Mark 15:25

The NET Bible®

It was nine o'clock in the morning when 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.

American Standard Version
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 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 They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which is translated, "Place of the Skull"). ²³ They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, throwing dice for them, to decide what each would take. ²⁵ It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶ The inscription of the charge against him read, "The king of the Jews." ²⁷ And they crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross!" In the same way even the chief priests—together with the experts in the law—were mocking him among themselves: "He saved others, but he cannot save himself! Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, that we may see and believe!" Those who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. Now when it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. Around three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, " My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? " When some of the bystanders heard it they said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah!" Then someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Leave him alone! Let's see if Elijah will come to take him down!" But Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. And the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood in front of him, saw how he died, he said, "Truly this man was God's Son!" There were also women, watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they had followed him and given him support. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were there too. Now when evening had already come, since it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), Joseph of Arimathea, a highly regarded member of the council, who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. He called the centurion and asked him if he had been dead for some time. When Pilate was informed by the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. After Joseph bought a linen cloth and took down the body, he wrapped it in the linen and placed it in a tomb cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone across the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was placed. ²⁸Jesus Brought Before Pilate Early in the morning, after forming a plan, the chief priests with the elders and the experts in the law and the whole Sanhedrin tied Jesus up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. So Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" He replied, "You say so." Then the chief priests began to accuse him repeatedly. So Pilate asked him again, "Have you nothing to say? See how many charges they are bringing against you!" But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed. During the feast it was customary to release one prisoner to the people, whomever they requested. A man named Barabbas was imprisoned with rebels who had committed murder during an insurrection. Then the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to release a prisoner for them, as was his custom. So Pilate asked them, "Do you want me to release the king of the Jews for you?" (For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.) But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas instead. So Pilate spoke to them again, "Then what do you want me to do with the one you call king of the Jews?" They shouted back, "Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Why? What has he done wrong?" But they shouted more insistently, "Crucify him!" Because he wanted to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them. Then, after he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified. So the soldiers led him into the palace (that is, the governor's residence) and called together the whole cohort. They put a purple cloak on him and after braiding a crown of thorns, they put it on him. They began to salute him: "Hail, king of the Jews!" Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Then they knelt down and paid homage to him. When they had finished mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. The soldiers forced a passerby to carry his cross, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country (he was the father of Alexander and Rufus). They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which is translated, "Place of the Skull"). They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, throwing dice for them, to decide what each would take. It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, "The king of the Jews." And they crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left. ²⁹ Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰ save yourself and come down from the cross!" ³¹ In the same way even the chief priests—together with the experts in the law—were mocking him among themselves: "He saved others, but he cannot save himself!

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.