The leading priests and teachers of religious law were plotting how to kill Jesus, but they were afraid of the people’s reaction.
Parallel translations
- WEB The chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put him to death, for they feared the people.
- KJV And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people.
- BSB and the chief priests and scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death; for they feared the people.
- NKJV And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.
- NASB And the chief priests and the scribes were trying to find a way to put Him to death, since they were afraid of the people.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The chief priests and scribes sought a way to kill Jesus while fearing the people.
Overview
The religious leaders were determined to destroy Jesus but were restrained by His popularity with the crowds. Their plotting required stealth to avoid a public uproar. God's sovereign timing, tied to the Passover, was unfolding even through their schemes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- John 11:47–53The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, “What are we doing? For this man does many signs.
- Matt 21:45–46When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke about them.
- Luke 20:19The chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him that very hour, but they feared the people — for they knew he had spoken this parable against them.
- John 11:57Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had commanded that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, that they might seize him.
- Matt 26:3–5Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas.
- Ps 2:1–5Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?
- Luke 19:47–48He was teaching daily in the temple, but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people sought to destroy him.
- Matt 12:14But the Pharisees went out, and conspired against him, how they might destroy him.
- Matt 21:38But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and seize his inheritance.’
- Acts 4:27“For truly, in this city against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 22:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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