Mark 14:43

Arrest

43 Suddenly, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, came with a mob carrying swords and clubs. They had been sent by the chief priests, legal experts, and elders.

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 a third time and said to them, "Will you sleep and rest all night? That's enough! The time has come for the Human One to be betrayed into the hands of sinners.

42 Get up! Let's go! Look, here comes my betrayer."

43 Suddenly, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, came with a mob carrying swords and clubs. They had been sent by the chief priests, legal experts, and elders.

44 His betrayer had given them a sign: "Arrest the man I kiss, and take him away under guard."

45 As soon as he got there, Judas said to Jesus, "Rabbi!" Then he kissed him.