Mark 14:43

43 No sooner were the words out of his mouth when Judas, the one out of the Twelve, showed up, and with him a gang of ruffians, sent by the high priests, religion scholars, and leaders, brandishing swords and clubs.

Mark 14:43 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 14:43

And immediately, while he yet spake
The above words:

cometh Judas one of the twelve:
apostles of Christ, and which was an aggravation of his wickedness; the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic, versions add, "Iscariot"; and so it is read in one of Beza's copies. The Ethiopic version reads, "one of the ten", very wrongly:

and with him a great multitude;
a band of men and officers, with many of the chief priests and captains of the temple, and elders of the people, that mixed themselves with the crowd, to see how things would issue:

with swords and staves;
which they intended to make use of, should any resistance be made in apprehending him, or any attempt to rescue him:

from the chief priests, and the Scribes, and the elders;
from the Jewish sanhedrim, which consisted of these; (See Gill on Matthew 26:47).

Mark 14:43 In-Context

41 He came back a third time and said, "Are you going to sleep all night? No - you've slept long enough. Time's up. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners.

42 Get up. Let's get going. My betrayer has arrived."

43 No sooner were the words out of his mouth when Judas, the one out of the Twelve, showed up, and with him a gang of ruffians, sent by the high priests, religion scholars, and leaders, brandishing swords and clubs.

44 The betrayer had worked out a signal with them: "The one I kiss, that's the one - seize him. Make sure he doesn't get away."

45 He went straight to Jesus and said, "Rabbi!" and kissed him.