Matthew 10:17

10:17 Beware ¹  of people, because they will hand you over to councils ²  and flog ³  you in their synagogues. ⁴ 

Matthew 26:59

26:59 The ⁵  chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were trying to find false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death.

Mark 14:55

14:55 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find anything.

Mark 15:1

Jesus Brought Before Pilate

15:1 Early in the morning, after forming a plan, the chief priests with the elders and the experts in the law ⁶  and the whole Sanhedrin tied Jesus up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. ⁷ 

John 11:47

11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees ⁸  called the council ⁹  together and said, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs.

Acts 5:27

5:27 When they had brought them, they stood them before the council, ¹⁰  and the high priest questioned ¹¹  them,

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² sn Councils in this context refers to local judicial bodies attached to the Jewish synagogue. This group would be responsible for meting out justice and discipline within the Jewish community.

³ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

⁴ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

⁵ tn Grk “Now the.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁶ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

⁷ sn The Jews most assuredly wanted to put Jesus to death, but they lacked the authority to do so. For this reason they handed him over to Pilate in hopes of securing a death sentence. The Romans kept close control of the death penalty in conquered territories to prevent it being used to execute Roman sympathizers.

⁸ tn The phrase “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26.

⁹ tn Or “Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). The συνέδριον (sunedrion) which they gathered was probably an informal meeting rather than the official Sanhedrin. This is the only occurrence of the word συνέδριον in the Gospel of John, and the only anarthrous singular use in the NT. There are other plural anarthrous uses which have the general meaning “councils.” The fact that Caiaphas in 11:49 is referred to as “one of them” supports the unofficial nature of the meeting; in the official Sanhedrin he, being high priest that year, would have presided over the assembly. Thus it appears that an informal council was called to discuss what to do about Jesus and his activities.

¹⁰ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

¹¹ tn Or “interrogated,” “asked.”