After two days was the feast of the passover That is, two days after Christ had delivered the foregoing discourse concerning the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, was the feast of the passover; which was kept in commemoration of God’s passing over the houses of the Israelites, when he…

But they said not on the feast day The feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread, which was nigh at hand, and would be two days hence, when there would be a great concourse of people from all parts to keep it: and therefore they did not choose to seize him, and put him to death at that time,…

And being in Bethany A place about two miles from Jerusalem, whither he retired after he had took his leave of the temple, and had predicted its destruction; a place he often went to, and from, the last week of his life; having some dear friends, and familiar acquaintance there, as Lazarus, and his…

And there were some that had indignation within themselves, &c.] The Syriac version reads, “some of the disciples”: agreeably to , particularly Judas, and others might be incensed by his means: and said, why was this waste of the ointment made? (See Gill on Matt. 26:8).

For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence Which, was to the value of our money nine pounds, seven shillings, and sixpence: and given to the poor; which was thought to be a better way of expending it, than by pouring it on the head of Christ: and they murmured against her: that…

And Jesus said, let her alone Jesus knowing the secret indignation of some of his disciples, and their private murmurings at the woman, and their continual teasings of her, because of the expense of the ointment, said to them, as the Arabic and Ethiopic versions read; or “to the disciples”, as the…

For ye have the poor with you always (See Gill on Matt. 26:11); and whensoever ye will ye may do them good; by feeding them when hungry, clothing them when naked, and supplying them with the necessaries of life: but me ye have not always; meaning, with respect to his bodily presence, which, in a…

She hath done what she could What she had in her heart, and in the power of her hands to do; she hath done according to her ability, and her good will; and if she had not done it now, she could not have done it at all.

Verily I say unto you And you may assure yourselves of the truth of it: wheresoever this Gospel, of the death and resurrection of Christ, shall be preached throughout the whole world, as it shall be, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her; in remembrance of her, and…

And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve Apostles of Christ; who was the principal person that had indignation at the woman, and murmured against her, for the profusion of the ointment: went unto the chief priests; as soon as this affair was over, and Christ had defended the woman’s conduct to his…

And when they heard it, they were glad That such an opportunity offered, and from such a quarter, by one of his own disciples; so that it might be done more secretly and effectually, and with less blame to themselves: and promised to give him money; any sum he should ask; and what was agreed upon…

And the first day of unleavened bread Being come, which was the fourteenth of Nisan: when they killed the passover; that is, “the Jews”, as the Syriac and Persic versions supply; for any Israelite, that not a priest, might slay it: their canon runs thus [[22]], “an Israelite kills (the passover),…

And he sendeth forth two of his disciples Peter and John, as appears from ; and saith unto them, go ye into the city; the city of Jerusalem; for there only the passover might be eaten, ; and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water; a servant of the master of the house that was sent…

And wheresoever he shall go in Into whatsoever house he shall enter, go in after him: and say ye to the good man of the house; the owner, and master of it, who might be Nicodemus, or Joseph of Arimathea, or some man of note and wealth in Jerusalem, that might have some knowledge of Christ, and…

And he will show you a large upper room A room in the highest part of the house, large enough for such a company, for thirteen persons, which was the number of Christ and his disciples: furnished and prepared; with a table, and a sufficient number of couches to sit, or lie upon, and with all proper…

And his disciples went forth The two disciples, as the Arabic version has it, Peter and John, set out from Bethany to Jerusalem directly: and came into the city; the city of Jerusalem: and found as he had said unto them; a man bearing a pitcher of water, whom they followed to the house he went…

And in the evening he cometh with the twelve. ] In the afternoon, as it is very reasonable to suppose, Christ set out from Bethany with the rest of the twelve, with the other nine, and came to Jerusalem; where they were joined by Judas, who had covenanted with the chief priests to betray him, and…

And as they sat and did eat Or “as they lay along”; for such was their posture at the eating of the passover; (See Gill on Matt. 26:20): Jesus said, verily I say unto you, one of you which eateth with me shall betray me; (See Gill on Matt. 26:21).

And they began to be sorrowful And were so, all but Judas, at this saying of Christ’s: and to say unto him, one by one; even till it came to Judas himself, is it I? that shall betray thee; and another said, is it I? This clause is wanting in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic…

And he answered and said unto them In order to relieve their minds, and point out the particular person: it is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish; just at that very instant; (See Gill on Matt. 26:23).

The son of man indeed goeth Out of this world by death, as it is written; both in the book of God’s decrees, and in the Scriptures of the Old Testament; but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed! whose sin will not be excused, nor lessened by fulfilling the decrees of God, and by…

And as they did eat The paschal lamb, and the unleavened bread, just at the conclusion of that feast: Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it; beginning and instituting a new feast, to be kept in aftertimes, in commemoration of his sufferings and death, now near at hand; and gave to them, the…

And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks Over it, and for it, by blessing it, and appropriating it to the present use and service: he gave it to them; his disciples, and they all drank of it; Judas, as well as the rest, as he bid them do; (See Gill on Matt. 26:27).

And he said unto them Not after they had drank of it, but before, and as he gave it to them: this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many; in Matthew it is added, “for the remission of sins”; (See Gill on Matt. 26:28).

Verily I say unto you This seems, to have been said after the eating of the passover, according to , but was, in reality, not till after the Lord’s supper was ended, and the last cup was drank, which was wont to be drank at the passover: I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine; that is, wine,…

And when they had sung an hymn The Hallell, used at the passover: they went out into the Mount of Olives; Christ, and eleven of his disciples; for Judas now separated from them, and went to the chief priests to acquaint them how things were, where Jesus was going, and where they might apprehend…

And Jesus saith unto them As they were going to the Mount of Olives. The Persic version reads, in this place; meaning the Mount of Olives, having got thither: all ye shall be offended because of me this night; (See Gill on Matt.

But after that I am risen From the dead, which, for their comfort, he assures them of; though they would be offended and discouraged at the seizing, and condemning, and crucifixion of him: I will go before you into Galilee; the place of their nativity, and where he had often conversed with them;…

But Peter said unto him Being greatly moved at what Christ had said, that all of them would be offended with him that night, and run away from him, and be scattered from him, and one another: although all shall be offended, yet will not I; though all the rest of the disciples, the other ten, should…

And Jesus saith unto him, verily I say unto thee As confident as thou art of standing by me, and abiding with me; that this day, which was then begun; for the Jews reckoned their days from evening, as in ; even in this night; this night to be observed, this night of the passover, before it is past:…

But he spake the more vehemently With a louder voice; with more spirit and eagerness; in a more peremptory and self-confident way. If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise.

And they came to a place which is named Gethsemane At the foot of the Mount of Olives, where the olives, which grew in great plenty on the mount, were pressed: and where our Lord began to be bruised, for our sins: and be saith to his disciples: to eight of them: sit ye here while I shall pray; at…

And he taketh with him Peter, and James, and John Who were witnesses of his transfiguration on the mount, and now of his sorrows in the garden: and began to be sore amazed; to be in great consternation and astonishment, at the sight of all the sins of his people coming upon him; at the black storm…

And saith unto them The above three disciples; my soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: he was surrounded with sorrow, and it pressed him so hard, and close, on every side, that he was just ready to die with it: tarry ye here, and watch: in Matthew it is added, “with me”: (See Gill on Matt.

And he went forward a little About a stone’s cast, , and fell on the ground, and prayed; he fell on his face to the ground, which was a praying posture.

And he said, Abba, Father In the original text, the former of these is a Syriac word, and the latter a Greek one, explanative of the former, as in and or the repetition is made, to express the vehemency of his affection, and his strong confidence in God, as his Father, amidst his distress, as the…

And he cometh and findeth them sleeping His three disciples, Peter, James, and John: and saith unto Peter; particularly, he having so lately asserted, with so much confidence, his love to Christ, and close attachment to him: Simon, sleepest thou? Christ calls him by the name he first went by, and…

Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation Of denying Christ, and falling off from him, which would quickly offer to them, when they should see him apprehended, bound, and led away. The spirit truly is ready.

And again he went away To the same place, or at much such a distance from them, as before: and prayed and spake the same words; or word, that is, the same matter; for (λογος) , here, answers to (דבר) , which signifies a thing, or matter, as well as word: Christ prayed to the same effect, for matter…

And when he returned, he found them asleep again Notwithstanding the expostulation he had used with them, the exhortation he had given them, and the danger he had suggested to them: for their eyes were heavy: with sleep and sorrow: neither wist they what to answer him; partly through confusion and…

And he cometh the third time After he had prayed a third time, to the same purport as before: and saith unto them, sleep on now, and take your rest; which words are spoken ironically: it is enough; or “the end is come”; as the Syriac and Arabic versions render it, of watching and praying: the hour…

Rise up let us go To meet the enemy and the danger; for there is no escaping; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand; Judas, that he had hinted at supper should betray him, was now about doing it; and was just now coming upon him, in order to deliver him into the hands of the Jews, and the Roman band…

And immediately, while he yet spake The above words: cometh Judas one of the twelve: apostles of Christ, and which was an aggravation of his wickedness; the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic, versions add, “Iscariot”; and so it is read in one of Beza’s copies.

And he that betrayed him had given them a token A common sign, in which they agreed; and so this same Greek word is used by the Jews [[2]]: “said R. Phinehas in the name of R.

And as soon as he was come To the place where Jesus was: he goeth straightway to him; alone; as if he had nothing to do with the company behind, and as if he was his friend, and concerned for his safety: and saith, Master, Master; expressing great affection for him, and respect to him, by repeating…

And they laid hands on him, and took him. ] After Christ had said to Judas, “friend, wherefore art thou come?” as in Matthew; and also, “Judas, betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss?” as in ; (See Gill on Matt. 26:50).

And one of them that stood by One of the disciples that stood by Jesus, as Judas was betraying him, and the soldiers were laying hold on him, Peter by name: drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear; his right ear; the servant’s name was Malchus; (See Gill on Matt.

And Jesus answered and said unto them To the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, that came with the band and officers, as appears from .

I was daily with you in the temple That is, for several days past; ever since he made his public entry into Jerusalem: teaching; the people, in a public manner: and ye took me not; did not attempt to lay hands on him, seize him, and carry him away; which he signifies might have been easily done;…

And they all forsook him and fled. ] That is, his disciples, as the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read; and who seem to have transcribed it from Matthew, and lest it should be thought, that the multitude whom Christ addressed, were intended.

And there followed him a certain young man Some think this was John, the beloved disciple, and the youngest of the disciples; others, that it was James, the brother of our Lord; but he does not seem to be any of the disciples of Christ, since he is manifestly distinguished from them, who all…

And he left the linen cloth “In their hands”, so the Persic version renders it; just as Joseph left his garment in the hands of his mistress, ; and fled from them naked; to the house from whence he came. The Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions, leave out the words “from them”.

And they led Jesus away to the high priest Caiaphas, as is added in the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions. This was done, after they had took Jesus and bound, him, and after they had had him to Annas, who sent him bound to Caiaphas; see (John 18:12, John 18:13, John 18:24) ; and with him, the…

And Peter followed him afar off And did another disciple, perhaps John; , who having somewhat recovered themselves from their fright, turned back, and followed Jesus, and the company that led him away; keeping at some distance, that they might not be observed, and exposed to danger; and proceeded…

And the chief priests, and all the council Especially the former, who were of all most busy and active in this matter: sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; on which they were determined, right or wrong; in this they went contrary to one of their own canons, which runs thus [[9]]:…

For many bare false witness against him The word “false”, is not expressed in the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions: which only signify, that they bore witness against him, accused him of, and laid many things to his charge: but their witness agreed not together; which showed it to be false,…

And there arose certain Two false witnesses, as in , who stood up in court; for witnesses were obliged to stand, whilst they gave in their testimony: “says R. Bo, in the name of R. Hona, witnesses ought (לעמוד) , “to stand”, whilst they bear witness; as it is said, .

We heard him say In a discourse of his, recorded in : I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands; which was a very false testimony; for Christ did not say be would destroy any temple at all, only put the Jews on doing it; much…

But, neither so did their witness agree together. ] Their witness did agree together, for they both witnessed the same thing; but not so as to found upon it the charge of a capital crime against him; their witness was not so, (ιση) , “equal”, was not answerable to their desires, nor sufficient to…

And the high priest stood up in the midst Of the sanhedrim, of which he was now president: he sat at the head of them, and Ab Beth Din, or the father of the council, at his right hand; and the rest of the council sat before him, in a semicircular form, as the half of a round corn floor, so that the…

But he held his peace, and answered nothing Knowing it would be to no purpose, and signifying hereby, that the things alleged against him were unworthy of an answer: again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? The Vulgate Latin adds, “God”: in…

And Jesus said, I am That is, the Son of God; in proof of which he adds, and ye shall see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power; that is, of God, who is all power, the Lord God Almighty: and coming in the clouds of heaven; either at the destruction of Jerusalem, or at the last day,…

Then the high priest rent his clothes As was usual upon hearing blasphemy; which he now supposed the case, or at least would have it so thought: and saith, what need we any further witnesses? or trouble ourselves to see for any more, or to hear and take the depositions of any others; (See Gill on…

Ye have heard the blasphemy The “manifest” blasphemy, as the Arabic version renders it; and “out of his own mouth”, as the Syriac version adds, agreeably to , what think ye? what sentence is to, be passed upon him? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death; excepting Joseph of Arimathea, ;…

And some began to spit on him The men that held him, , fulfilling the prophecy in ; and to cover his face; with a veil, or linen cloth, to blindfold: him, as a person unworthy to behold the light: or rather, in order to make sport with him: and to buffet him; with their double fists; and to say…

And as Peter was beneath in the palace Not at the lower and further end of the room, but in the lower part of it; that part in which Jesus and the sanhedrim were, being upon an advanced ground, with steps ascending to it: there cometh one of the maids of the high priest; the same that kept the…

And when she saw Peter warming himself At the life which was in the midst of the hall: she looked upon him; very earnestly, knowing him to be the same, she had let in at the motion of one, that was known in the high priest’s family; and suspecting him, by being a stranger, and by his looks: and…

But he denied That he was with Jesus, or a disciple of his: saying, I know not; Jesus of Nazareth: neither understand I what thou sayest; about him, and of being with him: the last phrase, “neither understand I”, is omitted in the Syriac and Persic versions: and he went out into the porch;…

And a maid saw him again Either the same maid, so the Syriac and Persic versions read, “that maid”: that selfsame maid, as before, or another, as in , and so the Arabic version reads it here; but the Ethiopic as before “a daughter”; that is, of the high priest: and began to say to them that stood…

And he denied it again That he was one of the disciples of Jesus: and a little after; about an hour after, ; they that stood by, said again to Peter, surely thou art one of them; one confidently affirmed that he was with Jesus, and another challenged him with seeing him in the garden with him, ,…

But he began to curse and to swear To wish the most dreadful things upon himself, and to swear by the living God; saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak: (See Gill on Matt. 26:74).

And the second time the cock crew Immediately, as soon as he had so said and swore, as the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions read, and as it is read in one of Beza’s copies; which was about three of the clock in the morning, and is what is properly called the cock crowing: and Peter…