“Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me?”
The full verse · Mark 14:48 · KJV
and unto , Are ye come , a , with to ?
Asked by
Jesus: the Son of God, just betrayed with a kiss and seized in Gethsemane (Mark 14:45-46)
Asked to
Crowd: the "great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders," led by Judas (Mark 14:43); Luke says the chief priests, captains of the temple, and elders were there too (Luke 22:52)
The Scene
In Gethsemane, Judas arrives with an armed multitude and kisses Jesus, they seize Him, and one who stood by cuts off the ear of the high priest's servant (Mark 14:43-47).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionJesus exposed how they had come for Him. They came armed, at night, as if hunting a dangerous man, and Judas had told them to "lead him away safely" (Mark 14:44). Barnes says this was how they would seek to take "a highwayman of desperate character, and armed to defend his life." Gill likewise says they came for Him "as an highwayman, or notorious robber." The question sets their weapons beside His open, daily teaching in the temple (Mark 14:49). Gill, drawing on Luke 22:52, says Jesus spoke these words to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and elders who came with the band.
The Response
What Scripture recordsNo one in the crowd answered. Jesus answered His own question: "I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled" (Mark 14:49). Then "they all forsook him, and fled" (Mark 14:50). Luke adds Jesus' words, "this is your hour, and the power of darkness" (Luke 22:53).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsThe KJV "thief" translates lestes, which Thayer defines as "a robber; a plunderer, freebooter, brigand." Thayer notes that it is not to be confused with kleptes, a thief who steals by stealth. A lestes used open violence. That is why Barnes says, "Rather a 'robber,'" and the ESV reads "robber." The "staves" were wooden clubs (xylon, wood).
Barnes notes that Jesus had been teaching in the temple for many days before the Passover. Gill says, "The business he was employed was not thieving and stealing, but teaching."
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyJesus was not a helpless victim of a mob. He named the injustice, and then He placed the whole night under God's plan: "the scriptures must be fulfilled" (Mark 14:49). Earlier that evening He had quoted Scripture, "I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered" (Mark 14:27). Mark's next words are that the disciples "all forsook him, and fled" (Mark 14:50). What He said would happen, happened.
The contrast is sharp. They came with swords and clubs; He had come with teaching, openly, day after day. Matthew Henry, writing on this scene, says, "It is easier to fight for Christ than to die for him." Jesus chose neither to fight nor to flee. He went the way the Scriptures had marked out.
Look Closer
What point was Jesus making with this question?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Father, when I am treated unfairly, how can I answer with the calm truth and trust in You that Jesus showed?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Jesus named the injustice plainly but did not fight back. How do you decide when to speak up and when to entrust a situation to God?
- Tell about a time someone treated you as worse than you were. What helped you respond well, or what would you do differently?
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
It is not wrong to name what is unjust. Jesus did: they came with weapons for a man who had taught openly every day. But He spoke without bitterness and without a sword, and He rested His case on God's word: "the scriptures must be fulfilled" (Mark 14:49).
When you are misjudged, you can say what is true and then leave the outcome with God. You don't have to win by force.
This doesn't mean you must accept every wrong in silence or never seek justice. Jesus' path that night was the specific way of the cross, set out in Scripture. What carries over to you is His calm, His honesty, and His trust in the Father.
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me?”
“Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?”
“But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?”
“Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?”