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And it was the thyrde houre, and they crucified hym.

English Revised Version
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.

World English Bible
It was the third hour, and they crucified him.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And it was the third hour, when they crucified him. And there was an inscription of his written over,

Weymouth's New Testament
It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified Him.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And it was the thridde our, and thei crucifieden hym.

Update Bible Version
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.

Webster's Bible Translation
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.

New English Translation
It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him.

New King James Version
Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.

New Living Translation
It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him.

New Life Bible
It was about nine o'clock in the morning when they nailed Him to the cross.

New Revised Standard
It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And it was the third hour: and they crucified him.

Revised Standard Version
And it was the third hour, when they crucified him.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And it was aboute ye thyrde houre and they crucified him.

Young's Literal Translation
and it was the third hour, and they crucified him;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And it was aboute ye thirde houre, & they crucified him.

Mace New Testament (1729)
now it was the third hour of the day, when they crucified him,

THE MESSAGE
They nailed him up at nine o'clock in the morning. The charge against him— the king of the jews —was printed on a poster. Along with him, they crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: "You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you're really God's Son, come down from that cross!"

Simplified Cowboy Version
This all happened about nine o'clock in the morning.

Contextual Overview

²² And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. ²³ And they offered him wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. ²⁴ And they crucify him, and part his garments among them, casting lots upon them, what each should take. ²⁵ And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. ²⁶ And the superscription of his accusation was written over, the King of the Jews . ²⁷ And with him they crucify two robbers; one on his right hand, and one on his left. And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ha! thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, and come down from the cross. In like manner also the chief priests mocking him among themselves with the scribes said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reproached him. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elijah. And one ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to take him down. And Jesus uttered a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom. And when the centurion, who stood by over against him, saw that he so gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. And there were also women beholding from afar: among whom were both Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him; and many other women that came up with him unto Jerusalem. And when even was now come, because it was the Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, there came Joseph of Arimathaea, a councillor of honorable estate, who also himself was looking for the kingdom of God; and he boldly went in unto Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he learned it of the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And he bought a linen cloth, and taking him down, wound him in the linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of a rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid. ²⁸ And straightway in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him up to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering saith unto him, Thou sayest. And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they accuse thee of. But Jesus no more answered anything; insomuch that Pilate marvelled. Now at the feast he used to release unto them one prisoner, whom they asked of him. And there was one called Barabbas, lying bound with them that had made insurrection, men who in the insurrection had committed murder. And the multitude went up and began to ask him to do as he was wont to do unto them. And Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? For he perceived that for envy the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the multitude, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. And Pilate again answered and said unto them, What then shall I do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? And they cried out again, Crucify him. And Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out exceedingly, Crucify him. And Pilate, wishing to content the multitude, released unto them Barabbas, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away within the court, which is the Praetorium; and they call together the whole band. And they clothe him with purple, and platting a crown of thorns, they put it on him; and they began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote his head with a reed, and spat upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him. And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the purple, and put on him his garments. And they lead him out to crucify him. And they compel one passing by, Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them, that he might bear his cross. And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they offered him wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And they crucify him, and part his garments among them, casting lots upon them, what each should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, the King of the Jews . And with him they crucify two robbers; one on his right hand, and one on his left. ²⁹ And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ha! thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, ³⁰ save thyself, and come down from the cross. ³¹ In like manner also the chief priests mocking him among themselves with the scribes said, He saved others; himself he cannot save.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the: Mark 15:33, Matthew 27:45, Luke 23:44, John 19:14, Acts 2:15

Reciprocal: Exodus 12:6 - the whole Matthew 20:3 - the third

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. The time of the daily sacrifice of the morning, at which the priests ought to have been; and the time when the sanhedrim usually began to sit x; for

"the grand sanhedrim sat from the daily sacrifice of the morning, to the daily sacrifice of the evening:''

but this being an extraordinary case, and they in a hurry to put Jesus to death, had been sitting up all night; and early in the morning had procured the sentence of death on him, which they were going to execute by the time they used to sit: this was about nine o'clock in the morning, and takes in the time between that and twelve at noon. The Ethiopic version reads, "and it was the sixth hour", to make it agree with John 19:14; and for the reconciling of these two places, John 19:14- :.

x Maimon. Hilch. Sanhedrin, c. 3, sect. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And it was the third hour ... - In John 19:14 it is said, “And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour, etc. Much difficulty has been felt in reconciling these passages, and infidels have usually adduced them to prove that the evangelists have contradicted themselves. In reconciling them the following remarks may perhaps make the matter clear:

(1) The Jews divided both the night and the day into four equal parts of three hours each. See the notes at Matthew 14:25. The first division of the day commenced at six o’clock in the morning, and ended at nine; the second commenced at nine and ended at twelve, etc. “The third” hour mentioned by Mark would therefore correspond with our nine o’clock; the “sixth” hour mentioned by John would correspond with our twelve, or noon.

(2) Mark professes to give the time accurately; John does not. He says “it was about the sixth hour,” without affirming that this was exactly the time.

(3) A mistake in “numbers” is easily made; and if it should he admitted that such an error had crept into the text here, it would be nothing more than has occurred in many ancient writings. It has been proved, moreover, that it was common not to write the “words” indicating numbers at “length,” but to use “letters.” The Greeks designated numbers by the letters of the alphabet, and this mode of computation is found in ancient manuscripts. For example, the Cambridge manuscript of the New Testament has in this very place in Mark, not the word “third” written at length, but the Greek letter gamma (γ), the usual notation for third. Now it is well known that it would be easy to mistake this for the Greek letter sigma (ς), the mark denoting “six.” An error of this kind in an early manuscript might be extensively propagated, and might have led to the present reading of the text. Such an error is actually known to exist in the “Chronicon” of Paschal, where Otho is said to have reigned ς, (six) months, whereas it is known that he reigned but three, and in this place, therefore, the γ, three, was mistaken for ς, six.

(4) There is some external authority for reading “third” in John 19:14. The Cambridge manuscript has this reading. Nonnus, who lived in the fifth century, says that this was the true reading (Wetstein). Peter of Alexandria, in a fragment concerning the Passover, as quoted by Usher, says, “It was the preparation of the Passover, and about the “third” hour, as,” he adds, “the most accurate copies of the Bible have it; and this was the handwriting of the evangelist (John), which is kept, by the grace of God, in his most holy church at Ephesus” (Mill). It is to be admitted, however, that no great reliance is to be placed on this account. That a mistake “might” have occurred in the early manuscripts is not improbable. No man can “prove” that it did “not” so occur, and so long as this cannot be proved, the passages should not be adduced as conclusive proof of contradiction.

After all, perhaps, without the supposition that there is any error in the text, the whole difficulty may be removed by the following statements:

(1) Calvary was “without” the walls of Jerusalem. It was a considerable distance from the place where Jesus was tried and condemned. Some time, more or less, would be occupied in going there, and in the preparatory measures for crucifying him.

(2) It is not necessary to understand “Mark” as saying that it was precisely nine o’clock, according to our expression. With the Jews it was six until seven; it was the third hour until the fourth commenced; it was the ninth until it was the tenth. They “included” in the “third” hour the whole time from the third to the fourth. The same mode they adopted in regard to their days. See the notes at Matthew 12:40.

(3) It is not unduly pressing the matter to suppose that Mark spoke of the time when the process for crucifixion commenced - that is, when he was condemned - when they entered upon it - when they made the preparation. Between that and the time when he was taken “out” of Jerusalem to Mount Calvary, and when he was actually nailed to the tree, there is no improbability in supposing that there might have been an interval of more than an hour. Indeed, the presumption is that considerably more time than that would elapse.

(4) John does not profess, as has been remarked, to be strictly accurate. He says “it was about the sixth hour,” etc.

(5) Now suppose that John meant to indicate the time when he was “actually” suspended on the cross - that he spoke of the “crucifixion” denoting the “act of suspension,” as it struck “him” - and there is no difficulty. Any other two men - any witnesses - might give just such an account now. One man would speak of the time when the process for an execution commenced; another, perhaps, of the very “act” of the execution and would “both” speak of it in general terms, and say that a man was executed at such a time; and the circumstantial variation would “prove” that there was no collusion, no agreement to “impose” on a court - that they were honest witnesses. That is “proved” here.

(6) That this is the true account of the matter is clear from the evangelists themselves, and “especially from Mark.” The three first evangelists concur in stating that there was a remarkable “darkness” over the whole land from the “sixth” to the “ninth” hour, Matthew 27:45; “Mark 15:33;” Luke 23:44. This fact - in which Mark concurs - would seem to indicate that “the actual crucifixion” continued only during that time - that he was, in fact, suspended at about the sixth hour, though the preparations for crucifying him had been going on (Mark) for two hours before. The fact that Mark Mark 15:33 mentions this darkness as commencing at the “sixth” and not at the “third” hour, is one of the circumstances undesignedly occurring that seems to signify that the crucifixion then had “actually” taken place, though the various arrangements for it Mark 15:25 had been going on from the “third” hour.

One thing is conclusively proved by this - that the evangelists did not “conspire together” to impose on the world. They are independent witnesses, and they were honest men; and the circumstance adverted to here is one that is allowed to be of great value in testimony in courts of justice - “circumstantial variation with essential agreement.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 25. The third hour — It has been before observed, that the Jews divided their night into four watches, of three hours each. They also divided the day into four general parts. The first began at sunrise. The second three hours after. The third at mid-day. The fourth three hours after, and continued till sunset. Christ having been nailed to the cross a little after mid-day, John 19:14-16; John 19:17, and having expired about three o'clock, Mark 15:33, the whole business of the crucifixion was finished within the space of this third division of the day, which Mark calls here the third hour. Commentators and critics have found it very difficult to reconcile this third hour of Mark, with the sixth hour of John, John 19:14. It is supposed that the true reading, in John 19:14, should be τριτη, the third, instead of εκτη the sixth; a mistake which might have readily taken place in ancient times, when the character γ gamma, which was put for τριτη, three, might have been mistaken for Ϛ episema, or sigma tau, which signifies six. And τριτη, the third, instead of εκτη, the sixth, is the reading of some very eminent MSS. in the place in question, John 19:14. See Bengel, Newcome, Macknight, Lightfoot, Rosenmuller, &c., on this perplexing point.