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 ¹  the experts in the law ²  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 ³  going in, he sat with the guards ⁴  to see the outcome. 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. 26:60 But they did not find anything, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally ⁶  two came forward 26:61 and declared, “This man ⁷  said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” 26:62 So ⁸  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 ⁹  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 hand ¹¹  of the Power ¹²  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? Now ¹⁵  you have heard the blasphemy! 26:66 What is your verdict?” ¹⁶  They ¹⁷  answered, “He is guilty and deserves ¹⁸  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! ¹⁹  Who hit you?” ²⁰ 

[26:57]  ¹ tn Grk “where.”

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

[26:58]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:58]  ⁴ sn The guards would have been the guards of the chief priests who had accompanied Judas to arrest Jesus.

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

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

[26:61]  ⁷ tn Grk “This one.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

[26:66]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[26:68]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Who is the one who hit you?”