Mark 11:18

18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard [it], and began considering how they could destroy him. For they were afraid of him because the whole crowd was astounded by his teaching.

Mark 11:18 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 11:18

And the Scribes and chief priests heard it
The reproof he gave to the money changers, and buyers, and sellers in the temple; and his strict prohibition that none should carry any vessels through it; and the argument he used from the prophecy of Isaiah, and the sharp rebuke he gave for the profanation of the holy place:

and sought how they might destroy him:
they took counsel together to take away his life, for they hated reformation:

for they feared him;
lest he should go on to make great changes and alterations among them, which would affect their credit and character, and their gains also, and draw the people after him:

because all the people were astonished at his doctrine;
both as to the matter of it, which were such words as never man spake; and, as to the manner of it, being with such majesty, power, and authority, as the Scribes and Pharisees taught not with; and also at the miracles, by which it was confirmed, as well as at the reformation and discipline he was introducing; which was done with such an air of sovereignty and power, as was amazing.

Mark 11:18 In-Context

16 And he did not permit anyone to carry objects through the temple [courts].

17 And he began to teach and was saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations,' but you have made it a cave of robbers!"

18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard [it], and began considering how they could destroy him. For they were afraid of him because the whole crowd was astounded by his teaching.

19 And when evening came they went out of the city.

20 And [as they] passed by early in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.

Footnotes

• [a] *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [b] The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began considering")