KJV: And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
YLT: and having gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he was inquiring from them where the Christ is born.
Darby: and, assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.
ASV: And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.
συναγαγὼν | having gathered together |
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: συνάγω Sense: to gather together, to gather. |
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ἀρχιερεῖς | chief priests |
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Plural Root: ἀρχιερεύς Sense: chief priest, high priest. |
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γραμματεῖς | scribes |
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Plural Root: γραμματεύς Sense: a clerk, scribe, esp. |
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τοῦ | of the |
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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λαοῦ | people |
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: λαός Sense: a people, people group, tribe, nation, all those who are of the same stock and language. |
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ἐπυνθάνετο | he was inquiring |
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Singular Root: πυνθάνομαι Sense: to enquire, ask. |
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ποῦ | where |
Parse: Adverb Root: ποῦ Sense: somewhere. |
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Χριστὸς | Christ |
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: Χριστός Sense: Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God. |
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γεννᾶται | was to be born |
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Singular Root: γεννάω Sense: of men who fathered children. |
Greek Commentary for Matthew 2:4
The prophetic present McNeile doubts, like Holtzmann, if Herod actually called together all the Sanhedrin and probably “he could easily ask the question of a single scribe,” because he had begun his reign with a massacre of the Sanhedrin (Josephus, Ant. XIV. ix. 4). But that was thirty years ago and Herod was desperately in earnest to learn what the Jews really expected about the coming of “the Messiah.” Still Herod probably got together not the Sanhedrin since “elders” are not mentioned, but leaders among the chief priests and scribes, not a formal meeting but a free assembly for conference. He had evidently heard of this expected king and he would swallow plenty of pride to be able to compass the defeat of these hopes. [source]
We should expect only one chief priest to be mentioned; but the office had become a lucrative one, and frequently changed hands. A rabbi is quoted as saying that the first temple, which stood about four hundred and ten years, had only eighteen high-priests from first to last; while the second temple, which stood four hundred and twenty years, had more than three hundred high-priests. The reference here is not to a meeting of the Sanhedrin, since the elders, who are not mentioned, belonged to this; but to an extraordinary convocation of all the high-priests and learned men. Besides the high-priest in actual office, there might be others who had been his predecessors, and who continued to bear the name, and in part the dignity. It may possibly have included the heads of the twenty-four courses of priests. [source]