Bible Strands
Matthew 26:24
The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed. It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to the twelve at the Last Supper, having just named the betrayer (v.23), moments before Judas denies it (v.25).
The words — γέγραπται (gegraptai), perfect passive of γράφω, "it has been written": a completed act with standing force, anchoring the Son of Man's departure in a fixed record rather than a contingent event.
The thread — The same "it is written" logic runs through Daniel 9:26 (the Messiah "cut off"), Luke 24:46 (the Christ "will suffer and rise"), and Acts 26:22 (Paul testifying to what the prophets foretold).
Why it lands — The verse holds two claims in tension: the Son of Man's path is fixed, yet the betrayer remains personally culpable. It refuses to let "it had to happen" dissolve into "he is blameless."
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
The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.
Cross-references
- Luke 24:46 And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
- Acts 26:22 But I have had God’s help to this day, and I stand here to testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen:
- Daniel 9:26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.
- Matthew 18:7 Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
- 1 Corinthians 15:3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
- Psalms 22:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
- Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
- Zechariah 12:10 Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
- Matthew 26:54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?”
- Mark 14:21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”