Luke 22:1-2

Judas’ Decision to Betray Jesus

22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, ¹  which is called the Passover, was approaching. 22:2 The ²  chief priests and the experts in the law ³  were trying to find some way ⁴  to execute ⁵  Jesus, ⁶  for they were afraid of the people. ⁷ 

Luke 22:5

22:5 They ⁸  were delighted ⁹  and arranged to give him money. ¹⁰ 

Luke 22:22-23

22:22 For the Son of Man is to go just as it has been determined, ¹¹  but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” 22:23 So ¹²  they began to question one another as to which of them it could possibly be who would do this.

¹ sn The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a week long celebration that followed the day of Passover, so one name was used for both feasts (Exod 12:1-20; 23:15; 34:18; Deut 16:1-8).

² tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

³ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

⁴ tn Grk “were seeking how.”

⁵ tn The Greek verb here means “to get rid of by execution” (BDAG 64 s.v. ἀναιρέω 2; cf. also L&N 20.71, which states, “to get rid of someone by execution, often with legal or quasi-legal procedures”).

⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ sn The suggestion here is that Jesus was too popular to openly arrest him. The verb were trying is imperfect. It suggests, in this context, that they were always considering the opportunities.

⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁹ sn The leaders were delighted when Judas contacted them about betraying Jesus, because it gave them the opportunity they had been looking for, and they could later claim that Jesus had been betrayed by one of his own disciples.

¹⁰ sn Matt 26:15 states the amount of money they gave Judas was thirty pieces of silver (see also Matt 27:3-4; Zech 11:12-13).

¹¹ sn Jesus’ death has been determined as a part of God’s plan (Acts 2:22-24).

¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ comments: The disciples begin wondering who would betray him.