Matius 26:53-66

26:53 Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions ¹  of angels right now? 26:54 How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled?” 26:55 At that moment Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me like you would an outlaw? ²  Day after day I sat teaching in the temple courts, yet ³  you did not arrest me. 26:56 But this has happened so that ⁴  the scriptures of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Condemned by the Sanhedrin

26:57 Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house ⁵  the experts in the law ⁶  and the elders had gathered. 26:58 But Peter was following him from a distance, all the way to the high priest’s courtyard. After ⁷  going in, he sat with the guards ⁸  to see the outcome. 26:59 The ⁹  chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were trying to find false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 26:60 But they did not find anything, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally ¹⁰  two came forward 26:61 and declared, “This man ¹¹  said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” 26:62 So ¹²  the high priest stood up and said to him, “Have you no answer? What is this that they are testifying against you?” 26:63 But Jesus was silent. The ¹³  high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, ¹⁴  the Son of God.” 26:64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand ¹⁵  of the Power ¹⁶  and coming on the clouds of heaven.” ¹⁷  26:65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared, ¹⁸  “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Now ¹⁹  you have heard the blasphemy! 26:66 What is your verdict?” ²⁰  They ²¹  answered, “He is guilty and deserves ²²  death.”

[26:53]  ¹ sn A legion was a Roman army unit of about 6,000 soldiers, so twelve legions would be 72,000.

[26:55]  ² tn Or “a revolutionary.” This term can refer to one who stirs up rebellion: BDAG 594 s.v. λῃστής 2 has “revolutionary, insurrectionist, guerrilla” citing evidence from Josephus (J. W. 2.13.2-3 [2.253-254]). However, this usage generally postdates Jesus’ time. It does refer to a figure of violence. Luke uses the same term for the highwaymen who attack the traveler in the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30).

[26:55]  ³ tn Grk “and” (καί, kai), a conjunction that is elastic enough to be used to indicate a contrast, as here.

[26:56]  ⁴ tn Grk “But so that”; the verb “has happened” is implied.

[26:57]  ⁵ tn Grk “where.”

[26:57]  ⁶ tn Or “where the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[26:58]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:58]  ⁸ sn The guards would have been the guards of the chief priests who had accompanied Judas to arrest Jesus.

[26:59]  ⁹ tn Grk “Now the.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:60]  ¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:61]  ¹¹ tn Grk “This one.”

[26:62]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the false testimony.

[26:63]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:63]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[26:63]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.

[26:64]  ¹⁵ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1. This is a claim that Jesus shares authority with God in heaven. Those present may have thought they were his judges, but, in fact, the reverse was true.

[26:64]  ¹⁶ sn The expression the right hand of the Power is a circumlocution for referring to God. Such indirect references to God were common in 1st century Judaism out of reverence for the divine name.

[26:64]  ¹⁷ sn An allusion to Dan 7:13 (see also Matt 24:30).

[26:65]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the high priest tore his clothes, saying.”

[26:65]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Behold now.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[26:66]  ²⁰ tn Grk “What do you think?”

[26:66]  ²¹ tn Grk “answering, they said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:66]  ²² tn Grk “he is guilty of death.” L&N 88.313 states, “pertaining to being guilty and thus deserving some particular penalty – ‘guilty and deserving, guilty and punishable by.’ οἱ δὲ ἀποκριθέντες εἶπαν, ᾿Ενοχος θανάτου ἐστίν ‘they answered, He is guilty and deserves death’ Mt 26:66.”