Matthew 26:59

Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Now	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
priests	ἀρχιερεῖς archiereis	G749	the high-priest (literally · noun — nominative plural masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
elders	πρεσβύτεροι presbuteroi	G4245	older · noun — nominative plural masculine, comparative
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
all	ὅλον holon	G3650	"whole" or "all" · adjective — nominative singular neuter
council	συνέδριον sunedrion	G4892	a joint session · noun — nominative singular neuter
sought	ἐζήτουν ezētoun	G2212	to seek (literally or figuratively) · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural
witness	ψευδομαρτυρίαν pseudomarturian	G5577	untrue testimony · noun — accusative singular feminine
against	κατὰ kata	G2596	(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
Jesus	Ἰησοῦ Iēsou	G2424	Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
to	ὅπως hopōs	G3704	what(-ever) how · conjunction
put	θανατώσωσιν, thanatōsōsin	G2289	become dead · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
him	αὐτὸν auton	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
death	θανατόω thanatóō	G2289	become dead

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

Deuteronomy 19:16-21 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
Mark 14:55-56 And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none.
Acts 6:11-13 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
1 Kings 21:8-13 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his…
Psalms 27:12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
Psalms 35:11-12 False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.
Psalms 94:20-21 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
Proverbs 25:18 A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.

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

Commentary

John Gill on Matthew 26:59

Now the chief priests and elders, and all the counsel,.... Or sanhedrim, which consisted, as the Jewish writers say (u), of priests, Levites, and Israelites, of both ecclesiastics and laics; the ecclesiastics were the priests and Levites, and the laics the Israelites, or elders of the people; for if priests and Levites could not be found, a sanhedrim might consist of those only; and so those words in Deuteronomy 21:2, "thy elders", are thus interpreted (w), , this is the great sanhedrim; and though a king of Israel might not sit in the sanhedrim, yet an high priest might, if he was a man of wisdom (x), and it seems as if Caiaphas was now at the head of this council, by its being assembled…

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John Calvin on Matthew 26:57-61

Matthew 26:57-61 Matthew 26:57-61 Mark 14:53-59 Luke 22:54 57. But they who had apprehended Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders were assembled. 58. And Peter followed him at a distance, as far as to the court of the high priest, and having gone in, he sat with the servants to see the end. 59. And the chief priests and elders, and the whole council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death, 60. And found none; even though many false witnesses came, they found none: but at length came two false witnesses, 61. Who said, This man said, I can destroy the temple of God, and build it in three days. 53. And they led Jesus to the high priest, an…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 26:59

were trying to find witnesses: The verb tense suggests an extended, perhaps desperate, attempt to find any testimony that could lead to a formal accusation (see Mark 14:55-56).

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

When the Chief Priests were thus assembled, this conventicle of ruffians sought to give their conspiracy the character of a legal trial. But it was entirely a scene of confusion and uproar, as what follows shows, Though many false witnesses came, yet found they none.
— John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

False witnesses have place when there is any good colour for their testimony. But no pretext was found which could further their falsehoods against Jesus; notwithstanding there were many desirous to do a favour to the Chief Priests. This then is a great testimony in favour of Jesus, that He had lived and taught so irreproachably, that though they were many, and crafty, and wicked, they could find no semblance of fault in Him.
— Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

(V. 59, 60.) And entering inside, he sat with the ministers, to see the end. But the chief priests and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, so that they could deliver him to death. And they did not find any, although many false witnesses came forward. Whether out of love for his disciples or out of human curiosity, the high priest wanted to know what he would decide about the Lord: whether he would condemn him to death or release him after beating him. And there was a difference of opinion among the ten apostles and Peter. Those (people) flee, but this one, although far away, still follows the Savior.
— 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

Annas — Was high priest A.D. 7-14. In A.D. 25 Caiaphas, who had married the daughter of Annas (John 18:13), was raised to that office, and probably Annas was now made president of the Sanhedrim, or deputy or…
Elder — A name frequently used in the Old Testament as denoting a person clothed with authority, and entitled to respect and reverence (Gen. 50:7). It also denoted a political office (Num. 22:7). The “elders…
Humiliation of Christ — (Phil. 2:8), seen in (1) his birth (Gal. 4:4; Luke 2:7; John 1:46; Heb. 2:9), (2) his circumstances, (3) his reputation (Isa. 53; Matt. 26:59, 67; Ps. 22:6; Matt. 26:68), (4) his soul (Ps. 22:1;…
Sadducees — The origin of this Jewish sect cannot definitely be traced. It was probably the outcome of the influence of Grecian customs and philosophy during the period of Greek domination. The first time they…
Sanhedrim — More correctly Sanhedrin (Gr. synedrion), meaning “a sitting together,” or a “council.” This word (rendered “council,” A.V.) is frequently used in the New Testament (Matt. 5:22; 26:59; Mark 15:1,…
Sanhedrin — (from the Greek sunedrion, “a council-chamber” commonly but in correctly Sanhedrim), the supreme council of the Jewish people in the time of Christ and earlier.
Accusation, False · .Against Jesus — .Against Jesus
Court · .COMPOSITION OF, AND MO — .COMPOSITION OF, AND MO
Courts Of Justice · Sanhedrim or court of the seventy: Consisted of chief priest, &c — Sanhedrim or court of the seventy: Consisted of chief priest, &c
False Teachers · Against Jesus — Against Jesus
High Priest, The · Duties of: Presiding in the superior court