Matthew 26:59-66

26:59 The¹ 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. Finally² two came forward 26:61 and declared, “This man³ said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” 26:62 So⁴ 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. The⁵ high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ,⁶ 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 hand⁷ of the Power⁸ and coming on the clouds of heaven.”⁹ 26:65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared,¹⁰ “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Now¹¹ you have heard the blasphemy! 26:66 What is your verdict?”¹² They¹³ answered, “He is guilty and deserves¹⁴ death.”

¹tn Grk “Now the.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

²tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

³tn Grk “This one.”

⁴tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the false testimony.

⁵tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

⁶tn 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.

⁷sn 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.

⁸sn 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.

⁹sn An allusion to Dan 7:13 (see also Matt 24:30).

¹⁰tn Grk “the high priest tore his clothes, saying.”

¹¹tn 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).

¹²tn Grk “What do you think?”

¹³tn Grk “answering, they said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁴tn 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.”