Sanhedrin members took the initiative in sending the Pharisees and Herodians. They united against Jesus, whom they perceived as a common threat, even though they disagreed politically. They asked Jesus about a political issue that divided them. [source][source][source]
Context Summary
Mark 12:1-27 - Jesus Silences His Enemies
Our Lord reviews the history of the theocracy. He recounts the long roll of God's servants who had been persecuted and misused from the first to the last, including Himself. In doing so, He openly implied that He was the Son of God and made the Pharisees realize how clearly He foresaw the fate which they were preparing for Him. They were accustomed to apply Psalms 118:22 to the Messiah, and recognized at once what Jesus meant, when He claimed it as an emblem of His own rejection.
How admirably our Lord defined the relations of His Kingdom to the civil power! If we accept Caesar's protection and ordered government we are bound to maintain it by money payment and such other service as conscience permits. This indeed is part of our duty to God; and with equal care we must give Him the dues of the spiritual world.
Jesus silenced the Sadducees by a quotation from the Pentateuch, whose authority they admitted. God could not be the God of persons not in existence. Therefore since He used the present tense of His relationship with the patriarchs in speaking to Moses three hundred years after their death, they must have been still in existence. [source]
Chapter Summary: Mark 12
1Jesus tells the parable of the tenants 13He avoids the snare of the Pharisees and Herodians about paying tribute to Caesar; 18convicts the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection; 28resolves the scribe, who questioned of the first commandment; 35refutes the opinion that the scribes held of the Christ; 38bidding the people to beware of their ambition and hypocrisy; 41and commends the poor widow for her two mites, above all
Greek Commentary for Mark 12:13
That they might catch him in talk [ινα αυτον αγρευσωσιν λογωι] Ingressive aorist subjunctive. The verb is late from αγρα agra (a hunt or catching). It appears in the lxx and papyri. Here alone in the N.T. Luke 20:20 has the same idea, “that they may take hold of his speech” See discussion in Matthew. We have seen the scribes and Pharisees trying to do this very thing before (Luke 11:33.). Mark and Matthew note here the combination of Pharisees and Herodians as Mark did in Mark 3:6. Matthew speaks of “disciples” or pupils of the Pharisees while Luke calls them “spies” (ενκατετους enkathetous). [source]
Catch [ἀγρεύσωσιν] From ἄγρα , hunting, the chase. Hence the picture in the word is that of hunting, while that in Matthew's word, παγιδεύσωσιν , is that of catching in a trap. See on Matthew 22:15. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Mark 12:13
Mark 3:6And straightway with the Herodians took council [ευτυς μετα των ηρωιδιανων] The Pharisees could stand no more. So out they stalked at once in a rage of madness (Luke 6:11) and outside of the synagogue took counsel (συμβουλιον εποιησαν sumboulion epoiēsan) or gave counsel (συμβουλιον εδιδουν sumboulion edidoun as some MSS. have it, imperfect tense, offered counsel as their solution of the problem) with their bitter enemies, the Herodians, on the sabbath day still “how they might destroy him” (οπως αυτον απολεσωσιν hopōs auton apolesōsin), a striking illustration of the alternatives of Jesus a few moments before, “to save life or to kill.” This is the first mention of the Herodians or adherents of Herod Antipas and the Herod family rather than the Romans. The Pharisees would welcome the help of their rivals to destroy Jesus. In the presence of Jesus they unite their forces as in Mark 8:15; Mark 12:13; Matthew 22:16. [source]
Luke 20:21Rightly [ορτως] Matthew (Matthew 22:16) notes that these “spies” were “disciples” (students) of the Pharisees and Mark (Mark 12:13) adds that the Herodians are also involved in the plot. These bright theologues are full of palaver and flattery and openly endorse the teaching of Jesus as part of their scheme. [source]
Luke 20:21Acceptest not the person of any [ου λαμβανεις προσωπον] Dost not take the face (or personal appearance) as the test. It is a Hebraism from which the word προσωπολεμπσια prosōpolempsia (James 2:1) comes. Originally it meant to lift the face, to lift the countenance, to regard the face, to accept the face value. See Mark 12:13-17; and Matthew 22:15-22 for discussion of details here. They both have βλεπεις blepeis here. [source]
Greek Commentary for Mark 12:13
Ingressive aorist subjunctive. The verb is late from αγρα agra (a hunt or catching). It appears in the lxx and papyri. Here alone in the N.T. Luke 20:20 has the same idea, “that they may take hold of his speech” See discussion in Matthew. We have seen the scribes and Pharisees trying to do this very thing before (Luke 11:33.). Mark and Matthew note here the combination of Pharisees and Herodians as Mark did in Mark 3:6. Matthew speaks of “disciples” or pupils of the Pharisees while Luke calls them “spies” (ενκατετους enkathetous). [source]
From ἄγρα , hunting, the chase. Hence the picture in the word is that of hunting, while that in Matthew's word, παγιδεύσωσιν , is that of catching in a trap. See on Matthew 22:15. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Mark 12:13
The Pharisees could stand no more. So out they stalked at once in a rage of madness (Luke 6:11) and outside of the synagogue took counsel (συμβουλιον εποιησαν sumboulion epoiēsan) or gave counsel (συμβουλιον εδιδουν sumboulion edidoun as some MSS. have it, imperfect tense, offered counsel as their solution of the problem) with their bitter enemies, the Herodians, on the sabbath day still “how they might destroy him” (οπως αυτον απολεσωσιν hopōs auton apolesōsin), a striking illustration of the alternatives of Jesus a few moments before, “to save life or to kill.” This is the first mention of the Herodians or adherents of Herod Antipas and the Herod family rather than the Romans. The Pharisees would welcome the help of their rivals to destroy Jesus. In the presence of Jesus they unite their forces as in Mark 8:15; Mark 12:13; Matthew 22:16. [source]
Matthew (Matthew 22:16) notes that these “spies” were “disciples” (students) of the Pharisees and Mark (Mark 12:13) adds that the Herodians are also involved in the plot. These bright theologues are full of palaver and flattery and openly endorse the teaching of Jesus as part of their scheme. [source]
Dost not take the face (or personal appearance) as the test. It is a Hebraism from which the word προσωπολεμπσια prosōpolempsia (James 2:1) comes. Originally it meant to lift the face, to lift the countenance, to regard the face, to accept the face value. See Mark 12:13-17; and Matthew 22:15-22 for discussion of details here. They both have βλεπεις blepeis here. [source]