Matthew 21:46

But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
But	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
sought	ζητοῦντες zētountes	G2212	to seek (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active participle, nominative plural masculine
on	κρατῆσαι kratēsai	G2902	to use strength · verb — aorist active infinitive
him	αὐτὸν auton	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
feared	ἐφοβήθησαν ephobēthēsan	G5399	to frighten · verb — aorist passive deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
multitude	ὄχλους, ochlous	G3793	a throng (as borne along) · noun — accusative plural masculine
because	ἐπειδή epeidḗ	G1894	since now
took	εἶχον.¶ eichon	G2192	to hold (used in very various applications · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural
him	αὐτὸν auton	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
for	ὡς hōs	G5613	which how
prophet	προφήτην prophētēn	G4396	a foreteller ("prophet") · noun — accusative singular masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Matthew 21:11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
Matthew 21:26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.
2 Samuel 12:7-13 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of…
Proverbs 9:7-9 He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.
Isaiah 29:1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
Luke 7:16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his peop…
Luke 7:39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and…
John 7:7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 21:46

But when they sought to lay hands on him--which Luke (Luk 20:19) says they did "the same hour," hardly able to restrain their rage. they feared the multitude--rather, "the multitudes." because they took him for a prophet--just as they feared to say John's baptism was of men, because the masses took him for a prophet (Mat 21:26). Miserable creatures! So, for this time, "they left Him and went their way" (Mar 12:12). Next: Matthew Chapter 22

John Gill on Matthew 21:46

But when they sought to lay hands on him,.... Not that they attempted by any outward action to apprehend him, and carry him off, or by any immediate act of violence to take away his life; but they secretly wished, and earnestly desired to do it: they were so irritated and provoked, that they could scarcely keep their hands off of him, and could have been glad of an opportunity of satiating their revenge upon him: and whereby they would but have fulfilled what he in this parable had prophetically said of them: and yet so hardened were they, though they understood his meaning, they were not deterred thereby, but on another account: they feared the multitude; which were now about Christ, lest…

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John Calvin on Matthew 21:33–end

Matthew 21:33-46 Matthew 21:33-46 Mark 21:1-12 Luke 20:9-19 33. Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, who planted a vineyard, and surrounded it by a ditch, and dug a wine-press in it, and built a tower, and let it to husbandmen, and went abroad, 34. And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive its fruits. 35. And the husbandmen, having seized his servants, wounded one, killed another, and stoned another. 36. Again, he sent other servants more numerous [37] than the first, and they did to them in the same manner. 37. And last of all he sent to them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. 38. And when the…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes

The Church Fathers

And when the chief priests and Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. And they sought to arrest him, but they feared the crowds because they regarded him as a prophet. Though they had hard hearts and were dull in their disbelief and impiety towards the Son of God, they could not deny the clear accusations, and they understood that all of the Lord's judgments were directed against them. Therefore, they indeed wanted to kill him, but they feared the crowds because they regarded him as a prophet. The crowd is always fickle, and does not persist in a fixed will: it is like the waves, being carried back and forth by the force of different winds. They now venerate and worship him as if he were a prophet, but later they shout against him: Crucify him, crucify such a person (John 19:6).
— Jerome, Commentary on Matthew

One thing they know which is true concerning Him; they esteemed Him a Prophet, though not understanding His greatness in respect of His being the Son of God. But the rulers feared the multitude who thought thus of Him, and were ready to fight for Him; for they could not attain to the understanding which the multitude had, seeing they thought nothing worthy concerning Him. Further, know that there are two different kinds of desires to lay hands on Jesus. The desire of the rulers and Pharisees was one kind; another that of the Bride, I held him, and would not let him go; (Song of Sol. 3:4. ch. 7:8.) intending to try Him still further, as she saith, I will get me up into the palm tree, I will lay hold of its height. All who think not rightly concerning His divinity, seek to lay hands on Jesus in order to put Him to death. Other words indeed excepting the word of Christ it is possible to seize and to hold, but the word of truth none can seize, that is, understand; none can hold it, that is, convict; nor separate it from the conviction of those that believe; nor do it to death, that is, destroy it.
— Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Husbandman · An agriculturist — An agriculturist
Pharisees · .By Jesus — .By Jesus
Pharisees, The · Often sought to destroy Christ — Often sought to destroy Christ

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).