Matthew 26:22

22 And greatly distressed, each one began to say to him, "{Surely I am not he, am I}, Lord?"

Matthew 26:22 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 26:22

And they were exceeding sorrowful
Partly that Christ should be betrayed at all, into the hands of his enemies, by whom they knew he would be ill used; and partly, that so vile an action should be done, by one from among themselves; and greatly, because they knew not, nor could not conceive, who of them could be guilty of such an horrid sin:

and began everyone of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?
excepting Judas, who afterwards spoke for himself. This they said, though conscious to themselves the thing had never entered into their hearts; nor had they taken any step towards it, but with their whole souls abhorred it; yet, as knowing the treachery and deceitfulness, of their hearts, which they could not trust to; and fearing lest should they be left thereunto, they might commit such a dreadful iniquity; and as desirous of being cleared by Christ from any such imputation, and even from all suspicion of anything of this kind.

Matthew 26:22 In-Context

20 And [when it] was evening, he was reclining at table with the twelve disciples.
21 And [while] they were eating he said, "Truly I say to you, that one of you will betray me."
22 And greatly distressed, each one began to say to him, "{Surely I am not he, am I}, Lord?"
23 And he answered [and] said, "The one who dips his hand in the bowl with me--this one will betray me.
24 The Son of Man is going just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for him if that man had not been born."

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "surely I am not"; the negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by "am I"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.