Bible Strands
Luke 11:54
waiting to catch Him in something He might say.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The scribes and Pharisees watch Jesus after He departs from a teaching moment, opposing Him bitterly and questioning Him about many things. They wait to catch Him in something He might say.
The words — The Greek participle ἐνεδρεύοντες (enedreuontes) literally means "laying in wait" or "watching," paired with ζητοῦντες θηρεύσαι (zētountes thēreusai), meaning "seeking to catch." These terms describe their deliberate effort to trap His words.
The thread — This pattern of religious leaders seeking to trap Jesus in His words appears in Mark 12:13, Matthew 22:15, and Matthew 22:35. Each account records a coordinated effort to test or catch Him through carefully framed questions.
Why it lands — The text states that scribes and Pharisees waited to catch Jesus in His words. It asks a reader to identify how deliberate scrutiny functions as a tool for opposition and to recognize the precise moment when teaching meets calculated hostility.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.
Cross-references
- Mark 12:13 Later, they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to catch Jesus in His words.
- Matthew 22:15 Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words.
- Matthew 22:35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question:
- Psalms 37:32 Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,
- Psalms 56:5 All day long they twist my words; all their thoughts are on my demise.
- Matthew 22:18 But Jesus knew their evil intent and said, “You hypocrites, why are you testing Me?
- Luke 20:20 So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor.
- Mark 3:2 In order to accuse Jesus, they were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.