Now he who betrayed him had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I will kiss, that is he. Seize him, and lead him away safely.”
World English Bible
This verse is examined in more than one Scripture Analysis section. Each lens is shown on its own terms, in the section's own words; GEBible reaches no verdict of its own.
Show this verse in
Show this verse in
Showing
WEB World English Bible Public Domain ✓
Now he who betrayed him had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I will kiss, that is he. Seize him, and lead him away safely.”
World English Bible
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
The three Synoptic arrest scenes (Matt 26:47-49, Mark 14:43-45, Luke 22:47-48) all have Judas identify Jesus by approaching and kissing him — the prearranged signal so the arresting party could pick the right man out of the dark olive grove. John 18:3-5 reports the same arrest but without any kiss; instead Jesus himself steps forward and identifies himself by saying 'I am he,' and the arresting party falls to the ground in awe.
Critical scholarship: Leans toward a genuine contradiction.
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Mark 14:44 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/mark/14/44?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).