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I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you didn’t arrest me. But this is so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.”
Mark 14:49 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.
  • BSB Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest Me. But this has happened that the Scriptures would be fulfilled.”
  • NKJV I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”
  • NASB Every day I was with you within the temple grounds teaching, and you did not arrest Me; but this has taken place so that the Scriptures will be fulfilled.”
  • NLT Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there among you teaching every day. But these things are happening to fulfill what the Scriptures say about me.”

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

Jesus notes he taught daily in the temple unopposed, but says this happens to fulfill the Scriptures. His arrest serves God's foretold plan.

Overview

Jesus contrasts his open public teaching with their secretive seizure, again underscoring their injustice. Yet he interprets the whole event as the fulfillment of Scripture. Even in betrayal and arrest, the sovereign purpose of God to save through the suffering Messiah is being accomplished.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 22

  • John 18:20Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues, and in the temple, where the Jews always meet. I said nothing in secret.
  • John 8:2Now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down, and taught them.
  • Dan 9:24–26Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
  • Matt 26:54How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so?”
  • Matt 26:56But all this has happened, that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him, and fled.
  • Mark 12:35Jesus responded, as he taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
  • Matt 1:22Now all this has happened, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
  • Luke 24:44–45He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.”
  • Luke 22:37For I tell you that this which is written must still be fulfilled in me: ‘He was counted with transgressors.’ For that which concerns me has an end.”
  • Luke 19:47He was teaching daily in the temple, but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people sought to destroy him.
  • John 8:12Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
  • Matt 21:23–27When he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
  • John 7:37Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!
  • John 10:23It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.
  • Luke 24:25–27He said to them, “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
  • Isa 53:1–12Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
  • Ps 22:1–31For the Chief Musician; set to “The Doe of the Morning.” A Psalm by David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
  • Luke 21:37–38Every day Jesus was teaching in the temple, and every night he would go out and spend the night on the mountain that is called Olivet.
  • Mark 11:15–18They came to Jerusalem, and Jesus entered into the temple, and began to throw out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers’ tables, and the seats of those who sold the doves.
  • Mark 11:27They came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders came to him,
  • John 7:28–30Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know me, and know where I am from. I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you don’t know.
  • Ps 69:1–36For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Lilies.” By David. Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck!

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Mark videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Mark 14:49YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MarkMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

How Mark 14:49 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.