Isaiah 53:7

53:7 He was treated harshly and afflicted, ¹ 

but he did not even open his mouth.

Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,

like a sheep silent before her shearers,

he did not even open his mouth. ² 

Matthew 26:57-68

Condemned by the Sanhedrin

26:57 Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house ³  the experts in the law ⁴  and the elders had gathered. 26:58 But Peter was following him from a distance, all the way to the high priest’s courtyard. After ⁵  going in, he sat with the guards ⁶  to see the outcome. 26:59 The ⁷  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. Finally ⁸  two came forward 26:61 and declared, “This man ⁹  said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” 26:62 So ¹⁰  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. The ¹¹  high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, ¹²  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 hand ¹³  of the Power ¹⁴  and coming on the clouds of heaven.” ¹⁵  26:65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared, ¹⁶  “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Now ¹⁷  you have heard the blasphemy! 26:66 What is your verdict?” ¹⁸  They ¹⁹  answered, “He is guilty and deserves ²⁰  death.” 26:67 Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists. And some slapped him, 26:68 saying, “Prophesy for us, you Christ! ²¹  Who hit you?” ²² 

Luke 22:54-62

Jesus’ Condemnation and Peter’s Denials

22:54 Then ²³  they arrested ²⁴  Jesus, ²⁵  led him away, and brought him into the high priest’s house. ²⁶  But Peter was following at a distance. 22:55 When they had made a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 22:56 Then a slave girl, ²⁷  seeing him as he sat in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man was with him too!” 22:57 But Peter ²⁸  denied it: “Woman, ²⁹  I don’t know ³⁰  him!” 22:58 Then ³¹  a little later someone else ³²  saw him and said, “You are one of them too.” But Peter said, “Man, ³³  I am not!” 22:59 And after about an hour still another insisted, ³⁴  “Certainly this man was with him, because he too is a Galilean.” ³⁵  22:60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” At that moment, ³⁶  while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ³⁷  22:61 Then ³⁸  the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, ³⁹  how he had said to him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 22:62 And he went outside and wept bitterly. ⁴⁰ 

John 18:13-14

18:13 They ⁴¹  brought him first to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ⁴²  18:14 (Now it was Caiaphas who had advised ⁴³  the Jewish leaders ⁴⁴  that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people.) ⁴⁵ 

John 18:24

18:24 Then Annas sent him, still tied up, ⁴⁶  to Caiaphas the high priest. ⁴⁷ 

[53:7]  ¹ tn The translation assumes the Niphal is passive; another option is take the clause (note the subject + verb pattern) as concessive and the Niphal as reflexive, “though he humbled himself.”

[53:7]  ² sn This verse emphasizes the servant’s silent submission. The comparison to a sheep does not necessarily suggest a sacrificial metaphor. Sheep were slaughtered for food as well as for sacrificial rituals, and טֶבַח (tevakh) need not refer to sacrificial slaughter (see Gen 43:16; Prov 7:22; 9:2; Jer 50:27; note also the use of the related verb in Exod 21:37; Deut 28:31; 1 Sam 25:11).

[26:57]  ³ tn Grk “where.”

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

[26:58]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:58]  ⁶ sn The guards would have been the guards of the chief priests who had accompanied Judas to arrest Jesus.

[26:59]  ⁷ tn Grk “Now the.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:60]  ⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:61]  ⁹ tn Grk “This one.”

[26:62]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the false testimony.

[26:63]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:63]  ¹² tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[26:64]  ¹³ sn 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]  ¹⁴ sn 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]  ¹⁵ sn An allusion to Dan 7:13 (see also Matt 24:30).

[26:65]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the high priest tore his clothes, saying.”

[26:65]  ¹⁷ tn 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]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “What do you think?”

[26:66]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “answering, they said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:66]  ²⁰ tn 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.”

[26:68]  ²¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[26:68]  ²² tn Grk “Who is the one who hit you?”

[22:54]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:54]  ²⁴ tn Or “seized” (L&N 37.109).

[22:54]  ²⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:54]  ²⁶ sn Putting all the gospel accounts together, there is a brief encounter with Annas (brought him into the high priest’s house, here and John 18:13, where Annas is named); the meeting led by Caiaphas (Matt 26:57-68 = Mark 14:53-65; and then a Sanhedrin meeting (Matt 27:1; Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66-71). These latter two meetings might be connected and apparently went into the morning.

[22:56]  ²⁷ tn The Greek term here is παιδίσκη (paidiskh), referring to a slave girl or slave woman.

[22:57]  ²⁸ tn Grk “he denied it, saying.” The referent (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[22:57]  ²⁹ sn Woman was a polite form of address (see BDAG 208-9 s.v. γυνή), similar to “Madam” or “Ma’am” used in English in different regions.

[22:57]  ³⁰ sn The expression “I do not know him” had an idiomatic use in Jewish ban formulas in the synagogue and could mean, “I have nothing to do with him.”

[22:58]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:58]  ³² sn In Mark 14:69, the same slave girl made the charge. So apparently Peter was being identified by a variety of people.

[22:58]  ³³ tn Here and in v. 60 “Man” is used as a neutral form of address to a stranger.

[22:59]  ³⁴ tn Grk “insisted, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated here.

[22:59]  ³⁵ sn According to Mark 14:70 it was Peter’s accent that gave him away as a Galilean.

[22:60]  ³⁶ tn Grk “And immediately.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:60]  ³⁷ tn A real rooster crowing is probably in view here (rather than the Roman trumpet call known as gallicinium), in part due to the fact that Mark 14:72 mentions the rooster crowing twice. See the discussion at Matt 26:74.

[22:61]  ³⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:61]  ³⁹ tn “The word of the Lord” is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; here and in Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said. Because of its technical nature the expression has been retained in the translation in preference to a smoother rendering like “remembered what the Lord had said” (cf. TEV, NLT).

[22:62]  ⁴⁰ sn When Peter went out and wept bitterly it shows he really did not want to fail here and was deeply grieved that he had.

[18:13]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “up, and brought.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[18:13]  ⁴² sn Jesus was taken first to Annas. Only the Gospel of John mentions this pretrial hearing before Annas, and that Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who is said to be high priest in that year. Caiaphas is also mentioned as being high priest in John 11:49. But in 18:15, 16, 19, and 22 Annas is called high priest. Annas is also referred to as high priest by Luke in Acts 4:6. Many scholars have dismissed these references as mistakes on the part of both Luke and John, but as mentioned above, John 11:49 and 18:13 indicate that John knew that Caiaphas was high priest in the year that Jesus was crucified. This has led others to suggest that Annas and Caiaphas shared the high priesthood, but there is no historical evidence to support this view. Annas had been high priest from a.d. 6 to a.d. 15 when he was deposed by the Roman prefect Valerius Gratus (according to Josephus, Ant. 18.2.2 [18.34]). His five sons all eventually became high priests. The family was noted for its greed, wealth, and power. There are a number of ways the references in both Luke and John to Annas being high priest may be explained. Some Jews may have refused to recognize the changes in high priests effected by the Roman authorities, since according to the Torah the high priesthood was a lifetime office (Num 25:13). Another possibility is that it was simply customary to retain the title after a person had left the office as a courtesy, much as retired ambassadors are referred to as “Mr. Ambassador” or ex-presidents as “Mr. President.” Finally, the use of the title by Luke and John may simply be a reflection of the real power behind the high priesthood of the time: Although Annas no longer technically held the office, he may well have managed to control those relatives of his who did hold it from behind the scenes. In fact this seems most probable and would also explain why Jesus was brought to him immediately after his arrest for a sort of “pretrial hearing” before being sent on to the entire Sanhedrin.

[18:14]  ⁴³ tn Or “counseled.”

[18:14]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, specifically members of the Sanhedrin (see John 11:49-50). See also the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 12.

[18:14]  ⁴⁵ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[18:24]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “still bound.”

[18:24]  ⁴⁷ sn Where was Caiaphas the high priest located? Did he have a separate palace, or was he somewhere else with the Sanhedrin? Since Augustine (4th century) a number of scholars have proposed that Annas and Caiaphas resided in different wings of the same palace, which were bound together by a common courtyard through which Jesus would have been led as he was taken from Annas to Caiaphas. This seems a reasonable explanation, although there is no conclusive evidence.