Matthew 26:62

THE MESSAGE

The Chief Priest stood up and said, "What do you have to say to the accusation?"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The high priest stood up and said to him, “Don’t you have an answer to what these men are testifying against you?”

King James Version (1611)
And the high Priest arose, and said vnto him, Answerest thou nothing? What is it, which these witnesse against thee?

King James Version
And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?

English Standard Version
And the high priest stood up and said, "Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?"

New American Standard Bible
The high priest stood up and said to Him, "Do You offer no answer for what these men are testifying against You?"

New Century Version
Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Aren't you going to answer? Don't you have something to say about their charges against you?"

Amplified Bible
The high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Have You no answer to give? What is it that these men are testifying against You?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The high priest stood up and said to Him, "Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?"

Legacy Standard Bible
And the high priest stood up and said to Him, "Do You not answer? What are these men testifying against You?"

Berean Standard Bible
So the high priest stood up and asked Him, "Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?"

Contemporary English Version
The high priest stood up and asked Jesus, "Why don't you say something in your own defense? Don't you hear the charges they are making against you?"

Complete Jewish Bible
The cohen hagadol stood up and said, "Have you nothing to say to the accusation these men are making?"

Darby Translation
And the high priest standing up said to him, Answerest thou nothing? What do these witness against thee?

Easy-to-Read Version
Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Don't you have anything to say about these charges against you? Are they telling the truth?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then the chiefe Priest arose, and sayde to him, Answerest thou nothing? What is the matter that these men witnesse against thee?

George Lamsa Translation
And the high priest stood up and said to him, You are not answering anything. What is it that these men testify against you?

Good News Translation
The High Priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Have you no answer to give to this accusation against you?"

Lexham English Bible
And the high priest stood up and said to him, "Do you reply nothing? What are these people testifying against you?"

Literal Translation
And standing up, the high priest said to Him, Do you answer nothing? What do these witness against you?

American Standard Version
And the high priest stood up, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?

Bible in Basic English
And the high priest got up and said to him, Have you no answer? what is it which these say against you?

Hebrew Names Version
The Kohen Gadol stood up, and answered him, "Have you no answer? What is this that these testify against you?"

International Standard Version
At this, the high priest stood up and said to Jesus,him">[fn] "Don't you have any answer to what these men are testifying against you?"Mark 14:60;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
And the chief of the priests arose, and said to him, Dost thou return no word ? What are these witnessing against thee?

Murdock Translation
And the high priest rose up and said to him: Respondest thou nothing? What do these testify against thee?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the chiefe priest arose, and sayde vnto hym: Aunswerest thou nothyng? Why do these beare witnesse agaynst thee?

English Revised Version
And the high priest stood up, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?

World English Bible
The high priest stood up, and answered him, "Have you no answer? What is this that these testify against you?"

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And the high priest rising up said to him, Answerest thou nothing? What do these witness against thee?

Weymouth's New Testament
Then the High Priest stood up and asked Him, "Have you no answer to make? What is it these men are saying in evidence against you?"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the prince of prestis roos, and seide to hym, Answerist thou no thing to tho thingis, that these witnessen ayens thee?

Update Bible Version
And the high priest stood up, and said to him, Do you answer nothing? what is it which these witness against you?

Webster's Bible Translation
And the high priest arose, and said to him, Answerest thou nothing, what [is it which] these testify against thee?

New English Translation
So the high priest stood up and said to him, "Have you no answer? What is this that they are testifying against you?"

New King James Version
And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?"

New Living Translation
Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Well, aren't you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?"

New Life Bible
Then the head religious leader stood up. He said to Jesus, "Have You nothing to say? What about the things these men are saying against You?"

New Revised Standard
The high priest stood up and said, "Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the High-priest, arising, said unto him - Nothing, answerest thou? What are these, against thee bearing witness?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the high priest rising up, said to him: Answerest thou nothing to the things which these witness against thee?

Revised Standard Version
And the high priest stood up and said, "Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?"

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And the chefe preste arose and sayde to him: answerest thou nothinge? How is it yt these beare witnes ageynst the?

Young's Literal Translation
And the chief priest having stood up, said to him, `Nothing thou dost answer! what do these witness against thee?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the hye prest stode vp, and sayde vnto him: Answerest thou nothinge, vnto it, that these testifie agaynst the?

Mace New Testament (1729)
and the high priest arose, and said to him, have you nothing in answer to that charge they bring against you?

Simplified Cowboy Version
The head honcho stood up and asked Jesus, "Are you gonna answer these charges?What have you got to say about yourself?"

Contextual Overview

⁵⁷The gang that had seized Jesus led him before Caiaphas the Chief Priest, where the religion scholars and leaders had assembled. Peter followed at a safe distance until they got to the Chief Priest's courtyard. Then he slipped in and mingled with the servants, watching to see how things would turn out. ⁵⁹The high priests, conspiring with the Jewish Council, tried to cook up charges against Jesus in order to sentence him to death. But even though many stepped up, making up one false accusation after another, nothing was believable. Finally two men came forward with this: "He said, ‘I can tear down this Temple of God and after three days rebuild it.'" The Chief Priest stood up and said, "What do you have to say to the accusation?" Jesus kept silent. Then the Chief Priest said, "I command you by the authority of the living God to say if you are the Messiah, the Son of God." Jesus was curt: "You yourself said it. And that's not all. Soon you'll see it for yourself: The Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Mighty One, Arriving on the clouds of heaven." At that, the Chief Priest lost his temper, ripping his robes, yelling, "He blasphemed! Why do we need witnesses to accuse him? You all heard him blaspheme! Are you going to stand for such blasphemy?" They all said, "Death! That seals his death sentence." Then they were spitting in his face and banging him around. They jeered as they slapped him: "Prophesy, Messiah: Who hit you that time?" All this time, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. One servant girl came up to him and said, "You were with Jesus the Galilean." In front of everybody there, he denied it. "I don't know what you're talking about." As he moved over toward the gate, someone else said to the people there, "This man was with Jesus the Nazarene." Again he denied it, salting his denial with an oath: "I swear, I never laid eyes on the man." Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. "You've got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away." Then he got really nervous and swore. "I don't know the man!" Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered what Jesus had said: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." He went out and cried and cried and cried. ⁶¹Anointed for Burial When Jesus finished saying these things, he told his disciples, "You know that Passover comes in two days. That's when the Son of Man will be betrayed and handed over for crucifixion." At that very moment, the party of high priests and religious leaders was meeting in the chambers of the Chief Priest named Caiaphas, conspiring to seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. They agreed that it should not be done during Passover Week. "We don't want a riot on our hands," they said. When Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper, a woman came up to him as he was eating dinner and anointed him with a bottle of very expensive perfume. When the disciples saw what was happening, they were furious. "That's criminal! This could have been sold for a lot and the money handed out to the poor." When Jesus realized what was going on, he intervened. "Why are you giving this woman a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives, but not me. When she poured this perfume on my body, what she really did was anoint me for burial. You can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she has just done is going to be remembered and admired." That is when one of the Twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the cabal of high priests and said, "What will you give me if I hand him over to you?" They settled on thirty silver pieces. He began looking for just the right moment to hand him over. On the first of the Days of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare your Passover meal?" He said, "Enter the city. Go up to a certain man and say, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near. I and my disciples plan to celebrate the Passover meal at your house.'" The disciples followed Jesus' instructions to the letter, and prepared the Passover meal. After sunset, he and the Twelve were sitting around the table. During the meal, he said, "I have something hard but important to say to you: One of you is going to hand me over to the conspirators." They were stunned, and then began to ask, one after another, "It isn't me, is it, Master?" Jesus answered, "The one who hands me over is someone I eat with daily, one who passes me food at the table. In one sense the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures—no surprises here. In another sense that man who turns him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man—better never to have been born than do this!" Then Judas, already turned traitor, said, "It isn't me, is it, Rabbi?" Jesus said, "Don't play games with me, Judas." During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples: Take, eat. This is my body. Taking the cup and thanking God, he gave it to them: Drink this, all of you. This is my blood, God's new covenant poured out for many people for the forgiveness of sins. "I'll not be drinking wine from this cup again until that new day when I'll drink with you in the kingdom of my Father." They sang a hymn and went directly to Mount Olives. Then Jesus told them, "Before the night's over, you're going to fall to pieces because of what happens to me. There is a Scripture that says, I'll strike the shepherd; helter-skelter the sheep will be scattered. But after I am raised up, I, your Shepherd, will go ahead of you, leading the way to Galilee." Peter broke in, "Even if everyone else falls to pieces on account of you, I won't." "Don't be so sure," Jesus said. "This very night, before the rooster crows up the dawn, you will deny me three times." Peter protested, "Even if I had to die with you, I would never deny you." All the others said the same thing. Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, "Stay here while I go over there and pray." Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then he said, "This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me." Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, "My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?" When he came back to his disciples, he found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, "Can't you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert; be in prayer so you don't wander into temptation without even knowing you're in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there's another part that's as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire." He then left them a second time. Again he prayed, "My Father, if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I'm ready. Do it your way." When he came back, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn't keep their eyes open. This time he let them sleep on, and went back a third time to pray, going over the same ground one last time. When he came back the next time, he said, "Are you going to sleep on and make a night of it? My time is up, the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the hands of sinners. Get up! Let's get going! My betrayer is here." The words were barely out of his mouth when Judas (the one from the Twelve) showed up, and with him a gang from the high priests and religious leaders brandishing swords and clubs. The betrayer had worked out a sign with them: "The one I kiss, that's the one—seize him." He went straight to Jesus, greeted him, "How are you, Rabbi?" and kissed him. Jesus said, "Friend, why this charade?" Then they came on him—grabbed him and roughed him up. One of those with Jesus pulled his sword and, taking a swing at the Chief Priest's servant, cut off his ear. Jesus said, "Put your sword back where it belongs. All who use swords are destroyed by swords. Don't you realize that I am able right now to call to my Father, and twelve companies—more, if I want them—of fighting angels would be here, battle-ready? But if I did that, how would the Scriptures come true that say this is the way it has to be?" Then Jesus addressed the mob: "What is this—coming out after me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal? Day after day I have been sitting in the Temple teaching, and you never so much as lifted a hand against me. You've done it this way to confirm and fulfill the prophetic writings." Then all the disciples cut and ran. The gang that had seized Jesus led him before Caiaphas the Chief Priest, where the religion scholars and leaders had assembled. Peter followed at a safe distance until they got to the Chief Priest's courtyard. Then he slipped in and mingled with the servants, watching to see how things would turn out. The high priests, conspiring with the Jewish Council, tried to cook up charges against Jesus in order to sentence him to death. But even though many stepped up, making up one false accusation after another, nothing was believable. Finally two men came forward with this: "He said, ‘I can tear down this Temple of God and after three days rebuild it.'" ⁶² The Chief Priest stood up and said, "What do you have to say to the accusation?" ⁶³ Jesus kept silent. Then the Chief Priest said, "I command you by the authority of the living God to say if you are the Messiah, the Son of God." ⁶⁴ Jesus was curt: "You yourself said it. And that's not all. Soon you'll see it for yourself: The Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Mighty One, Arriving on the clouds of heaven." ⁶⁵At that, the Chief Priest lost his temper, ripping his robes, yelling, "He blasphemed! Why do we need witnesses to accuse him? You all heard him blaspheme! Are you going to stand for such blasphemy?" They all said, "Death! That seals his death sentence." ⁶⁷Then they were spitting in his face and banging him around. They jeered as they slapped him: "Prophesy, Messiah: Who hit you that time?"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Answerest: Matthew 27:12-14, Mark 14:60, Luke 23:9, John 18:19-24, John 19:9-11

Reciprocal: Matthew 27:13 - Hearest Mark 15:4 - Answerest Acts 7:1 - Are Acts 8:32 - opened

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the high priest arose and said unto him,.... He rose up from his seat in great wrath and anger; partly being vexed, that they could get no other and better testimony; and partly because of Christ's contemptuous silence, giving no answer to the witnesses, as judging they deserved none; and which highly provoked the high priest, and therefore in passion said,

answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? Is it true or false, right or wrong? The Vulgate Latin renders it, "dost thou answer nothing to those things which these witness against thee?" To which agree the Arabic version, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Jesus held his peace - Was silent. He knew that the evidence did not even appear to amount to anything worth a reply. He knew that they were aware of that, and that feeling that, the high priest attempted to draw something from him on which they could condemn him.

I adjure thee by the living God - I put thee upon thy oath before God. This was the usual form of putting an oath among the Jews. It implies calling God to witness the truth of what was said. The law respecting witnesses also made it a violation of an oath to conceal any part of the truth; and though our Saviour might have felt that such a question, put in such a manner, was very improper or was unlawful, yet he also knew that to be silent would be construed into a denial of his being the Christ. The question was probably put in auger. They had utterly failed in their proof. They had no way left to accomplish their purpose of condemning him but to draw it from his own lips. This cunning question was therefore proposed. The difficulty of the question consisted in this: If he confessed that he was the Son of God, they stood ready to condemn him for “blasphemy;” if he denied it, they were prepared to condemn him for being an impostor, and for deluding the people under the pretence of being the Messiah.

The living God - Yahweh is called the living God in opposition to idols, which were without life.

The Christ - The Messiah, the Anointed. See the notes at Matthew 1:1.

The Son of God - The Jews uniformly expected that the Messiah would be the Son of God. In their view it denoted, also, that he would be “divine,” or equal to the Father, John 10:31-36. To claim that title was therefore, in their view, “blasphemy;” and as they had determined beforehand in their own minds that he was not the Messiah, they were ready at once to accuse him of blasphemy.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 62. Answerest thou nothing? — The accusation was so completely frivolous that it merited no notice: besides, Jesus knew that they were determined to put him to death, and that his hour was come; and that therefore remonstrance or defence would be of no use: he had often before borne sufficient testimony to the truth.