Matthew 26:61

οὗτος ἔφη, this person said: then follows a version of a word really spoken by Jesus, of a startling character, concerning destroying and rebuilding the temple. An inaccurate report of so remarkable a saying might easily go abroad, and the version given by the two witnesses seems from Matthew 27:40 to have been current. They might, therefore, have borne wrong evidence without being false in intention. δύναμαι, in an emphatic position, makes Jesus appear as one boasting of preternatural power, and τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, as irreverently parading His power in connection with a sacred object. διὰ τ. ἡ., literally through three days = after: for similar use of the preposition, vide Galatians 2:1. The meaning is: after three days I will complete the rebuilding, so that διὰ in effect is = ἐν in John 2:19.