Exodus 22:28

Context

22:28 “You must not blaspheme¹ God² or curse the ruler of your people.

Leviticus 24:15

Context
24:15 Moreover,³ you are to tell the Israelites, ‘If any man curses his God⁴ he will bear responsibility for his sin,

Matthew 26:59-66

Context
26:59 The⁵ 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. Finally⁶ two came forward 26:61 and declared, “This man⁷ said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” 26:62 So⁸ 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. The⁹ high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ,¹⁰ 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 hand¹¹ of the Power¹² and coming on the clouds of heaven.”¹³ 26:65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared,¹⁴ “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Now¹⁵ you have heard the blasphemy! 26:66 What is your verdict?”¹⁶ They¹⁷ answered, “He is guilty and deserves¹⁸ death.”

John 10:33

Context
10:33 The Jewish leaders¹⁹ replied,²⁰ “We are not going to stone you for a good deed²¹ but for blasphemy,²² because²³ you, a man, are claiming to be God.”²⁴

Acts 6:13

Context
6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place²⁵ and the law.²⁶

[22:28] ¹tn The two verbs in this verse are synonyms: קָלַל (qalal) means “to treat lightly, curse,” and אָרַר (’arar) means “to curse.”

[22:28] ²tn The word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is “gods” or “God.” If taken as the simple plural, it could refer to the human judges, as it has in the section of laws; this would match the parallelism in the verse. If it was taken to refer to God, then the idea of cursing God would be more along the line of blasphemy. B. Jacob says that the word refers to functioning judges, and that would indirectly mean God, for they represented the religious authority, and the prince the civil authority (Exodus, 708).

[24:15] ³tn Heb “And.”

[24:15] ⁴sn See the note on v. 11 above and esp. Exod 22:28 [27 HT].

[26:59] ⁵tn Grk “Now the.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:60] ⁶tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:61] ⁷tn Grk “This one.”

[26:62] ⁸tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the false testimony.

[26:63] ⁹tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:63] ¹⁰tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[26:64] ¹¹sn 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] ¹²sn 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] ¹³sn An allusion to Dan 7:13 (see also Matt 24:30).

[26:65] ¹⁴tn Grk “the high priest tore his clothes, saying.”

[26:65] ¹⁵tn 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] ¹⁶tn Grk “What do you think?”

[26:66] ¹⁷tn Grk “answering, they said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:66] ¹⁸tn 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.”

[10:33] ¹⁹tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here again the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. See the notes on the phrase “Jewish people” in v. 19 and “Jewish leaders” in vv. 24, 31.

[10:33] ²⁰tn Grk “answered him.”

[10:33] ²¹tn Or “good work.”

[10:33] ²²sn This is the first time the official charge of blasphemy is voiced openly in the Fourth Gospel (although it was implicit in John 8:59).

[10:33] ²³tn Grk “and because.”

[10:33] ²⁴tn Grk “you, a man, make yourself to be God.”

[6:13] ²⁵sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

[6:13] ²⁶sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.