Luke 19:47-48

19:47 Jesus ¹  was teaching daily in the temple courts. The chief priests and the experts in the law ²  and the prominent leaders among the people were seeking to assassinate ³  him, 19:48 but ⁴  they could not find a way to do it, ⁵  for all the people hung on his words. ⁶ 

Luke 20:19

20:19 Then ⁷  the experts in the law ⁸  and the chief priests wanted to arrest ⁹  him that very hour, because they realized he had told this parable against them. But ¹⁰  they were afraid of the people.

Psalms 2:1-5

Psalm 2 ¹¹ 

2:1 Why ¹²  do the nations rebel? ¹³ 

Why ¹⁴  are the countries ¹⁵  devising ¹⁶  plots that will fail? ¹⁷ 

2:2 The kings of the earth ¹⁸  form a united front; ¹⁹ 

the rulers collaborate ²⁰ 

against the Lord and his anointed king. ²¹ 

2:3 They say, ²²  “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! ²³ 

Let’s free ourselves from ²⁴  their ropes!”

2:4 The one enthroned ²⁵  in heaven laughs in disgust; ²⁶ 

the Lord taunts ²⁷  them.

2:5 Then he angrily speaks to them

and terrifies them in his rage, ²⁸  saying, ²⁹ 

Matthew 21:38

21:38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’

Matthew 21:45-46

21:45 When ³⁰  the chief priests and the Pharisees ³¹  heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 21:46 They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowds ³²  regarded him as a prophet.

Matthew 26:3-5

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 ³³  planned to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 26:5 But they said, “Not during the feast, so that there won’t be a riot among the people.” ³⁴ 

John 11:47-53

11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees ³⁵  called the council ³⁶  together and said, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs. 11:48 If we allow him to go on in this way, ³⁷  everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our sanctuary ³⁸  and our nation.”

11:49 Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, ³⁹  “You know nothing at all! 11:50 You do not realize ⁴⁰  that it is more to your advantage to have one man ⁴¹  die for the people than for the whole nation to perish.” ⁴²  11:51 (Now he did not say this on his own, ⁴³  but because he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish nation, ⁴⁴  11:52 and not for the Jewish nation ⁴⁵  only, ⁴⁶  but to gather together ⁴⁷  into one the children of God who are scattered.) ⁴⁸  11:53 So from that day they planned together to kill him.

John 11:57

11:57 (Now the chief priests and the Pharisees ⁴⁹  had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus ⁵⁰  was should report it, so that they could arrest ⁵¹  him.) ⁵² 

Acts 4:27

4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against ⁵³  your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ⁵⁴ 

[19:47]  ¹ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:47]  ² tn Grk “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[19:47]  ³ tn Grk “to destroy.”

[19:48]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[19:48]  ⁵ tn Grk “they did not find the thing that they might do.”

[19:48]  ⁶ sn All the people hung on his words is an idiom for intent, eager listening. Jesus’ popularity and support made it unwise for the leadership to seize him.

[20:19]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[20:19]  ⁸ tn Or “The scribes” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[20:19]  ⁹ tn Grk “tried to lay hands on him.”

[20:19]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[2:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 2. In this royal psalm the author asserts the special status of the divinely chosen Davidic king and warns the nations and their rulers to submit to the authority of God and his chosen vice-regent.

[2:1]  ¹² tn The question is rhetorical. Rather than seeking information, the psalmist expresses his outrage that the nations would have the audacity to rebel against God and his chosen king.

[2:1]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew verb רָגַשׁ (ragash) occurs only here. In Dan 6:6, 11, 15 the Aramaic cognate verb describes several officials acting as a group. A Hebrew nominal derivative is used in Ps 55:14 of a crowd of people in the temple.

[2:1]  ¹⁴ tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[2:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).

[2:1]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew imperfect form describes the rebellion as underway. The verb הָגָה (hagah), which means “to recite quietly, meditate,” here has the metonymic nuance “devise, plan, plot” (see Ps 38:12; Prov 24:2).

[2:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “devising emptiness.” The noun רִיק (riq, “emptiness”) may characterize their behavior as “worthless, morally bankrupt” but more likely refers to the outcome of their plots (i.e., failure). As the rest of the psalm emphasizes, their rebellion will fail.

[2:2]  ¹⁸ sn The expression kings of the earth refers somewhat hyperbolically to the kings who had been conquered by and were subject to the Davidic king.

[2:2]  ¹⁹ tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.

[2:2]  ²⁰ tn Or “conspire together.” The verbal form is a Niphal from יָסַד (yasad). BDB 413-14 s.v. יָסַד defines the verb as “establish, found,” but HALOT 417 s.v. II יסד proposes a homonym meaning “get together, conspire” (an alternate form of סוּד, sud).

[2:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).

[2:3]  ²² tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The quotation represents the words of the rebellious kings.

[2:3]  ²³ tn Heb “their (i.e., the Lord’s and the king’s) shackles.” The kings compare the rule of the Lord and his vice-regent to being imprisoned.

[2:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “throw off from us.”

[2:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12; 123:1).

[2:4]  ²⁶ tn As the next line indicates, this refers to derisive laughter. The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in vv. 4-5 describe the action from the perspective of an eyewitness who is watching the divine response as it unfolds before his eyes.

[2:4]  ²⁷ tn Or “scoffs at”; “derides”; “mocks.”

[2:5]  ²⁸ sn And terrifies them in his rage. This line focuses on the effect that God’s angry response (see previous line) has on the rebellious kings.

[2:5]  ²⁹ tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for clarification to indicate that the speaker is the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV).

[21:45]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[21:45]  ³¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[21:46]  ³² tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowds) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Both previous occurrences of “they” in this verse refer to the chief priests and the Pharisees.

[26:4]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:5]  ³⁴ sn The suggestion here is that Jesus was too popular to openly arrest him.

[11:47]  ³⁵ 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.

[11:47]  ³⁶ 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.

[11:48]  ³⁷ tn Grk “If we let him do thus.”

[11:48]  ³⁸ tn Or “holy place”; Grk “our place” (a reference to the temple in Jerusalem).

[11:49]  ³⁹ tn Grk “said to them.” The indirect object αὐτοῖς (autois) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[11:50]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “you are not considering.”

[11:50]  ⁴¹ tn Although it is possible to argue that ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") should be translated “person” here since it is not necessarily masculinity that is in view in Caiaphas’ statement, “man” was retained in the translation because in 11:47 “this man” (οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος, outo" Jo anqrwpo") has as its referent a specific individual, Jesus, and it was felt this connection should be maintained.

[11:50]  ⁴² sn In his own mind Caiaphas was no doubt giving voice to a common-sense statement of political expediency. Yet he was unconsciously echoing a saying of Jesus himself (cf. Mark 10:45). Caiaphas was right; the death of Jesus would save the nation from destruction. Yet Caiaphas could not suspect that Jesus would die, not in place of the political nation Israel, but on behalf of the true people of God; and he would save them, not from physical destruction, but from eternal destruction (cf. 3:16-17). The understanding of Caiaphas’ words in a sense that Caiaphas could not possibly have imagined at the time he uttered them serves as a clear example of the way in which the author understood that words and actions could be invested retrospectively with a meaning not consciously intended or understood by those present at the time.

[11:51]  ⁴³ tn Grk “say this from himself.”

[11:51]  ⁴⁴ tn The word “Jewish” is not in the Greek text, but is clearly implied by the context (so also NIV; TEV “the Jewish people”).

[11:52]  ⁴⁵ tn See the note on the word “nation” in the previous verse.

[11:52]  ⁴⁶ sn The author in his comment expands the prophecy to include the Gentiles (not for the Jewish nation only), a confirmation that the Fourth Gospel was directed, at least partly, to a Gentile audience. There are echoes of Pauline concepts here (particularly Eph 2:11-22) in the stress on the unity of Jew and Gentile.

[11:52]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “that he might gather together.”

[11:52]  ⁴⁸ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[11:57]  ⁴⁹ 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.

[11:57]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:57]  ⁵¹ tn Or “could seize.”

[11:57]  ⁵² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[4:27]  ⁵³ sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.

[4:27]  ⁵⁴ sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”