the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Bible Dictionaries
Spies
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or SPIES (ἐγκάθετοι, best derived from ἐγκαθίημι, ‘to send down in (secret)’ [Grimm-Thayer], ‘men suborned to lie in wait’; Vulgate insidiatores).—Though the word occurs only once in the Gospels (Luke 20:20; cf. Job 19:12; Job 31:9, Sirach 8:11), there is abundant evidence of a regular system of espionage directed against Jesus from the time when He first attracted the notice of the ruling classes. Emissaries were sent from Jerusalem for this purpose (Mark 7:1 and Matthew 15:1 Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ), and in the latter portion of His public ministry He could hardly speak in any synagogue or other public place without seeing some of these spies in His audience. Their action is variously described: (1) ‘They watched him’ (παρατηρεῖν, παρατηρεῖσθαι, ‘to watch insidiously, in a furtive manner’—‘ex obliquo et occulto,’ Bengel); cf. Mark 3:2 = Luke 6:7; Luke 14:1; Luke 20:20, where Authorized and Revised Versions add ‘him,’ though the verb is probably used generally of watching for an opportunity. (2) ‘They began to press upon him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things (ἀποστοματίζειν, αὐτόν), laying wait for him to catch something out of his mouth’ (ἐνεδρεύοντες αὐτὸν θηρεῦσαί τι ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ, Luke 11:54), where ἀποστοματίζειν is explained by Euthym. Zig. as ἀπαιτεῖν αὐτοσχεδίους καὶ ἀνεπισκέπτους ἀποκρίσεις ἐρωτημάτων δολερῶν (the Vulgate gives os ejus opprimere, as if from a reading ἐπιστομίζειν). So Luke 20:20 tells how the chief priests and scribes watched and ‘sent forth spies, which feigned themselves to be righteous, that they might take hold of his speech, so as to deliver him up to the rule and to the authority of the governor.’ The putting of the question about the tribute money, which immediately follows, was a cunning plot, in which the Pharisees and the Herodians, two mutually hostile parties, joined (cf. for a similar union in Galilee, Mark 3:6). The Pharisees sent their disciples (Matthew 22:16), young men apparently, fresh, earnest, zealous, and anxious to do right, hoping thus to avoid exciting suspicion of their designs. St. Mark (Mark 12:13) describes their object as ‘that they might catch him in talk’ (ἵνα αὐτὸν ἀγρεύσωσι λόγῳ); St. Matthew (Matthew 22:15) says they took counsel ‘how they might ensnare him in his talk’ (παγιδεύσῳσιν ἐν λόγῳ), the verb used being from παγίς, ‘a trap or snare,’ into which if He fell He would be held fast with a view to further proceedings. Compare also Matthew 19:3, John 11:46, and Luke 19:39 where some Pharisees mingled with the rejoicing multitude, no doubt for a similar purpose. The murmuring in favour of Jesus mentioned in John 7:32 was possibly reported to the Pharisees by spies. Christ was always conscious of the presence of such men, and on these occasions seemed to court publicity for His actions; cf. the direction to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand forth’ (Mark 3:3). The futility of the system of espionage as directed against Him was shown at the trial, where all their efforts resulted in inability to bring forward anything as a charge except His words about the Temple.
The use of spies for a different purpose, viz. to facilitate His arrest, is implied in Mark 14:1, where His enemies sought how they might take Him with subtilty (ἐν δόλῳ), and in John 11:57 by the command that if any man knew where He was he should give information (μηνύσῃ), that they might take Him. Such a measure was necessary because of His popularity with the multitude. In this sense Judas was the great spy, being in close touch with Jesus, and familiar with all His movements,—a fact which explains the roundabout directions given to the two Apostles as to where they should prepare the Passover meal. It was essential that Judas should not know the place beforehand, in order that the solemn proceedings and Christ’s last discourse might not be interrupted by the coming of the band from the priests to effect His arrest.
W. H. Dundas.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Spies'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/s/spies.html. 1906-1918.
