What Does Matthew 26:67 Mean?
Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists, and others slapped him with the palms of their hands.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,THE KEY
The open-handed blow here is the same kind of strike Jesus names in his teaching about the cheek, and now it lands on his own face.
THE MEANING
You meet the violence as it happens: spit on his face, fist blows, then open-handed strikes. The verse keeps the humiliation bodily and visible, giving each assault its own word instead of smoothing it into one vague beating.
THE ROOT
ἐράπισαν
erápisan
GROWS FROM
ῥαπ-
rhap-
The stem carries the sense of striking or slapping, especially with an open hand.
“slapped” in this verse is erápisan. The verb translated “smote” is ῥαπίζω (rhapízō, to slap or strike), the same verb used in Jesus’ teaching about being struck on the cheek. Here that teaching’s specific blow becomes a bodily act against him.
ALSO GROWS
rhapízō: To slap or strike with the hand.
ῥαπίζω
This is the verb behind “smite” in Matthew 5:39, connecting the teaching about the cheek with the blow in this verse.
rhápisma: A slap or blow.
ῥάπισμα
John 18:22 uses this related noun for the officer’s blow against Jesus, showing the same kind of assault in another scene.
ἐκολάφισαν
ekoláphisan
GROWS FROM
κολαφ-
kolaph-
A blow struck with the fist; by extension, to buffet or repeatedly strike.
“struck him with their fists” in this verse is ekoláphisan. “Buffeted” names a particular form of assault rather than a general beating: fist blows. Alongside the spitting and open-handed strikes, it makes the violence here distinct and cumulative.
ALSO GROWS
kolaphízō: To strike with the fist or buffet.
κολαφίζω
This is the verb used for the blows in this verse and elsewhere for the mistreatment of Jesus.
kólaphos: A blow or punch.
κόλαφος
The related noun makes the bodily force inside “buffeted” more concrete: the verse describes blows, not just insult.
THE PATTERN
Violence turns the face and cheek into visible targets of humiliation.
I have given my back to the strikers, and my cheeks to those who pluck out the hair. I have not hidden my face from shame and spitting.They have gaped their mouths wide against me. They have struck my cheek in scorn. They have gathered together against me.Now gather yourself in troops, daughter of troops. A siege is set against us. With a rod they strike the judge of Israel upon the cheek.THE THREAD
But I say to you, do not stand against evil. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.“Smite” here and in Matthew 26:67 translates the same Greek verb, ῥαπίζω (rhapízō, to slap or strike). The teaching’s blow to the cheek becomes physical in this scene.
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