Mark 14:63
in Mark 14At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “Why do we need any more witnesses?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What further need have we of witnesses?
KJV
Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?
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This verse in Mark 14
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Serm. 5. de Pass.) But Caiaphas, to increase the odiousness of what they had heard rent his clothes, and without knowing what his frantic action meant, by his madness, deprived himself of the honour of the priesthood, forgetting that command, by which it is said of the High Priest, He shall not uncover his head or rend his clothes. For there follows: Then the High Priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye?
The record, by era
The Medieval Church4 voices
But the high priest, rending his garments, said: Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. The same fury that had shaken him from the priestly throne provokes him to rend his garments. He rends his garments to show that the Jews …
(ubi sup.) But it was also with a higher mystery, that in the Passion of our Lord the Jewish priest rent his own clothes, that is, his ephod, whilst the garment of the Lord could not be rent, even by the soldiers, who crucified Him. For it was a figure that the Jewish priesthood was to be rent on account of the wickedness of the priests themselves. But the solid strength of the Church, which is often called the garment of her Redeemer, can never be torn asunder.
At this the high priest fulfilled the custom (he tore his garment). For whenever some calamity or sorrow befell the Jews, they would tear their garments. In the present case the high priest tore his garment as a sign that Jesus had supposedly uttered blasphemy …
The High Priest does after the manner of the Jews; for whenever any thing intolerable or sad occurred to them, they used to rend their clothes. In order then to show that Christ had spoken great and intolerable blasphemy, he rent his clothes.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Then the high priest rent his clothes,.... As was usual upon hearing blasphemy; which he now supposed the case, or at least would have it so thought: and saith, what need we any further witnesses? or trouble ourselves to see for any more, or to hear and take the depositions of any others; See Gill on Mat 26:65.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
Solomon tells us in the book of Ecclesiastes, that one evil he has seen under the sun, is when "folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place." (Eccles. 10:6.) We can imagine no more complete illustration of his words than the state of things we have recorded in the passage before us. We see the Son of God, "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," arraigned as a malefactor before "the chief priests, and elders, and scribes."
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
Solomon tells us in the book of Ecclesiastes, that one evil he has seen under the sun, is when "folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place." (Eccles. 10:6.) We can imagine no more complete illustration of his words than the state of things we have recorded in the passage before us. We see the Son of God, "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," arraigned as a malefactor before "the chief priests, and elders, and scribes." We see the heads of the Jewish nation combining together to kill their own Messiah, and judging Him who will one day come in glory to judge them and all mankind. These things sound marvelous, but they are true. Let us observe in these verses, how foolishly Christians sometimes thrust themselves into temptation . We are told that when our Lord was led away prisoner, "Peter followed Him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest — and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire." There was no wisdom in this act. Having once forsaken his Master and fled, he ought to have remembered his own weakness, and not to have ventured into danger again. It was an act of rashness and presumption. It brought on him fresh trials of faith, for which he was utterly unprepared. It threw him into bad company, where he was not likely to get good, but harm. It paved the way for his last and greatest transgression — his thrice-repeated denial of his Master. But it is an experimental truth that ought never to be overlooked, that when a believer has once begun to back-slide and leave his first faith, he seldom stops short at his first mistake. He seldom makes only one stumble. He seldom commits only one fault. A blindness seems to come over his understanding. He appears to cast over-board his common sense and discretion.
The words behind it
13 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | And | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| ἀρχιερεὺς | archiereus | the high priest | G749 → | 122 times |
| διαρρήξας | diarrexas | having torn | G1284 → | |
| τοὺς | tous | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| χιτῶνας | chitonas | garments | G5509 → | |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | of him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| λέγει· | legei | says; | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| τί | ti | What | G5101 → | 563 times |
| ἔτι | eti | any more | G2089 → | 140 times |
| χρείαν | chreian | need | G5532 → | 49 times |
| ἔχομεν | echomen | have we | G2192 → | 707 times |
| μαρτύρων; | marturon | of witnesses? | G3144 → |
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
δὲAnd
deG1161 →2765 times
ἀρχιερεὺςthe high priest
archiereusG749 →122 times
διαρρήξαςhaving torn
diarrexasG1284 →
τοὺςthe
tousG3588 →19766 times
χιτῶναςgarments
chitonasG5509 →
αὐτοῦof him
autouG846 →5565 times
λέγει·says;
legeiG3004 →1325 times
τίWhat
tiG5101 →563 times
ἔτιany more
etiG2089 →140 times
χρείανneed
chreianG5532 →49 times
ἔχομενhave we
echomenG2192 →707 times
μαρτύρων;of witnesses?
marturonG3144 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Leviticus 21:10The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose…
it leads to
- Leviticus 10:6–7
Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become disheveled and do not tear your garments, or else you will die, and the LORD will be…
- Leviticus 16:32
The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest shall make atonement. He will put on the sacred linen garments
- Matthew 26:65
At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “He has blasphemed! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.
- Numbers 35:25
The assembly is to protect the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he must live…
- Exodus 29:29–30
The holy garments that belong to Aaron will belong to his sons after him, so they can be anointed and ordained in them.
- Leviticus 10:6–7
Through
Isaiah 36:22Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.
it leads to
- Isaiah 36:3
Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to him.
- Isaiah 36:3
Through
Matthew 26:65At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “He has blasphemed! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.
it leads to
- Numbers 14:6
Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
- Jeremiah 36:24
Yet in hearing all these words, the king and his servants did not become frightened or tear their garments.
- Numbers 14:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
About Mark
This page draws on Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Leo the Great, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.