Matthew 26:59
Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
Study Note
Study Note
The notice that 'the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death' frames the Sanhedrin proceedings as forensically corrupt from the outset, violating Deuteronomy 19:15's requirement for two or three genuine witnesses. The irony of Israel's religious leadership using legally prohibited false testimony to condemn the one who embodied Torah is central to Matthew's passion theology — the judgment falls on those who invoke the Law to execute the Law's fulfillment (Matthew 5:17). The specific detail that 'though many false witnesses came, yet found they none' satisfactory (26:60) underscores the frantic inadequacy of the prosecution, which ultimately had to rely on the high priest's direct interrogation. The episode has been extensively analyzed in Jewish-Christian dialogue regarding the historical and theological interpretation of the trial narratives.
Other Translations
Now the chief priests and the whole council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put him to death;
And the chief priests, and the elders, and all the council, were seeking false witness against Jesus, that they might put him to death,
Now the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin were looking for false witness against Jesus, so that they might put him to death;
Cross References
If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for …
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders …
And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against …
Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such …
False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.
They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.
Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.
A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.