Matthew 26:31

Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Then	Τότε Tote	G5119	the when · adverb
saith	λέγει legei	G3004	properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
Jesus	Ἰησοῦς· Iēsous	G2424	Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
them	αὐτοῖς autois	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
All	πάντες pantes	G3956	all · adjective — nominative plural masculine
ye	ὑμεῖς hymeîs	G5210	you (as subjective of verb)
shall be offended	σκανδαλισθήσεσθε skandalisthēsesthe	G4624	to entrap · verb — future passive indicative, 2nd person plural
because of	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
me	ἐμοί emoí	G1698	to me
this	ταύτῃ· tautē	G3778	the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — dative singular feminine
night	νυκτὶ nukti	G3571	"night" (literally or figuratively) · noun — dative singular feminine
for	γάρ· gar	G1063	properly · conjunction
it is written	γέγραπται gegraptai	G1125	to "grave" · verb — perfect passive indicative, 3rd person singular
I will smite	πατάξω pataxō	G3960	to knock (gently or with a weapon or fatally) · verb — future active indicative, 1st person singular
the shepherd	ποιμένα, poimena	G4166	a shepherd (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
the sheep	πρόβατα probata	G4263	something that walks forward (a quadruped) · noun — nominative plural neuter
of the flock	ποίμνης. poimnēs	G4167	a flock (literally or figuratively) · noun — genitive singular feminine
shall be scattered abroad	διασκορπισθήσονται diaskorpisthēsontai	G1287	to dissipate · verb — future passive indicative, 3rd person plural

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

Zechariah 13:7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall…
Mark 14:27-28 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep sh…
John 16:32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alon…
Ezekiel 34:5-6 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
Psalms 69:20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I…
Psalms 38:11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.
Matthew 24:9-10 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
Psalms 88:18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

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

Commentary

John Gill on Matthew 26:31

Then saith Jesus unto them,.... Either before they went out of the house, where they had been eating the passover, and the supper; or as they were going along to the Mount of Olives; which latter rather seems to be the case: all ye shall be offended because of me this night. The words are spoken to the eleven disciples; for Judas was now gone to the high priests, to inform them where Jesus was going that night, and to receive of them a band of men and officers to apprehend him; which is what would be the occasion of all the rest of the disciples being offended: for when they should see their master betrayed by one of themselves, and the officers seize him and bind him, and lead him away as…

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John Calvin on Matthew 26:31-32

Matthew 26:31-35 Matthew 26:31-35 Mark 14:27-31 Luke 22:31-34 31. Then Jesus saith to them, You will all be offended at me this night; for it is written, I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. 32. But after that I have risen, I will go before you into Galilee. 33. And Peter answering said to him, Though all should be offended at thee, yet I will never be offended. 34. Jesus said to him, Verily I tell thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou wilt thrice deny me. 35. Peter saith to him, Though I should die with thee, I will not deny thee. In like manner also all the disciples spoke. 27. And Jesus saith to them, You will all be offended at me thi…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 26:31

God will strike: In Zech 13:7-9, the Shepherd, God’s partner, is struck down (understood by Jesus as a prediction of his own death), and out of the scattered sheep emerge a purged, purified remnant of faithful ones (Zech 13:8-9). In the short term, the disciples would soon be scattered and deny association with Jesus (Matt 26:34, 56, 69-75).

Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).

The Church Fathers

The credit of this prediction is supported by the authority of old prophecy; It is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall he scattered abroad.
— Hilary of Poitiers ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Also He foretels this to them, that they who now were somewhat dispersed in consequence of the offence, should be after gathered together by Christ rising again, and going before them into Galilee of the Gentiles. Whence the other disciples were offended in Jesus, but Peter was not only offended, but what is much more, was suffered to deny Him thrice.
— Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

(Verse 31.) Then Jesus said to them: All of you will be scandalized by me in this night. He predicts that they will suffer, so that when they have suffered, they will not despair of salvation, but by repenting, they will be freed. And he specifically added, in this night you will be scandalized; for just as those who get drunk, get drunk at night: likewise those who are scandalized, endure in the night and in darkness (I Thess. 5). But let us say: The night has passed, and the day is at hand (Rom. 13:12).
— Jerome, Commentary on Matthew

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

Church — Derived probably from the Greek kuriakon (i.e., “the Lord’s house”), which was used by ancient authors for the place of worship. In the New Testament it is the translation of the Greek word ecclesia,…
Gardens — Mentioned in Scripture, of Eden (Gen. 2:8, 9); Ahab’s garden of herbs (1 Kings 21:2); the royal garden (2 Kings 21:18); the royal garden at Susa (Esther 1:5); the garden of Joseph of Arimathea (John…
Sheep-fold — A strong fenced enclosure for the protection of the sheep gathered within it (Num. 32:24; 1 Chr. 17:7; Ps. 50:9; 78:70). In John 10:16 the Authorized Version renders by “fold” two distinct Greek…
Backsliders · 8:22; — 8:22;
Christ, The Shepherd · His sheep: He laid down his life for — His sheep: He laid down his life for
Offence · Persecution, a cause of, to mere professors — Persecution, a cause of, to mere professors
Prophecies Respecting Christ · Fulfilled — Fulfilled
Sheep · .Of the righteous — .Of the righteous
Shepherd · .Of Christ — .Of Christ
Temptation · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

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).