John 11:47
Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
Study Note
Study Note
The Sanhedrin's crisis meeting after the raising of Lazarus — 'this man doeth many miracles; what do we?' — is deeply ironic: the miracles that prompt the council's murderous decision are themselves the very signs that validate Jesus' identity as the one Caiaphas will inadvertently identify in v. 51. The leaders' concern is explicitly pragmatic and political: 'the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation' (v. 48), demonstrating that the conflict is framed in terms of institutional power rather than theological evaluation of the signs. The Johannine narrator's comment (v. 51–52) that Caiaphas prophesied without knowing it is a profound theological irony: the high priest functions as an oracle of the atonement while plotting the death he describes. The passage is central to John's presentation of the irony of rejection: the greater the sign, the more determined the opposition.
Other Translations
The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many signs.
the chief priests, therefore, and the Pharisees, gathered together a sanhedrim, and said, `What may we do? because this man doth many signs?
Then the high priests and the Pharisees had a meeting and said, What are we doing? This man is doing a number of signs.
Cross References
After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes …
And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people.
Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted …
And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest …
For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the …
But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no …
Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is …
And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of …
And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes,