14:2a

In Greek, 14:2a begins with a phrase that the Revised Standard Version translates as “for they said.” The Berean Standard Bible puts the phrase “they said” in the middle of Jesus’ words. Place it where it is natural in your language. See the General Comment on 14:2a–b for a suggestion about indirect speech. The form of the Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “said” indicates that the leaders probably said the statement in 14:2 several times during their discussions.

The conjunction that the Revised Standard Version translates as “for” introduces some additional things that the chiefs priests and teachers of the law were thinking and saying. There is also a contrast here. The Jewish leaders wanted to arrest and kill Jesus (14:1c–d), but they did not want to do it immediately (14:2a). Some English versions indicate this contrast with a conjunction such as “But.” For example:

But they said (New Century Version)
-or-
However, they said (God’s Word)

Some English versions do not translate the conjunction. You should connect 14:2a to 14:1c–d in a way that is natural in your language.

not during the feast: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as not during the feast is an ellipsis. In some languages it may be necessary to supply the missing parts of the clause from 14:1c–d. For example:

We must not arrest and kill him during the feast
-or-
We should not do this during the festival

the feast: The feast here probably refers to all of the eight days when the people celebrated both the festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread.

14:2b

or there may be a riot among the people: This clause expresses a situation that the leaders intended to avoid.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

so that the people will not riot
-or-
in order to avoid a violent protest
-or-
because the people will riot (Contemporary English Version)

During the feast there were many more people in Jerusalem than usual. They had come to the city to celebrate Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Many of these visitors to Jerusalem supported Jesus (see 11:8–10). The Jewish leaders were afraid to arrest Jesus during the feast. They thought that if they arrested Jesus, these visitors would be very angry and might even fight against them.

riot: A riot is a violent protest. In this context it means that a large number of people would gather and act in a disorderly way. They would do this to show their anger against the Jewish leaders because they caused Jesus to be arrested.

If your language does not have a specific term for riot, you may be able to use a descriptive phrase. For example:

the people might gather and show their anger against us.
-or-
We do not want the people to cause a disturbance
-or-
the people may act in a disorderly and violent way

General Comment on 14:2a–b

In some languages it may be more natural to use indirect speech in this verse. For example:

They told each other that they should not arrest him during the feast or the people might riot.
-or-
They decided to avoid the danger of popular protests by waiting for the feast to end and the crowds to go away. Then they would arrest him.

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