Devine Scripture

Matthew 26:5

What does Matthew 26:5 mean?

A plain-English look at Matthew 26:5 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Matthew 26:5 means

Although intent on killing Jesus, the leaders decide to postpone action during the feast to avoid public unrest. Their concern is pragmatic: they are unwilling to spark a riot at Passover when Jerusalem swells with pilgrims sympathetic to Jesus. This reveals a calculating side—they fear the crowd’s reaction more than the moral wrong of killing an innocent man. The verse also indirectly acknowledges Jesus’ popularity and the potential for popular disturbance, which paradoxically helps protect him temporarily and shapes the timing of his arrest.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

But they said, Not during the feast, lest a tumult arise among the people.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

But they said, Not during the feast, lest a tumult arise among the people.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

But they said, Not while the feast is going on, for fear of trouble among the people.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and they said, `Not in the feast, that there may not be a tumult among the people.'

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

But they said: Not on the festival day, lest perhaps there should be a tumult among the people.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

but they said, Not in the feast, that there be not a tumult among the people.

Context

This decision comes right after the leaders’ plot is declared, showing their tactical caution. It explains why the actual arrest happens later and situates the betrayal and arrest within festival timing. For readers, this detail clarifies why the authorities delay and why Jesus’ final days unfold amid the Passover season, a context that adds symbolic meaning to his impending sacrificial death.

v.4and they took counsel together that they might take Jesus by subtlety, and kill him.

v.5This passage

v.6Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Mark 14:27

    And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad.

  • Mark 14:2

    for they said, Not during the feast, lest haply there shall be a tumult of the people.

  • Matthew 27:24

    So when Pilate saw that he prevailed nothing, but rather that a tumult was arising, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; see ye to it.

  • Lamentations 3:37

    Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?

  • Matthew 21:26

    But if we shall say, From men; we fear the multitude; for all hold John as a prophet.

  • Proverbs 19:21

    There are many devices in a man’s heart; But the counsel of Jehovah, that shall stand.

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