The Last Supper
and they conspired to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him. Matthew 26:4 · Berean Standard Bible
They make a plan to arrest Jesus secretly and kill Him — they know they cannot do this out in the open.
The fact that they need secrecy tells you everything: they know the people love Jesus, and they know their own motives would not survive public scrutiny.
The narrator reveals the dark conspiracy being hatched by the religious authorities.
Plotting in the shadows, these leaders resort to deception to destroy the most honest person who ever lived.
The conspiracy involves arresting Jesus by stealth (dolos) and killing Him, revealing the premeditated and covert nature of their plot.
The use of dolos (cunning, deceit) underscores the moral corruption of the conspiracy — those charged with upholding Torah resort to deception to eliminate the Torah's fulfillment.
The narrator summarizes the conspiratorial decision of the priestly council.
The religious authorities determine to use treachery rather than open proceedings, exposing the illegitimacy of their actions even by their own legal standards.
2“You know that the Passover is two days away, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
3At that time the chief priests and elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
4and they conspired to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him.
5“But not during the feast,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
6While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper,
Read all of Matthew 26 — Bread broken. Wine poured. A betrayal predicted. The longest night in history begins around a table.
This page covers one. BibleKey does all 31,102 — tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and keep reading without leaving the chapter.
NIV, NLT, NKJV, KJV and the Berean — plus the Catholic NLT-CE and Douay-Rheims, with the full deuterocanon in the reading order.
Tap any of the 31,102 for what it means, and any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, without leaving the chapter.
Start recording at church and put your phone away. You get the transcript, the key moments, and every verse referenced.
Say what's sitting on your heart and hear it back as a real prayer, in a warm voice. Keep the ones that land.
The whole Bible in a year — five chapters a day, five days a week, weekends off. Built to be finished.
A verse each morning with its meaning, how it lands today, something to sit with, and a prayer to close it.
Not just the famous ones. BibleKey is free on iPhone and iPad.
Download on the App StoreFree on iPhone & iPad