Mark 14:44

44 and he who is delivering him up had given a token to them, saying, `Whomsoever I shall kiss, he it is, lay hold on him, and lead him away safely,'

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).

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Mark 14:44 In-Context

42 rise, we may go, lo, he who is delivering me up hath come nigh.'

43 And immediately -- while he is yet speaking -- cometh near Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude, with swords and sticks, from the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders;

44 and he who is delivering him up had given a token to them, saying, `Whomsoever I shall kiss, he it is, lay hold on him, and lead him away safely,'

45 and having come, immediately, having gone near him, he saith, `Rabbi, Rabbi,' and kissed him.

46 And they laid on him their hands, and kept hold on him;