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 ¹  were trying to find a way ²  to arrest Jesus ³  by stealth and kill him.

Mark 14:10-11

The Plan to Betray Jesus

14:10 Then ⁴  Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus into their hands. ⁵  14:11 When they heard this, they were delighted ⁶  and promised to give him money. ⁷  So ⁸  Judas ⁹  began looking for an opportunity to betray him.

John 18:2-3

18:2 (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, knew the place too, because Jesus had met there many times ¹⁰  with his disciples.) ¹¹  18:3 So Judas obtained a squad of soldiers ¹²  and some officers of the chief priests and Pharisees. ¹³  They came to the orchard ¹⁴  with lanterns ¹⁵  and torches and weapons.

[14:1]  ¹ tn Or “the chief priests and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[14:1]  ² tn Grk “were seeking how.”

[14:1]  ³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:10]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[14:10]  ⁵ tn Grk “betray him to them”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:11]  ⁶ sn The leaders were delighted when Judas contacted them about betraying Jesus, because it gave them the opportunity they had been looking for, and they could later claim that Jesus had been betrayed by one of his own disciples.

[14:11]  ⁷ sn Matt 26:15 states the amount of money they gave Judas was thirty pieces of silver (see also Matt 27:3-4; Zech 11:12-13).

[14:11]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[14:11]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “often.”

[18:2]  ¹¹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[18:3]  ¹² tn Grk “a cohort.” The word σπεῖραν (speiran) is a technical term for a Roman cohort, normally a force of 600 men (one tenth of a legion). It was under the command of a χιλίαρχος (ciliarco", v. 12). Because of the improbability of an entire cohort being sent to arrest a single man, some have suggested that σπεῖραν here refers only to a maniple, a force of 200. But the use of the word here does not necessarily mean the entire cohort was present on this mission, but only that it was the cohort which performed the task (for example, saying the fire department put out the fire does not mean that every fireman belonging to the department was on the scene at the time). These Roman soldiers must have been ordered to accompany the servants of the chief priests and Pharisees by Pilate, since they would have been under the direct command of the Roman prefect or procurator. It is not difficult to understand why Pilate would have been willing to assist the Jewish authorities in such a way. With a huge crowd of pilgrims in Jerusalem for the Passover, the Romans would have been especially nervous about an uprising of some sort. No doubt the chief priests and Pharisees had informed Pilate that this man Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, or in the terms Pilate would understand, king of Israel.

[18:3]  ¹³ tn The phrase “officers of the chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:32, 45; 18:3, 12, 18, 22; 19:6. They are different from the Levites who served as “temple police” according to K. H. Rengstorf (TDNT 8:540). In John 7:32ff. these officers had made an unsuccessful attempt to arrest Jesus, and perhaps this is part of the reason why their leaders had made sure they were accompanied by Roman soldiers this time. No more mistakes were to be tolerated.

[18:3]  ¹⁴ tn The words “to the orchard” are not in the Greek text but are repeated from v. 1 for clarity.

[18:3]  ¹⁵ tn These were lamps that had some sort of covering to protect them from wind and rain. In earlier usage the word meant “torch” but by NT times it apparently meant a lamp designed to be used outdoors, so “lantern” is a good contemporary English equivalent.