Mark 14:56

But, neither so did their witness agree together. Their witness did agree together, for they both witnessed the same thing; but not so as to found upon it the charge of a capital crime against him; their witness was not so, "equal", was not answerable to their desires, nor sufficient to convict him of a capital crime, for which they could condemn him to death, as before observed on Mar 14:56.

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Mark 14:60

mar 14:60

mar 14:60

mar 14:60And the high priest stood up in the midst,.... Of the sanhedrim, of which he was now president: he sat at the head of them, and Ab Beth Din, or the father of the council, at his right hand; and the rest of the council sat before him, in a semicircular form, as the half of a round corn floor, so that the president, and the father of the council, could see them (n); for they were all before him, he being situated in the middle, right against them; so that when he stood up, he might be said to stand in the midst of them:

and asked Jesus, saying, answerest thou nothing? For he had made no reply to the several witnesses, that came against him:

what is it which these witness against thee? Is it true, or false? See Gill on Mat 26:62.

(n) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 4. sect. 3. Maimon. Hiltch. Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 14:56 . ἴσαι , equal, to the same effect, as the testimonies of true witnesses would, of course, be. Grotius takes the word as meaning, not equal to one another, but equal to the demands of weighty evidence and justifying condemnation. Elsner agrees, arguing from the use of the word again, in reference to the evidence about the temple logion of Jesus. These witnesses, he holds, are not represented as making conflicting statements, but simply as making statements not sufficiently weighty not equal to the occasion. There is some force in this.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(56) Their witness agreed not together.—St. Mark gives what St. Matthew only implies as the cause of the failure.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

56. but their witness agreed not together] “þe witnessingis weren not couenable,” Wyclif. The Law required that at least two witnesses must agree. See Deu_17:6; Deu_19:15. But now some who came forward had nothing relevant to say, and others contradicted themselves.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

56 For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.

Ver. 56. Agreed not] ισαι ουκ ησαν. Were not matches, or amounted not to an accusation of death.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Their evidence did not agree. Others translate, their testimonies were not sufficient; that is, so as to amount to a crime that made him guilty of death. The Greek, as well as the Latin text, may be taken in either sense. The high priest, vexed at this, stood up, and asked him questions, hoping to make him appear guilty by his own confession. (Witham) --- This latter sense is given to the same expression, ver. 59. infra.

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Convenientia testimonia non erant. Greek: isai ai marturiai ouk esan. The word Greek: isai may either signify that they did not agree together, or that they were not sufficient to get him condemned, which latter is the opinion of Erasmus, who translates, non erant idonea.

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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

56. Agreed not together — The original Greek is by many understood to mean that the witness or testimony was not adequate, that is, sufficient to make out a criminal case. As the variations between the testimonies do not seem to be essential, this is probably the true meaning.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For many bare false witness against him, and their witness agreed not together. Whatever things these witnesses brought forward were either false, or self-contradictory, or beside the purpose.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Their evidences were not sufficient - The Greek words literally rendered are, Were not equal: not equal to the charge of a capital crime: it is the same word in the 59th verse.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

56. ἴσαι … οὐκ ἦσαν. Agreed not together; cf. Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15; Num 35:30. The words might mean “were not just and impartial,” but hardly “were not adequate,” which would rather be ἱκαναί (Plato, Sym. 179 B, Hip. Mi. 369 c).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

56.] ἴσαι—consistent with one another. It was necessary that two witnesses should agree. Deu 17:6. (ἰσος should not be accentuated as in Homer, ἶσος, but as in later writers, ἴσος.)

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

56. πολλοὶ γὰρ ἐψευδομαρτύρουν—for many bore false witness. This confirms the statement that they found no witness to put him to death. Such testimony, i.e. as would answer their purpose, since, though many bore false witness, their testimony did not agree.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Their witness agreed not. Peculiar to Mark. Lit., their testimonies were not equal. Hence the difficulty of fulfilling the requirement of the law, which demanded two witnesses. See Deu 27:6; and compare Mt 28:16; 1Ti 5:19; Heb 10:28.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.