Mark 14:43-45

Mark 14:43-45. Immediately, while he yet spake And gave his disciples the alarm just mentioned; Judas came, and with him a great multitude Persons of different stations and offices in life, sent with authority from the chief priests, with swords and staves Or clubs, as it seems ξυλων ought here to be rendered. “A staff, in Greek, ραβδος , is intended principally to assist us in walking; a club, ξυλον , is a weapon both offensive and defensive. To show that these words are, in the gospels, never used promiscuously, let it be observed, that, in our Lord’s commands to his apostles, in relation to the discharge of their office, when what concerned their own accommodation in travelling is spoken of, the word παβδος is used by all the three evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, who take particular notice of that transaction. But, in the account given by the same evangelists of the armed multitude sent by the high-priests and elders to apprehend our Lord, they never employ the term παβδος , but always, ξυλον .” Campbell.