Matthew 26:18

26:18 My time: The Messiah would now complete the work for which he was commissioned, to die for the sins of the world.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 26:18. Τὸν δεῖνα, a certain man) This word is put instead of a proper name.[1122]—ὁ Διδάσκαλος, the Master) Therefore the host in question was a disciple, but not one of the Twelve.—ὁ καιρός Μου, My time) which I have long foreseen and foretold, when I shall suffer.—ποιῶ τὸ πάσχα, κ.τ.λ., I celebrate the Passover, etc.) A courteous mode of announcing the fact to that ready disciple at whose house the Master was about to celebrate the Passover. It is astonishing that some learned men should have called in question, or denied the fact, of our Lord’s having then celebrated the Passover; see Mat 26:17-19, the commencement of Mat 26:30, and Luk 22:7-8; Luk 22:12; Luk 22:14-15.

[1122] i.e. Our Lord mentioned the man’s name, though St Matthew has omitted it.—(I. B.)

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_26:18. Εἰς τὴν πόλιν] to Jerusalem. According to Mat_26:6 ff., they were still at Bethany.

πρὸς τὸν δεῖνα] as we say when we either cannot or will not mention the name of the person intended: to so and so. See Wetstein and Hermann, ad Vig. p. 704. But it was not Jesus Himself who omitted to mention the name (ut discipulus ex diuturna consuetudine notissimum, Fritzsche), for, after the question of the disciples, Mat_26:17, He could not assume that it was quite well understood who it was that He referred to; but it has been omitted by the evangelist in his narrative (comp. even Augustine, de cons, ev. ii. 80), either because it had not been preserved as part of the tradition, or for some other reason, to us unknown.

ὁ διδάσκ.] the Teacher κατʼ ἐξοχήν. Doubtless the unknown person here referred to was also a believer. Comp. Mat_21:3.

ὁ καιρός μου] i.e. the time of my death (Joh_13:1), not: for my observing the Passover (Kuinoel), which would render the words singularly meaningless; for this time was, in fact, the same for all There is nothing whatever to justify the very old hypothesis, invented with a view to reconcile the synoptic writers with John, that Jesus partook of His last Passover meal a day earlier than that on which it was wont to be eaten by the Jews. See on Joh_18:28. Further, this preliminary preparation implies a pious regard for Jesus on the part of the δεῖνα, who was thus singled out; this Passover observance, for which preparations are being made, was destined, in fact, to be a farewell feast! According to Ewald, ὁ καιρός μου denotes the time when the Messianic phenomena would appear in the heavens (comp. Mat_24:34), which, however, is at variance with the text, where the death of Jesus is the all-pervading thought (see Mat_26:2; Mat_26:4; Mat_26:11 f., 21). Comp. ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα, Joh_17:1.

ποιῶ] is not the Attic future (Fritzsche, Bleek), but the present, representing what is future as now going on, and suited to the idea of a distinct friendly arrangement beforehand: at thy house I observe the Passover. Comp. Exo_12:48; Jos_5:10; Deu_15:1; Deuteronomy 3 Esdr. Mat_1:6. Similarly classical writers frequently use ποιεῖν in the sense of to observe a feast.

Matthews account presupposes nothing miraculous here, as Theophylact and Calvin would have us believe, but simply an arrangement, of which nothing further is known, which Jesus had come to with the person in question, and in consequence of which this latter not only understood what was meant by the ὁ καιρός μου, but was also keeping a room in reserve for Jesus in which to celebrate the Passover. It is probable that Jesus, during His stay in Jerusalem after the triumphal entry, had come to some understanding or other with him, so that all that now required to be done was to complete the preparations. It was reserved for the later tradition, embodied in Mark and Luke, to ascribe a miraculous character to these preparations, in which respect they seem to have shared the fate of the incident mentioned at Mat_21:2 f. This being the case, the claim of originality must be decided in favour of what is still the very simple narrative of Matthew (Strauss, Bleek, Keim), in preference to that of Mark and Luke (Schulz, Schleiermacher, Weisse, Ewald, Weiss). As represented, therefore, by Matthew (who, according to Ebrard and Holtzmann, seems to have regarded the circumstance about the man bearing a pitcher of water as only an unnecessary detail, and whose narrative here is, according to Ewald, somewhat winnowed), this incident is a natural one, though the same cannot be said of the account given by Mark and Luke (in opposition to Olshausen and Neander).

Who that unknown person above referred to might be, is a point which cannot be determined.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 26:18 . ὑπάγετε , go ye into the city, i.e. , Jerusalem. πρὸς τὸν δεῖνα , to such a one, evidently no sufficient direction. Mk. and Lk. are more explicit. Mt. here, as often, abbreviates. Doubtless a previous understanding had been come to between Jesus and an unknown friend in Jerusalem. Euthy. suggests that a roundabout direction was given to keep Judas in ignorance as to the rendezvous. ὁ καιρός μου ., my time (of death). Some (Grotius, Speaker’s Com. , Carr, Camb. N.T.) find in the words a reason for anticipating the time of the Paschal Feast, and so one of the indications, even in the Synoptics, that John’s date of the Passion is the true one. ποιῶ τ . π ., I make or keep (present, not future), a usual expression in such a connection. Examples in Raphel. μετὰ τ . μ .: making thirteen with the Master, a suitable number ( justa φρατρία , Grotius), between the prescribed limits of ten and twenty. The lamb had to be entirely consumed (Exo 12:4 ; Exo 12:43 ). Did Jesus and the Twelve eat the Paschal lamb?

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

Verse 18. Go - to such a man] τον δεινα It is probable that this means some person with whom Christ was well acquainted, and who was known to the disciples. Grotius observes that the Greeks use this form when they mean some particular person who is so well known that there is no need to specify him by name. The circumstances are more particularly marked in Lu 22:8, &c.

My time is at hand] That is, the time of my crucifixion. Kypke has largely shown that καιρος is often used among the Greeks for affliction and calamity. It might be rendered here, the time of my crucifixion is at hand.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(18) To such a man.—The Greek word is that used when the writer knows, but does not care to mention, the name of the man referred to. St. Mark and St. Luke relate the sign that was given them. They were to meet a man “bearing a pitcher of water” and follow him. and were to see in the house into which he entered that in which they were to make their preparations. The master of the house was probably a disciple, but secretly, like many others, “for fear of the Jews” (Joh_12:42), and this may explain the suppression of his name. He was, at any rate, one who would acknowledge the authority of the Master in whose name the disciples spoke. In the other two Gospels our Lord describes the large upper room furnished which the disciples would find on entering. The signal may have been agreed upon before, or may have been the result of a supernatural prescience. Scripture is silent, and either supposition is legitimate.

My time is at hand.—For the disciples, the “time” may have seemed the long-expected season of His manifesting Himself as King, and the memory of such words as those of Joh_7:8 (“My time is not yet full come”) may have seemed to strengthen the impression. We read, as it were, between the lines, and see that it was the “time” of the suffering and death which were the conditions of His true glory (Joh_12:23; Joh_13:32).

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

18. to such a man] “To a certain man” (one who is known, but not named), with whom the arrangements had been previously made. He was doubtless a follower of Jesus. It was usual for the inhabitants of Jerusalem to lend guestchambers to the strangers who came to the feast.

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.

And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them,.... They went into the city of Jerusalem; they met the man carrying a pitcher of water home; they followed him into the house he entered; they addressed the master of the house, in the manner Christ directed, who showed them a large upper room, prepared with all proper furniture for such an occasion, as Christ had foretold:

and they made ready the passover; they went and bought a lamb; they carried it to the temple to be slain in the court, where it was presented as a passover lamb for such a number of persons; they had it flayed, cut up, the fat taken out, and burnt on the altar, and its blood sprinkled on the foot of it: they then brought it to the house where they were to eat it; here they roasted it, and provided bread, and wine, and bitter herbs, and a sauce called "Charoseth", into which the herbs were dipped: and, in short, everything that was necessary.

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

18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.

Ver. 18. Go into the city to such a man] Meaning some man of his special acquaintance, for so the Greek (ο δεινα) imports, though he named him not. So Palmoni hammedabber, " such an one the speaker," Dan 8:13.

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.

To a certain man, whom Sts. Mark and Luke call, the good man of the house, or master of the house. When St. Matthew therefore says, a certain man, he seems to do it for brevity’s sake; as not one ever speaks to his servants thus, go to a certain man. The evangelist, therefore, after giving our Saviour’s words, go ye into a certain city, he adds as from himself, to a certain man, to inform us that there was a particular man to whom Jesus sent his disciples. (St. Augustine) --- In Greek, ton deina; in Hebrew, Pelona; words that express a person whose name is either not known, or is wished to be kept secret. (Jansenius)

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).

18. Go into the city — The city of Jerusalem, for a paschal lamb could be eaten at no other place. The Jews of the present day do not eat the paschal lamb at their annual passover. They only celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, which, as we have before said, followed the passover.

To such a man — This was a very indefinite direction; and perhaps Matthew only gives the substance of what Mark gives more explicitly. As they entered the city they would find a water carrier, whom they should follow and he would guide them to the householder, who would furnish them a room. Such a man — A man I will not name. The man will occur by human accident; but free will and human accident all operate under the clear-seeing eye of God’s foreknowledge. God clearly sees what man will freely do. As God sees how man will freely do, so he does most wisely adjust his plans. So God carries out his vast projects by taking and interweaving man’s free acts into his complex plans.

This direction very much resembles the sending the disciples to find in a miraculous manner the beast on which he should ride into Jerusalem, as well as the miracle of finding the coin in the fish’s mouth. For even if we suppose, with some commentators, that our Lord had intimated beforehand to some wealthy friend, as Joseph or Nicodemus, that he would take the last passover upon earth at his house, still, finding the pitcher-bearer was a supernatural contingency. The reason of such proceedings on the part of our Lord, which some commentators are so puzzled to find, is clearly to manifest to all around that he foresees all the events and sufferings before him. That is, he marches forward in a foreseen path of duty, and his sufferings are undergone in a perfectly voluntary manner. Joh_10:18.

The Master saith — The word master is correlative to the word disciple; and thus it is clearly implied that the householder is a follower of Jesus. Indeed, when we recollect that the rulers were afraid of the multitudes, as being adherents of Jesus, we may reasonably infer that the number of those who would call him “Master” was not few. My time is at hand — My time of suffering, previous to which I have promised to eat the paschal lamb at your house. And this language clearly implies that the man was our Lord’s disciple, that he clearly understood what was meant by the phrase “my time,” and that he was fully ready to appreciate the honour of furnishing the room for our Lord’s use. During passover week the houses of Jerusalem were hospitably open to the comers from the different parts of Palestine to celebrate the passover.

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

The city. Jerusalem. Jesus was at Bethany. St. Luke says that he sent Peter and John, now first joined together without James. To such a man (pro). The other synoptists mention certain signs by which they were to recognize the man. At the entrance of the city they would meet a man bearing a pitcher of water; they were to follow him to the house whither he went, and then give their message to the master of the house. There is a great similarity between this mission and that concerning the ass before the triumphal entry. The foreknowledge and the precision in directions are quite analogous. The "good man" was doubtless a disciple, though at this festival all strangers were freely received by any householder who had accommodation. Dr. Edersheim supposes that he was father of Mark, who was the "young man" arrested by the company that took Jesus. (Mar_14:51) The secrecy observed in the above-mentioned arrangement was intended to keep the knowledge from Judas, and thus to secure immunity from interruption at the solemn meal. The traitor seems to have sneaked out from the last Supper, and disclosed Christ"s retreat to the Jewish authorities, and conducted them to the house; but, finding that Jesus had left the room, he led them to Gethsemane, whither he knew that Jesus often resorted. (Joh_18:1, Joh_18:2) The Master. A disciple would know who was meant by this title. (comp. Mat_23:8, 10 Joh_11:28) Whether any previous arrangement had been made with him, we cannot tell; most probably Christ speaks from prevision and his providential ordering of events. My time is at hand. The time of my suffering and death. This fact would make the request more imperative. But the expression was mysterious and indefinite. I will keep (poiw , I keep) the Passover at thy house. The Passover which the Lord was to keep was not the usual Paschal meal, as the lamb could not be legally killed till the 14th, but a commemorative anticipatory feast in which he himself was the Lamb Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." Of that Lamb the apostles did mystically eat when Christ gave them the bread and wine with the words, "This is my body;" "This is my blood." This Supper, which was virtually the new Passover, seems traditionally to have become confounded with the usual Paschal solemnity; hence the language of the synoptists assumes a form which is applicable to the regular Jewish feast. This explanation, if it seems to derogate somewhat from the precise verbal accuracy of the evangelists, would probably be confirmed if we were better acquainted with the customs then prevalent, and with the current meaning of the language employed. The ambiguity in the accounts may be divinely intended to call attention to the fact that the last Supper was not the Jewish Passover, but the Christian Passover not the sacrifice on the cross, but an anticipation thereof. We may observe in passing that there is no mention of the lamb in the celebration; Peter and John were not enjoined to provide one, nor are they said to have visited the temple which, indeed, on the 13th would have been useless: and yet to obtain the lamb in any other way would have been a breach of the Law, which we cannot suppose Christ would sanction. We may also notice that the word "feast" ( eorth) is nowhere applied to the last Supper, though it is always employed in reference to the Jewish solemnity. St. Paul, in his account of the institution of the Holy Communion (1Co 11) makes no mention of any Paschal solemnities or associations, but merely states that it was appointed on the night in which Jesus was betrayed. With my disciples; i.e. the twelve apostles; none but these, not even the master of the house, were present at this solemn scene.

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

The Master saith, My time is at hand - That is, the time of my suffering.

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

18, 19. Go into the city to such a man. The disciples are directed (Mark 14:13) to determine the place in the city by a certain sign. They do so and make ready in the guest chamber thus secured.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

18. πρὸς τὸν δεῖνα. ‘To a certain man’ (one who is known, but not named), with whom the arrangements had been previously made. He was doubtless a follower of Jesus. It was usual for the inhabitants of Jerusalem to lend guestchambers to the strangers who came to the feast, and no other payment was accepted save the skin of the paschal lamb.

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.

18.] The person spoken of was unknown even by name, as appears from Mark and Luke, where he is to be found by the turning in of a man with a pitcher of water. The Lord spoke not from any previous arrangement, as some have thought, but in virtue of His knowledge, and command of circumstances. Compare the command ch. 21:2 sq., and that in ch. 17:27. In the words πρὸς τὸν δεῖνα here must be involved the additional circumstance mentioned by Mark and Luke, but perhaps unknown to our narrator: see note on Luk 22:10, where the fullest account is found.

The words ὁ διδάσκ., common to the three accounts, do not imply that the man was a disciple of our Lord. It was the common practice during the feast for persons to receive strangers into their houses gratuitously, for the purpose of eating the Passover: and in this description of Himself in addressing a stranger, our Lord has a deep meaning, as (perhaps, but see note) in ὁ κύριος in ch. 21:3. ‘Our Master and thine says.’ It is His form of ‘pressing’ for the service of the King of this earth, the things that are therein.

ὁ καιρός μου is not ‘the time of the feast,’ but my time, i.e. for suffering: see Joh 7:8 . freq. There is no reason for supposing from this expression that ὁ δεῖνα was aware of its meaning. The bearers of the message were; and the words, to the receiver of it, bore with them a weighty subjective reason, which, with such a title as ὁ διδάσκαλος prefixed, he was bound to respect. For these words we are indebted to St. Matthew’s narrative.

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

(M) 18. And He said, Go into the city to such a man, and say, The teacher saith, My time is at hand; I celebrate at thy house the Passover with My disciples.] Mk. has: “And He sendeth two of His disciples, and saith to them, Go into the city, and there shall meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water: follow him. And wheresoever he shall enter in, say to the master of the house that the teacher saith, Where is My chamber, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” Mt. avoids questions in the mouth of the Lord (cf. Introduction, p. xxxii), and therefore omits ποῦ ἐστὶν τὸ κατάλυμά μου. He avoids also the obscure reference to the man with the pitcher, the ambiguity of which is probably due to the fact that the Lord had an understanding with one of His adherents in the city, which enabled Him to throw an atmosphere of secrecy over His movements. He ostensibly arranged to keep the Passover meal on the 14th, whilst He purposed to eat a substitute for it on the evening of His message. In this way He safeguarded Himself from arrest during that last evening meal, since even if the place of meeting had been known outside the circle of the Twelve, no one, not excluding the Twelve, could have suspected that He would be found there till the evening of the 14th.

ὁ καιρός μου ἐγγύς ἐστιν] The words seem to be a previously arranged password. “Prepare the Passover meal; but for to-day, not to-morrow: for My Passover must be eaten to-night.” Mk. adds here: “And He will show you a large upper room furnished (and) ready: there make ready for us.” Mt. omits.

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

Such a man [τον δεινα] . The indefiniteness is the Evangelist 's, not our Lord 's. He, doubtless, described the person and where to find him.

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