Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
Parallel translations
- WEB Or do you think that I couldn’t ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels?
- KJV Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
- BSB Are you not aware that I can call on My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
- NKJV Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?
- NLT Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?
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 says He could call on the Father for more than twelve legions of angels. His arrest is voluntary, not the result of weakness.
Overview
Jesus affirms His access to overwhelming divine power, yet chooses not to summon it. His restraint shows that He goes to the cross willingly in obedience to the Father, not because He is overpowered. This sovereign self-surrender lies at the heart of the gospel: He could have escaped, but He stayed to save us.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 2 Kgs 6:17Elisha prayed, and said, “Yahweh, please open his eyes, that he may see.” Yahweh opened the young man’s eyes; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.
- Matt 4:11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.
- Luke 8:30Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered into him.
- Dan 7:10A fiery stream issued and came out from before him: thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
- 2 Th 1:7and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
- Matt 25:31“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
- Jude 1:14About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones,
- Matt 10:1–2He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 26:53 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.