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“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
Matthew 26:2 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.
  • BSB “You know that the Passover is two days away, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
  • NKJV “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
  • NASB “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.”
  • NLT “As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

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 tells His disciples that He will be crucified in two days, during Passover. It matters because He goes to the cross knowingly and deliberately, not as a victim of circumstance.

Overview

As Passover approaches, Jesus precisely foretells His death, showing His full awareness and willing acceptance of it. The timing is significant: He, the true Passover Lamb, will be sacrificed at the very feast commemorating Israel's deliverance. His foreknowledge underscores that the cross is the Father's plan, not an accident, and that Jesus lays down His life of His own accord.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Luke 22:1–2Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching.
  • Mark 14:1–2It was now two days before the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might seize him by deception, and kill him.
  • John 13:1–2Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
  • Matt 20:18–19“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death,
  • John 11:55Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand. Many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.
  • Luke 24:6–7He isn’t here, but is risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee,
  • Matt 26:24–25The Son of Man goes, even as it is written of him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.”
  • Matt 17:22While they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered up into the hands of men,
  • John 18:2Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples.
  • Matt 27:4saying, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.”
  • Exod 34:25“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The sacrifice of the feast of the Passover shall not be left to the morning.
  • John 2:13The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
  • Exod 12:11–14This is how you shall eat it: with your belt on your waist, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh’s Passover.
  • Luke 22:15He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,
  • John 12:1Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

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

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 26:2YouTube · 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 MatthewMatthew 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

Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'

How Matthew 26:2 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

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.