(44) Take him.--Better, seize.

Verse 44. - Now he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsosver I shall kiss, that is he; take him, and lead him away safely. Why was Judas so anxious that Christ should be secured? Perhaps because he feared a rescue, or because he feared lest our Lord should hide himself by an exercise of his miraculous power; and so Judas might lose the thirty pieces of silver.

14:43-52 Because Christ appeared not as a temporal prince, but preached repentance, reformation, and a holy life, and directed men's thoughts, and affections, and aims to another world, therefore the Jewish rulers sought to destroy him. Peter wounded one of the band. It is easier to fight for Christ than to die for him. But there is a great difference between faulty disciples and hypocrites. The latter rashly and without thought call Christ Master, and express great affection for him, yet betray him to his enemies. Thus they hasten their own destruction.And he that betrayed him had given them a token,.... A common sign, in which they agreed; and so this same Greek word is used by the Jews (c):

"said R. Phinehas in the name of R. Reuben, did you ever see one man go out of the north, and another from the south, and meet each other, except they made, "a common sign", between them.''

Such an one the traitor gave his company;

saying, whomsoever I shall kiss, the same is he; Jesus of Nazareth; who was to be delivered to them:

take him, and lead him away safely; with care and caution, lest he should get out of their hands, and make his escape, as he had sometimes done: the word "safely", is omitted in the Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions. The Vulgate Latin renders it "cautiously", and so does the Syriac version, which joins it to the words, "take him"; See Gill on Matthew 26:48.

(c) Midras Samuel, sect. 9. apud Buxtorf. Lex. Rab. p. 1519.