# sought to lay hands on him

In this verse, to "lay hands on" someone is to arrest that person. AT: "looked for a way to arrest Jesus" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])

# in that very hour

"immediately"

# they were afraid of the people

This is the reason that they did not arrest Jesus right away. The people respected Jesus, and the religious leaders were afraid of what the people might do if they arrested him. AT: "they did not arrest him because they were afraid of the people" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit]])

# they sent out spies

"the scribes and chief priests sent spies to watch Jesus"

# that they might find fault with his speech

"because they wanted to accuse Jesus of saying something bad"

# so as to deliver him up to

"in order to bring him to" or "so that they might hand him over to"

# to the rule and to the authority of the governor

"Rule" and "authority" are two ways of saying that they wanted the governor to judge Jesus. It can be translated with one or both expressions. AT: "so that the governor would punish Jesus" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit]])

# translationWords

* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/scribe]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/chiefpriests]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/hour]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/parable]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/fear]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/righteous]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/authority]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/governor]]