At that hour is one of Matthew’s favorite transitional markers (see 8.13). Mark uses “and” (14.48), while Luke prefers “but” (22.53). “Then” is probably the most common translation.

The crowds is “them” in Mark (14.48) and “the chief priests and officers of the temple and the elders who had come out against him” in Luke (22.52).

The question which Jesus asked the crowd (Have you … a robber…?) is word-for-word the same as that found in the Marcan parallel. Luke omits to capture me, but otherwise has the same wording. Good News Translation somewhat rearranges the sentence order (compare Revised Standard Version for a literal rendering), and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch goes even further: “Did you have to carry swords and clubs in order to arrest me? Am I an outlaw?”

Robber of Revised Standard Version could lead translators to use “thief,” but in fact in this context a word for a simple thief is not as appropriate as “outlaw” or “bandit,” words that describe criminals who may be dangerous.

The two phrases Day after day and in the temple are each placed in an emphatic position in the Greek sentence.

Whereas both Matthew and Mark (14.49) state that Jesus was teaching in the Temple, Luke is more general: “was with you … in the temple” (22.53). But Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ role as a teacher even further by the observation that he sat, since Jewish teachers sat down while giving instruction.

As elsewhere with teaching, some kind of object may be required; for example, “teaching people” or “teaching about God.”

Seize (Good News Translation “arrest”) is the same verb used in verses 4 and 48.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .