12:38 Then some of the experts in the law 5 along with some Pharisees 6 answered him, 7 “Teacher, we want to see a sign 8 from you.”
23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law 9 and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You 10 build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves 11 of the righteous.
26:57 Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house 12 the experts in the law 13 and the elders had gathered.
1 tn Or “and scribes of the people.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
2 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.
3 tn Or “that of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
4 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
5 tn Or “Then some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
6 tn Grk “and Pharisees.” The word “some” before “Pharisees” has been supplied for clarification.
sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
7 tn Grk “answered him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence was changed to conform to English style.
8 sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.
9 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
10 tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated.
11 tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).
12 tn Grk “where.”
13 tn Or “where the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.