Bible Strands
Luke 22:52
Then Jesus said to the chief priests, temple officers, and elders who had come for Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against an outlaw?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses the chief priests, temple officers, and elders who have arrived to arrest Him immediately after healing the servant’s severed ear. The confrontation occurs in the garden during the night of His betrayal.
The words — The Greek παραγενομένους (paragenomenous) means “having come out,” denoting the deliberate mobilization of the arresting party. Jesus contrasts their armed preparation with His unresisting posture.
The thread — The same challenge appears in Matthew 26:55 and Mark 14:48, while Luke 22:4 records the prior conspiracy that prompted their armed arrival. The parallel accounts confirm the synchronized narrative of the arrest.
Why it lands — The text states that Jesus questions the necessity of armed force against a man who did not flee. A reader must assess whether violence can suppress a voluntary surrender and confront the mismatch between the attackers’ tactics and His conduct.
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
Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?
Cross-references
- Luke 22:4 And Judas went to discuss with the chief priests and temple officers how he might betray Jesus to them.
- Matthew 26:55 At that time Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would an outlaw? Every day I sat teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest Me.
- Mark 14:48 Jesus asked the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would an outlaw?
- John 17:12 While I was with them, I protected and preserved them by Your name, the name You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
- Acts 5:26 At that point, the captain went with the officers and brought the apostles—but not by force, for fear the people would stone them.
- 2 Kings 11:15 And Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders of hundreds in charge of the army, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest had said, “She must not be put to death in the house of the LORD.”