Matthew 26:3-4

26:3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people met together in the palace of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas. 26:4 They planned to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

Mark 11:18

11:18 The chief priests and the experts in the law heard it and they considered how they could assassinate him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed by his teaching.

Mark 12:12

12:12 Now they wanted to arrest him (but they feared the crowd), because they realized that he told this parable against them. So they left him and went away.

Mark 14:1

The Plot Against Jesus

14:1 Two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the chief priests and the experts in the law were trying to find a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

John 7:19

7:19 Hasn’t Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps 10  the law! Why do you want 11  to kill me?”

John 7:44

7:44 Some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. 12 

John 8:37-40

8:37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. 13  But you want 14  to kill me, because my teaching 15  makes no progress among you. 16  8:38 I am telling you the things I have seen while with the 17  Father; 18  as for you, 19  practice the things you have heard from the 20  Father!”

8:39 They answered him, 21  “Abraham is our father!” 22  Jesus replied, 23  “If you are 24  Abraham’s children, you would be doing 25  the deeds of Abraham. 8:40 But now you are trying 26  to kill me, a man who has told you 27  the truth I heard from God. Abraham did not do this! 28 

John 10:39

10:39 Then 29  they attempted 30  again to seize him, but he escaped their clutches. 31 

John 11:53-57

11:53 So from that day they planned together to kill him.

11:54 Thus Jesus no longer went 32  around publicly 33  among the Judeans, 34  but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, 35  and stayed there with his disciples. 11:55 Now the Jewish feast of Passover 36  was near, and many people went up to Jerusalem 37  from the rural areas before the Passover to cleanse themselves ritually. 38  11:56 Thus they were looking for Jesus, 39  and saying to one another as they stood in the temple courts, 40  “What do you think? That he won’t come to the feast?” 11:57 (Now the chief priests and the Pharisees 41  had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus 42  was should report it, so that they could arrest 43  him.) 44 


tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

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

tn Grk “how they could destroy him.”

tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to introduce a somewhat parenthetical remark by the author.

tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

sn The point of the parable in Mark 12:1-12 is that the leaders of the nation have been rejected by God and the vineyard (v. 9, referring to the nation and its privileged status) will be taken from them and given to others (an allusion to the Gentiles).

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

tn Grk “were seeking how.”

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

10 tn Or “accomplishes”; Grk “does.”

11 tn Grk “seek.”

12 sn Compare John 7:30 regarding the attempt to seize Jesus.

13 tn Grk “seed” (an idiom).

14 tn Grk “you are seeking.”

15 tn Grk “my word.”

16 tn Or “finds no place in you.” The basic idea seems to be something (in this case Jesus’ teaching) making headway or progress where resistance is involved. See BDAG 1094 s.v. χωρέω 2.

17 tc The first person pronoun μου (mou, “my”) may be implied, especially if ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) follows the second mention of “father” in this verse (as it does in the majority of mss); no doubt this implication gave rise to the reading μου found in most witnesses (א D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë1,13 33 Ï it sy). No pronoun here is read by Ì66,75 B C L 070 pc. This problem cannot be isolated from the second in the verse, however. See that discussion below.

18 tn Grk “The things which I have seen with the Father I speak about.”

19 tn Grk “and you.”

20 tc A few significant witnesses lack ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) here (Ì66,75 B L W 070 pc), while the majority have the pronoun (א C D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë1,13 33 565 892 Ï al lat sy). However, these mss do not agree on the placement of the pronoun: τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν ποιεῖτε (tou patro" Jumwn poieite), τῷ πατρὶ ὑμῶν (tw patri Jumwn), and τῷ πατρὶ ὑμῶν ταῦτα (tw patri Jumwn tauta) all occur. If the pronoun is read, then the devil is in view and the text should be translated as “you are practicing the things you have heard from your father.” If it is not read, then the same Father mentioned in the first part of the verse is in view. In this case, ποιεῖτε should be taken as an imperative: “you [must] practice the things you have heard from the Father.” The omission is decidedly the harder reading, both because the contrast between God and the devil is now delayed until v. 41, and because ποιεῖτε could be read as an indicative, especially since the two clauses are joined by καί (kai, “and”). Thus, the pronoun looks to be a motivated reading. In light of the better external and internal evidence the omission is preferred.

21 tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”

22 tn Or “Our father is Abraham.”

23 tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

24 tc Although most mss (C W Θ Ψ 0250 Ë1,13 33 Ï) have the imperfect ἦτε (hte, “you were”) here, making this sentence a proper second class condition, the harder reading, ἐστε (este, “you are”), is found in the better witnesses (Ì66,75 א B D L 070 pc lat).

25 tc Some important mss (Ì66 B* [700]) have the present imperative ποιεῖτε (poieite) here: “If you are Abraham’s children, then do,” while many others (א2 C K L N Δ Ψ Ë1,13 33 565 579 892 pm) add the contingent particle ἄν (an) to ἐποιεῖτε (epoieite) making it a more proper second class condition by Attic standards. The simple ἐποιεῖτε without the ἄν is the hardest reading, and is found in some excellent witnesses (Ì75 א* B2 D W Γ Θ 070 0250 1424 pm).

26 tn Grk “seeking.”

27 tn Grk “has spoken to you.”

28 tn The Greek word order is emphatic: “This Abraham did not do.” The emphasis is indicated in the translation by an exclamation point.

29 tc It is difficult to decide between ἐζήτουν οὖν (ezhtoun oun, “then they were seeking”; Ì66 א A L W Ψ Ë1,13 33 pm lat), ἐζήτουν δέ (ezhtoun de, “now they were seeking”; Ì45 and a few versional witnesses), καὶ ἐζήτουν (kai ezhtoun, “and they were seeking”; D), and ἐζήτουν (Ì75vid B Γ Θ 700 pm). Externally, the most viable readings are ἐζήτουν οὖν and ἐζήτουν. Transcriptionally, the οὖν could have dropped out via haplography since the verb ends in the same three letters. On the other hand, it is difficult to explain the readings with δέ or καί if ἐζήτουν οὖν is original; such readings would more likely have arisen from the simple ἐζήτουν. Intrinsically, John is fond of οὖν, using it some 200 times. Further, this Gospel begins relatively few sentences without some conjunction. The minimal support for the δέ and καί readings suggests that they arose either from the lone verb reading (which would thus be prior to their respective Vorlagen but not necessarily the earliest reading) or through carelessness on the part of the scribes. Indeed, the ancestors of Ì45 and D may have committed haplography, leaving later scribes in the chain to guess at the conjunction needed. In sum, the best reading appears to be ἐζήτουν οὖν.

30 tn Grk “they were seeking.”

31 tn Grk “he departed out of their hand.”

32 tn Grk “walked.”

33 tn Or “openly.”

34 tn Grk “among the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the residents of Judea in general, who would be likely to report Jesus to the religious authorities. The vicinity around Jerusalem was no longer safe for Jesus and his disciples. On the translation “Judeans” cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e. See also the references in vv. 8, 19, 31, 33, 36, and 45.

35 tn There is no certain identification of the location to which Jesus withdrew in response to the decision of the Jewish authorities. Many have suggested the present town of Et-Taiyibeh, identified with ancient Ophrah (Josh 18:23) or Ephron (Josh 15:9). If so, this would be 12-15 mi (19-24 km) northeast of Jerusalem.

36 tn Grk “the Passover of the Jews.” This is the final Passover of Jesus’ ministry. The author is now on the eve of the week of the Passion. Some time prior to the feast itself, Jerusalem would be crowded with pilgrims from the surrounding districts (ἐκ τῆς χώρας, ek th" cwra") who had come to purify themselves ceremonially before the feast.

37 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

38 tn Or “to purify themselves” (to undergo or carry out ceremonial cleansing before participating in the Passover celebration).

39 tn Grk “they were seeking Jesus.”

40 tn Grk “in the temple.”

41 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.

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

43 tn Or “could seize.”

44 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.