Mark 14:44

44 Judas had planned a signal for them, saying, "The man I kiss is Jesus. Arrest him and guard him while you lead him away."

Mark 14:44 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 14:44

And he that betrayed him had given them a token
A common sign, in which they agreed; and so this same Greek word is used by the Jews F3:

``said R. Phinehas in the name of R. Reuben, did you ever see one man go out of the north, and another from the south, and meet each other, except they made, (anmyo) , "a common sign", between them.''

Such an one the traitor gave his company;

saying, whomsoever I shall kiss, the same is he;
Jesus of Nazareth; who was to be delivered to them:

take him, and lead him away safely;
with care and caution, lest he should get out of their hands, and make his escape, as he had sometimes done: the word "safely", is omitted in the Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions. The Vulgate Latin renders it "cautiously", and so does the Syriac version, which joins it to the words, "take him"; (See Gill on Matthew 26:48).


FOOTNOTES:

F3 Midras Samuel, sect. 9. apud Buxtorf. Lex. Rab. p. 1519.

Mark 14:44 In-Context

42 Get up, we must go. Look, here comes the man who has turned against me."
43 At once, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve apostles, came up. With him were many people carrying swords and clubs who had been sent from the leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the older Jewish leaders.
44 Judas had planned a signal for them, saying, "The man I kiss is Jesus. Arrest him and guard him while you lead him away."
45 So Judas went straight to Jesus and said, "Teacher!" and kissed him.
46 Then the people grabbed Jesus and arrested him.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.