Matthew 26:36-75

New English Translation

Gethsemane

³⁶Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and became anguished and distressed. ³⁸Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.” ³⁹Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed,^[a] “My Father, if possible,^[b] let this cup^[c] pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.” ⁴⁰Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He^[d] said to Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with me for one hour? ⁴¹Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ⁴²He went away a second time and prayed,^[e] “My Father, if this cup^[f] cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will must be done.” ⁴³He came again and found them sleeping; they could not keep their eyes open.^[g] ⁴⁴So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same thing once more. ⁴⁵Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is approaching, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶Get up, let us go. Look! My betrayer^[h] is approaching!”

Betrayal and Arrest

⁴⁷While he was still speaking, Judas,^[i] one of the twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people. ⁴⁸(Now the betrayer^[j] had given them a sign, saying, “The one I kiss is the man.^[k] Arrest him!”)^[l] ⁴⁹Immediately^[m] he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi,” and kissed him.^[n] ⁵⁰Jesus^[o] said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Then they came and took hold^[p] of Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹But^[q] one of those with Jesus grabbed^[r] his sword, drew it out, and struck the high priest’s slave,^[s] cutting off his ear. ⁵²Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back in its place!^[t] For all who take hold of the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions^[u] of angels right now? ⁵⁴How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled?” ⁵⁵At that moment Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me like you would an outlaw?^[v] Day after day I sat teaching in the temple courts, yet^[w] you did not arrest me. ⁵⁶But this has happened so that the scriptures of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Condemned by the Sanhedrin

⁵⁷Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house^[x] the experts in the law^[y] and the elders had gathered. ⁵⁸But Peter was following him from a distance, all the way to the high priest’s courtyard. After^[z] going in, he sat with the guards^[aa] to see the outcome. ⁵⁹The^[ab] chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were trying to find false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death. ⁶⁰But they did not find anything, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally^[ac] two came forward ⁶¹and declared, “This man^[ad] said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” ⁶²So^[ae] the high priest stood up and said to him, “Have you no answer? What is this that they are testifying against you?” ⁶³But Jesus was silent. The^[af] high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ,^[ag] the Son of God.” ⁶⁴Jesus 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^[ah] of the Power^[ai] and coming on the clouds of heaven.”^[aj] ⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared,^[ak] “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Now^[al] you have heard the blasphemy! ⁶⁶What is your verdict?”^[am] They^[an] answered, “He is guilty and deserves^[ao] death.” ⁶⁷Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists. And some slapped him, ⁶⁸saying, “Prophesy for us, you Christ!^[ap] Who hit you?”^[aq]

Peter’s Denials

⁶⁹Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A^[ar] slave girl^[as] came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” ⁷⁰But he denied it in front of them all:^[at] “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” ⁷¹When^[au] he went out to the gateway, another slave girl^[av] saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.” ⁷²He denied it again with an oath, “I do not know the man!” ⁷³After^[aw] a little while, those standing there came up to Peter and said, “You really are one of them too—even your accent^[ax] gives you away!” ⁷⁴At that he began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment a rooster crowed.^[ay] ⁷⁵Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.^[az]

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Footnotes

Matthew 26:39 tn Grk “ground, praying and saying.” Here the participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
Matthew 26:39 tn Grk “if it is possible.”
Matthew 26:39 sn This cup alludes to the wrath of God that Jesus would experience (in the form of suffering and death) for us. See Pss 11:6; 75:8-9; Isa 51:17, 19, 22 for this figure.
Matthew 26:40 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
Matthew 26:42 tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
Matthew 26:42 tn Grk “this”; the referent (the cup) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Matthew 26:43 tn Grk “because their eyes were weighed down,” an idiom for becoming extremely or excessively sleepy (L&N 23.69).
Matthew 26:46 tn Grk “the one who betrays me.”
Matthew 26:47 tn Grk “behold, Judas.” 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).
Matthew 26:48 tn Grk “the one who betrays him.”
Matthew 26:48 tn Grk “The one I kiss is he.”
Matthew 26:48 sn This remark is parenthetical within the narrative and has thus been placed in parentheses.
Matthew 26:49 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
Matthew 26:49 sn Judas’ act of betrayal when he kissed Jesus is especially sinister when it is realized that it was common in the culture of the times for a disciple to kiss his master when greeting him.
Matthew 26:50 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 26:50 tn Grk “and put their hands on Jesus.”
Matthew 26:51 tn Grk “And behold one.” 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).
Matthew 26:51 tn Grk “extending his hand, drew out his sword, and struck.” Because rapid motion is implied in the circumstances, the translation “grabbed” was used.
Matthew 26:51 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.
Matthew 26:52 tn The translation “put your sword back in its place” for this phrase is given in L&N 85.52.
Matthew 26:53 sn A legion was a Roman army unit of about 6,000 soldiers, so twelve legions would be 72,000.
Matthew 26:55 tn Or “a revolutionary.” This term can refer to one who stirs up rebellion: BDAG 594 s.v. λῃστής 2 has “revolutionary, insurrectionist, guerrilla” citing evidence from Josephus (J. W. 2.13.2-3 [2.253-254]). However, this usage generally postdates Jesus’ time. It does refer to a figure of violence. Luke uses the same term for the highwaymen who attack the traveler in the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30).
Matthew 26:55 tn Grk “and” (καί, kai), a conjunction that is elastic enough to be used to indicate a contrast, as here.
Matthew 26:57 tn Grk “where.”
Matthew 26:57 tn Or “where the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
Matthew 26:58 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
Matthew 26:58 sn The guards would have been the guards of the chief priests who had accompanied Judas to arrest Jesus.
Matthew 26:59 tn Grk “Now the.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 26:60 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 26:61 tn Grk “This one.”
Matthew 26:62 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the false testimony.
Matthew 26:63 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
Matthew 26:63 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.
Matthew 26:64 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.
Matthew 26:64 sn The expression 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.
Matthew 26:64 sn An allusion to Dan 7:13 (see also Matt 24:30).
Matthew 26:65 tn Grk “the high priest tore his clothes, saying.”
Matthew 26:65 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).
Matthew 26:66 tn Grk “What do you think?”
Matthew 26:66 tn Grk “answering, they said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 26:66 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.”
Matthew 26:68 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.
Matthew 26:68 tn Grk “Who is the one who hit you?”sn Who hit you? This is a variation of one of three ancient games that involved blindfolds.
Matthew 26:69 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
Matthew 26:69 tn The Greek term here is παιδίσκη (paidiskē), referring to a slave girl or slave woman.
Matthew 26:70 tn Grk “he denied it…saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
Matthew 26:71 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 26:71 tn The words “slave girl” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the feminine singular form ἄλλη (allē).
Matthew 26:73 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 26:73 tn Grk “your speech.”
Matthew 26:74 tn It seems most likely that this refers to a real rooster crowing, although a number of scholars have suggested that “cockcrow” is a technical term referring to the trumpet call which ended the third watch of the night (from midnight to 3 a.m.). This would then be a reference to the Roman gallicinium (ἀλεκτοροφωνία, alektorophōnia; the term is used in Mark 13:35 and is found in some mss [P^37vid,45 ƒ¹] in Matt 26:34) which would have been sounded at 3 a.m.; in this case Jesus would have prophesied a precise time by which the denials would have taken place. For more details see J. H. Bernard, St. John (ICC), 2:604. However, in light of the fact that Mark mentions the rooster crowing twice (Mark 14:72) and in Luke 22:60 the words are reversed (ἐφώνησεν ἀλέκτωρ, ephōnēsen alektōr), it is more probable that a real rooster is in view. In any event natural cockcrow would have occurred at approximately 3 a.m. in Palestine at this time of year (March-April) anyway.
Matthew 26:75 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.