Matthew 26:66. What think ye? A formal putting of the question to vote.

He is guilty (or ‘worthy') of death. The answer of all (Mark 14:64). This formal condemnation was, as they imagined, according to the law (Leviticus 24:16. comp. Deuteronomy 18:20). The Sanhedrin was forbidden to investigate any capital crime during the night, and according to the Roman law a sentence pronounced before dawn was not valid. This test vote, however, they considered as settling the question; hence the ill-treatment which followed (Matthew 26:67-68). They were scrupulous in holding another meeting in daylight and there passing the final sentence (chap. Matthew 27:1; Luke 22:7). Yet even this was illegal, for a sentence of death could not be pronounced on the day of the investigation. All the examinations took place within one Jewish day, beginning in the evening.

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Old Testament