Matthew 26 · Verse 65

Matthew 26:65

Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.

Matthew 26:65, King James Version

Matthew 26:65 in other translations

BSB	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.
WEB	Then the high priest tore his clothing, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Behold, now you have heard his blasphemy.
ASV	Then the high priest rent his garments, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy: what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard the blasphemy:
YLT	Then the chief priest rent his garments, saying, --‘He hath spoken evil; what need have we yet of witnesses? lo, now ye heard his evil speaking;
DARBY	Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He has blasphemed: what need have we any more of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard the blasphemy.
BBE	Then the high priest, violently parting his robes, said, He has said evil against God: what more need have we of witnesses? for now his words against God have come to your ears:
Webster	Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.

What does Matthew 26:65 mean?

Barnes' Notes

Verse 65. Then the High Priest rent his clothes. The Jews were accustomed to rend their clothes, as a token of grief. This was done often as a matter of form, and consisted in tearing a particular part of the garment reserved for this purpose. It was not lawful for the high priest to rend his clothes, Lev 10:6, 21:10. By that was probably intended the robes of his priestly office. The garment which he now rent was probably his ordinary garment, or the garments which he wore as president of the sanhedrim--not those in which he officiated as high priest in the things of religion. This was done on this occasion to denote the great grief of the high priest, that so great a sin as blasphemy had been committed in his presence.

He hath spoken blasphemy. That is, he has, under oath, arrogated to himself what belongs to God. In claiming to be the Messiah; in asserting that he was the Son of God, and therefore equal in dignity with the Father; and that he would yet sit at His right hand--he has claimed what belongs to no man, and what is therefore an invasion of the Divine prerogative. If he had not been the Messiah, the charge would have been true. But the question was, whether he had not given evidence that he was the Messiah, and that therefore his claims were just. This point, the only proper point of inquiry, they never examined. They assumed that he was an impostor; and that point being assumed, everything like a pretension to being the Messiah was, in their view, proof that he deserved to die.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 65 The high priest rent his clothes - This rending of the high priest's garments was expressly contrary to the law, Lev 10:6 : Lev 21:10. But it was a common method of expressing violent grief, Gen 37:29, Gen 37:34; Job 1:20, and horror at what was deemed blasphemous or impious. 2Kgs 18:37; 2Kgs 19:1; Act 14:14. All that heard a blasphemous speech were obliged to rend their clothes, and never to sew them up again. See Lightfoot. He hath spoken blasphemy - Quesnel's note on this is worthy of notice. "See here a false zeal, a mask of religion, and a passionate and seditious way of proceeding, tending only to incense and stir up others, all which are common to those who would oppress truth by cabal, and without proof. By crying out, 'heresy, blasphemy, and faction,' though contrary to all appearance, men fail not to stir up those in power, to gain the simple, to give some shadow of authority to the ill-disposed, to cast devout but ignorant people into scruples, and thereby to advance the mystery of iniquity, which is the mystery of all ages." This was the very plan his Catholic brethren adopted in this country, in the reign of Queen Mary, called the bloody queen, because of the many murders of righteous men which she sanctioned at the mouth of her Catholic priesthood.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 26:57-68

Jesus was hurried into Jerusalem. It looks ill, and bodes worse, when those who are willing to be Christ's disciples, are not willing to be known to be so. Here began Peter's denying him: for to follow Christ afar off, is to begin to go back from him. It is more our concern to prepare for the end, whatever it may be, than curiously to ask what the end will be. The event is God's, but the duty is ours. Now the…

Read the full comment on Matthew 26:57-68 →

Matthew 26:65 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ΤότεToteThenG5119

ὁhotheG3588

ἀρχιερεὺςarchiereushigh priestG749

διέρρηξενdierrēxentearsG1284

τὰtatheG3588

ἱμάτιαhimatiagarmentsG2440

αὐτοῦautouof himG846

λέγωνlegōnsayingG3004

ἐβλασφήμησεν·eblasphēmēsenHe has blasphemed;G987

τίtiwhyG5101

ἔτιetiany moreG2089

χρείανchreianneedG5532

ἔχομενechomenhave weG2192

μαρτύρων;marturōnof witnesses?G3144

ἴδεideBeholdG2396

νῦνnunnowG3568

ἠκούσατεēkousateyou have heardG191

τὴνtēntheG3588

βλασφημίανblasphēmianblasphemyG988

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Matthew 26:65

Numbers 14:6
And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
John 10:33
The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Matthew 9:3
And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
Mark 14:63-64
Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.
John 10:36
Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
Jeremiah 36:24
Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
Leviticus 21:20
Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
1 Kings 21:10-13
And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.
Luke 5:21
And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?
2 Kings 18:37-19:3
Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rab–shakeh. And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
Acts 14:14
Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

the high priest.
Le 21:20; 2Ki 18:37; 19:1-3; Jer 36:24; Mr 14:63,64
He.
9:3; 1Ki 21:10-13; Lu 5:21; Joh 10:33,36

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Matthew 26:64
Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Matthew 26:65
Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
Matthew 26:66
What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.

Read all of Matthew 26

Matthew 26:65 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Entonces el pontífice rasgó sus vestidos, diciendo: Blasfemado ha: ¿qué más necesidad tenemos de testigos? He aquí, ahora habéis oído su blasfemia.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Alors le souverain sacrificateur déchira ses vêtements, disant: Il a blasphémé; qu’avons-nous encore besoin de témoins? Voici, vous avez entendu maintenant son blasphème:
German Elberfelder 1871	Da zerriß der Hohepriester seine Kleider und sprach: Er hat gelästert; was bedürfen wir noch Zeugen? siehe, jetzt habt ihr die Lästerung gehört.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Tunc princeps sacerdotum scidit vestimenta sua, dicens: Blasphemavit: quid adhuc egemus testibus? ecce nunc audistis blasphemiam: