Matthew 26:63–65
God of all said somewhere through Moses: “If a soul sins and hears a voice of adjuration, and he is a witness or has seen or known, if he does not report it, he will receive the sin.” (Leviticus 5:1) So a charge of lawlessness was written against people if they answered nothing when they heard an adjuring voice. That is why Caiaphas craftily adjures the Lord: so that if he still wished to be silent after this, Caiaphas might condemn him as a transgressor — knowing that one adjured who stays silent becomes liable to the law’s penalty — but if he spoke the truth, they might kill him as a false christ for calling himself God while, in the flesh and what is seen, having nothing more than other humans. That is why Christ said, “You have said it” — instead of “your own mouth has now confessed it.” (Matthew 26:63–65)
And so that he might make the judgment against them heavier — I mean the judgment on their unwillingness to believe in him — he again sets his glory plainly before them, saying, “From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power of God.” “Me, who have become in the form that is yours, the Son by nature and truly of God the Father, you have made of no account; and since you have sunk to such ignorance that you do not know his mystery and mine, though you are learned in the law, I necessarily say this: that only a short and bounded time was given you for impiety against me, as far as the precious cross; for after this I will at once run back into my own honor, ascend to the glory that was in the beginning, and sit with God the Father even with the flesh.” While Christ said this, Caiaphas tore his garments, saying, “He has blasphemed.” He did this to make the accusation fiercer and to raise what was said by the act. And yet what blasphemy was this? This especially both shone and conquered by force.
Greek
Ἔφη που διὰ Μωυσέως ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεός· "ἐὰν ψυχὴ ἁμάρτῃ καὶ ἀκούσῃ φωνὴν ὁρκισμοῦ, καὶ οὗτος μάρτυς ἢ ἑώρακεν ἢ συνεῖδεν, ἐὰν μὴ ἀναγγείλῃ", φησίν, "λήψεται τὴν ἁμαρτίαν". ἐπεγράφετο τοίνυν παρανομίας ἔγκλημά τισιν, εἰ μηδὲν ἀπολογοῖντο, φωνὴν ἀκούοντες ὁρκισμοῦ. διὰ τοῦτο πανούργως ὁρκίζει τὸν κύριον ὁ Καϊάφας, ἵν' εἰ βούλοιτο καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο σιωπᾶν, ὡς παρανομήσαντα κατακρίνοι, εἰδώς, ὅτι ὁρκωθεὶς καὶ σιωπήσας ἔνοχος ἐγένετο τιμωρίᾳ τῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου· εἰ δὲ εἴπῃ τὸ ἀληθές, ὡς ψευδόχριστον αὐτὸν φονεύσωσιν ὡς λέγοντα ἑαυτὸν θεὸν οὐδὲν πλέον ἔχοντα τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθρώπων κατὰ τὴν σάρκα καὶ τὸ ὁρώμενον. διὸ ὁ Χριστὸς εἶπε· σὺ εἶπας ἀντὶ τοῦ τὸ σὸν ὡμολό γησε στόμα λοιπόν. ἵνα δὲ φορτικωτέραν αὐτοῖς τὴν δίκην ἐργάσηται, τὴν ἐπί γέ φημι τῷ μὴ πιστεύειν εἰς αὐτὸν βούλεσθαι, πάλιν αὐτοῖς ἐναργῆ τὴν αὐτοῦ καθίστησι δόξαν εἰπών· ὄψεσθε ἀπ' ἄρτι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καθήμενον ἐκ δεξιῶν τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ θεοῦ. ἐν εἴδει, φησίν, τῷ καθ' ὑμᾶς γεγονότα ἐμὲ τὸν υἱὸν τῇ φύσει καὶ ἀληθῶς τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ἐν τῷ μηδενὶ πεποίησθε λόγῳ, καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἀμα θίας εἰς τοῦτο καταβεβήκατε, ὥστε τὸ αὐτοῦ τε καὶ τὸ ἐμὸν οὐκ ἴστε μυστήριον, καίτοι νομομαθεῖς ὄντες, ἀναγκαίως ἐκεῖνό φημι, ὅτι τῆς κατ' ἐμοῦ δυσσεβείας βραχὺς ὑμῖν καὶ διεσταλμένος ἐδόθη καιρὸς μέχρι τοῦ τιμίου σταυροῦ· μετὰ τοῦτο γὰρ εὐθὺς εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ παλινδρο μήσω τιμήν, ἀναβήσομαι πρὸς δόξαν τὴν ἐν ἀρχαῖς, σύνεδρος ἔσομαι τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ καὶ μετὰ τῆς σαρκός. ταῦτα λέγοντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὁ Καϊάφας διέρρηξεν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ λέγων· ἐβλασφήμησεν. τοῦτο δὲ ἐποίησε σφοδροτέραν τὴν κατηγορίαν ποιῶν καὶ τὸ λεχθὲν ἐπαίρων διὰ τοῦ πράγματος. καίτοι ποία βλασφημία αὕτη–οὗτος μάλιστα καὶ ἔλαμψε καὶ ἐνίκησε κατὰ κράτος.
About this text
Catena fragments on Matthew (CPG 5206). Contents follow Matthew chapter and verse. Edition fragment numbers stay in About this text and under each passage.
English follows the named copy-text (Aegean/khazarzar Migne PG 72 extract). Other prints were checked as noted; no silent merge of recensions.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Migne PG 72 Commentarii in Matthaeum (Aegean Digital Patrologia / khazarzar) (Greek · CPG 5206 catena fragments (290 parsed heads))
- Checked print matia.gr mirror of same Aegean extract (Greek · Byte-identical PDF; integrity check only)
- Checked print Internet Archive PG 72 volume OCR (bim … 1859_72) (Greek (OCR damaged) · Locus confirmation only; not used as reading text)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.