Matius 2:4

2:4 After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, ¹  he asked them where the Christ ²  was to be born.

Matius 12:24

12:24 But when the Pharisees ³  heard this they said, “He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebul, ⁴  the ruler ⁵  of demons!”

Matius 20:25

20:25 But Jesus called them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them.

Matius 21:41

21:41 They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.”

Matius 26:57

Condemned by the Sanhedrin

26:57 Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house ⁶  the experts in the law ⁷  and the elders had gathered.

Matius 27:3

Judas’ Suicide

27:3 Now when ⁸  Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus ⁹  had been condemned, he regretted what he had done and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders,

[2:4]  ¹ tn Or “and scribes of the people.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[2:4]  ² tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:4]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.

[12:24]  ³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[12:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “except by Beelzebul.”

[12:24]  sn Beelzebul is another name for Satan. So some people recognized Jesus’ work as supernatural, but called it diabolical.

[12:24]  ⁵ tn Or “prince.”

[26:57]  ⁶ tn Grk “where.”

[26:57]  ⁷ tn Or “where the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[27:3]  ⁸ tn Grk “Then when.” Here τότε (tote) has been translated as “now” to indicate a somewhat parenthetical interlude in the sequence of events.

[27:3]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.