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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Matthew 26:48 - 26:48
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Gave them a sign (edōken autois sēmeion). Probably just before he reached the place, though Mark (Mar 14:44) has “had given” (dedōkei) which certainly means before arrival at Gethsemane. At any rate Judas had given the leaders to understand that he would kiss (philēsō) Jesus in order to identify him for certain. The kiss was a common mode of greeting and Judas chose that sign and actually “kissed him fervently” (katephilēsen, Mat 26:49), though the compound verb sometimes in the papyri has lost its intensive force. Bruce thinks that Judas was prompted by the inconsistent motives of smouldering love and cowardice. At any rate this revolting ostentatious kiss is “the most terrible instance of the hekousia philēmata echthrou (Pro 27:6),” the profuse kisses of an enemy (McNeile). This same compound verb occurs in Luk 7:38 of the sinful woman, in Luk 15:20 of the Father’s embrace of the Prodigal Son, and in Act 20:37 of the Ephesian elders and Paul.