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The Climax of Unbelief. Voluntary Surrender and Crucifixion of Jesus (<a href="/john/18-1.htm" title="When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.">John 18:1</a> to <a href="/john/19-42.htm" title="There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulcher was near at hand.">John 19:42</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-1.htm">John 18:1</a></div><div class="verse">When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.</div>(1)THE BETRAYAL AND APPREHENSION (<a href="/context/john/18-1.htm" title="When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.">John 18:1-11</a>).<p>(2)THE TRIALS BEFORE THE JEWISH AUTHORITIES (<a href="/context/john/18-12.htm" title="Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,">John 18:12-27</a>);<p>(<span class= "ital">a</span>)<span class= "ital">Before Annas</span> (<a href="/context/john/18-12.htm" title="Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,">John 18:12-23</a>);<p>(<span class= "ital">b</span>)<span class= "ital">Before Caiaphas</span> (<a href="/john/18-24.htm" title="Now Annas had sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.">John 18:24</a>).<p>(<span class= "ital">c</span>)<span class= "ital">Denied by St. Peter</span> (<a href="/john/18-17.htm" title="Then said the damsel that kept the door to Peter, Are not you also one of this man's disciples? He said, I am not.">John 18:17</a>; <a href="/john/18-25.htm" title="And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore to him, Are not you also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not.">John 18:25</a>; <a href="/john/18-27.htm" title="Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.">John 18:27</a>).<p>(3)THE TRIALS BEFORE THE ROMAN PRO CONSUL (<a href="/john/18-28.htm" title="Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.">John 18:28</a> to <a href="/john/19-16.htm" title="Then delivered he him therefore to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.">John 19:16</a>);<p>(<span class= "ital">a</span>)<span class= "ital">The first examination. The kingdom of truth</span> (<a href="/context/john/18-28.htm" title="Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.">John 18:28-40</a>);<p>(<span class= "ital">b</span>)<span class= "ital">The second examination. The scourging and mock royalty</span> (<a href="/context/john/19-1.htm" title="Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.">John 19:1-6</a>);<p>(<span class= "ital">c</span>)<span class= "ital">The third examination. The power from above</span> (<a href="/context/john/18-7.htm" title="Then asked he them again, Whom seek you? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.">John 18:7-11</a>);<p>(<span class= "ital">d</span>)<span class= "ital"> The public trial and committal</span> (<a href="/context/john/18-12.htm" title="Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,">John 18:12-16</a>).<p>(4)JESUS SUBMITS TO DEATH (<a href="/context/john/19-17.htm" title="And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:">John 19:17-42</a>);<p>(<span class= "ital">a</span>)<span class= "ital">The Crucifixion</span> (<a href="/context/john/18-17.htm" title="Then said the damsel that kept the door to Peter, Are not you also one of this man's disciples? He said, I am not.">John 18:17-24</a>);<p>(<span class= "ital">b</span>)<span class= "ital">The sayings on the Cross</span> (<a href="/context/john/18-25.htm" title="And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore to him, Are not you also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not.">John 18:25-30</a>);<p>(<span class= "ital">c</span>)<span class= "ital">The proof of physical death</span> (<a href="/context/john/18-31.htm" title="Then said Pilate to them, Take you him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said to him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:">John 18:31-37</a>);<p>(<span class= "ital">d</span>)<span class= "ital">The body in the Sepulchre</span> (<a href="/context/john/18-38.htm" title="Pilate said to him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, I find in him no fault at all.">John 18:38-40</a>).]<p>In this chapter we again come upon ground which is common to St. John and the earlier Gospels. Each of the Evangelists has given us a narrative of the trial and death of our Lord. The narrative of each naturally differs by greater or less fulness, or as each regarded the events from his own point of view, from that of all the others. It is only with that which is special to St. John that the notes on his narrative have to deal. The general facts and questions arising from them have already been treated in the notes on the parallel passages.<p>(1) <span class= "bld">He went forth with his disciples</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> He went forth from the city. (Comp. <a href="/john/14-31.htm" title="But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.">John 14:31</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">The brook Cedron.</span>—The Greek words mean exactly “the winter torrent Kedron,” and occur again in the LXX. of <a href="/2_samuel/15-23.htm" title="And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.">2Samuel 15:23</a>, and <a href="/2_kings/15-13.htm" title="Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria.">2Kings 15:13</a>. The name is formed from a Hebrew word which means “black.” The torrent was the “Niger” of Judæa, and was so called from the colour of its turbid waters, or from the darkness of the chasm through which they flowed. The name seems to have been properly applied not so much to the torrent itself as to the ravine through which it flowed, on the east of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives. Its sides are for the most part precipitous, but here and there paths cross it, and at the bottom are cultivated strips of land. Its depth varies, but in some places it is not less than 100 feet. (Comp. article, “Kidron,” in Kitto’s <span class= "ital">Biblical Cyclopœdia,</span> vol. ii., p. 731; and for the reading see <span class= "ital">Excursus B: Some Variations in the Text of St. John’s Gospel.</span>)<p><span class= "bld">Where was a garden.</span>—Comp. <a href="/matthew/26-36.htm" title="Then comes Jesus with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, Sit you here, while I go and pray yonder.">Matthew 26:36</a>. St. John does not record the passion of Gethsemane, but this verse indicates its place in the narrative. (Comp. Note on <a href="/john/12-27.htm" title="Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I to this hour.">John 12:27</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-2.htm">John 18:2</a></div><div class="verse">And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">And Judas also, which betrayed.</span>—Better, . . . <span class= "ital">who was betraying Him.</span> The original word is a present participle, and marks the Betrayal as actually in progress.<p><span class= "bld">For Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples.</span>—This is one of the instances of St. John’s exact knowledge of the incidents which attended the Jerusalem life of our Lord. (Comp. <span class= "ital">Introduction,</span> p. 371.) All the Evangelists narrate the coming of Judas. John only remembers that the spot was one belonging, it may be, to a friend or disciple, where Jesus was in the habit of going with His disciples, and that Judas therefore knew the place, and knew that he would probably find them there.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-3.htm">John 18:3</a></div><div class="verse">Judas then, having received a band <i>of men</i> and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.</div>(3) <span class= "bld">A band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">the band, and officers from the chief priests and Pharieess.</span> The other Gospels tell us of a “great multitude” (Matt.), or a “multitude” (Mark and Luke). St. John uses the technical word for the Roman cohort. It was the garrison band from Fort Antonia, at the north-east corner of the Temple. This well-known “band” is mentioned again in the New Testament (in <a href="/john/18-12.htm" title="Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,">John 18:12</a>; <a href="/matthew/27-27.htm" title="Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered to him the whole band of soldiers.">Matthew 27:27</a>; <a href="/mark/15-16.htm" title="And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.">Mark 15:16</a>; <a href="/acts/21-31.htm" title="And as they went about to kill him, tidings came to the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.">Acts 21:31</a>). (Comp. Notes at these places.) The word occurs also in <a href="/acts/10-1.htm" title="There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,">Acts 10:1</a> (“the Italian band”) and <a href="/acts/27-1.htm" title="And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band.">Acts 27:1</a> (“Augustus’ band”). The Authorised version misleads, by closely connecting in one clause two distinct things, “a band of men and officers.” The band was Roman; the “officers” were the Temple servants, of whom we read in <a href="/john/7-32.htm" title="The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.">John 7:32</a>; <a href="/john/7-45.htm" title="Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said to them, Why have you not brought him?">John 7:45</a>. These were sent, here, as there, by the chief priests and Pharisees, with Judas for their guide, and their authority was supported by the civil power.<p><span class= "bld">Lanterns and torches and weapons.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">with torches and lamps</span> (<a href="/matthew/25-1.htm" title="Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.">Matthew 25:1</a>) <span class= "ital">and arms.</span> The torches and lamps were part of the regular military equipment for night service. Dionysius describes soldiers rushing out of their tents with torches and lamps in the same words which are used here (<a href="/john/11-40.htm" title="Jesus said to her, Said I not to you, that, if you would believe, you should see the glory of God?">John 11:40</a>). They are not mentioned in the other Gospels. St. Matthew and St. Mark describe the “weapons” as “swords and staves.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-4.htm">John 18:4</a></div><div class="verse">Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?</div>(4) <span class= "bld">Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come </span>(better, <span class= "ital">were coming</span>) <span class= "bld">upon him.</span>—Comp. <a href="/matthew/26-45.htm" title="Then comes he to his disciples, and said to them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.">Matthew 26:45</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> probably, went forth from the garden itself. (Comp. Note on <a href="/john/18-26.htm" title="One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, said, Did not I see you in the garden with him?">John 18:26</a>.) Other possible interpretations are, “went forth from the depth of the garden;” or, “went forth from the circle of the disciples standing round;” or, “went forth from the shade of the tree into the moonlight.” For the word, comp. <a href="/john/18-1.htm" title="When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.">John 18:1</a>, and <a href="/matthew/14-14.htm" title="And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.">Matthew 14:14</a>). The kiss of Judas, mentioned in all the earlier Gospels, must be placed here between “went forth” and “said unto them.”<p>For the question, comp. <a href="/matthew/26-50.htm" title="And Jesus said to him, Friend, why are you come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus and took him.">Matthew 26:50</a>. Jesus will boldly face the danger, and direct it upon Himself, that the disciples may be saved from it (<a href="/john/18-8.htm" title="Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore you seek me, let these go their way:">John 18:8</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-5.htm">John 18:5</a></div><div class="verse">They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am <i>he</i>. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them.</div>(5) <span class= "bld">They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth.</span>—He was known to many of them (<a href="/john/7-32.htm" title="The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.">John 7:32</a>; <a href="/john/7-46.htm" title="The officers answered, Never man spoke like this man.">John 7:46</a>; <a href="/matthew/26-55.htm" title="In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are you come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and you laid no hold on me.">Matthew 26:55</a>); but this is probably an official declaration of the person with whose apprehension they are charged.<p><span class= "bld">I am he.</span>—Comp. Notes on <a href="/john/8-28.htm" title="Then said Jesus to them, When you have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father has taught me, I speak these things.">John 8:28</a>; <a href="/john/8-58.htm" title="Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am.">John 8:58</a>.<p><span class= "bld">And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them.</span>—He had advanced to give the signal of the kiss (<a href="/john/18-4.htm" title="Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come on him, went forth, and said to them, Whom seek you?">John 18:4</a>), and had again retreated, and was now standing with them. He is mentioned in accordance with the vivid impression which the fact left upon the Apostle’s mind. Judas, who had been one of them, who had been present with them, and had received bread from his Master’s hand on that very night, was now standing with the officers of the Sanhedrin and the Roman band, who had come to capture Him! The position of the words suggests also that Judas was in some way specially connected with the fact that on hearing the words “I am He,” they fell to the ground, as though fear passed from him to those with him.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-6.htm">John 18:6</a></div><div class="verse">As soon then as he had said unto them, I am <i>he</i>, they went backward, and fell to the ground.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">They went backward, and fell to the ground.</span>—There is nothing in the narrative to suggest that our Lord put forth miraculous power to cause this terror. The impression is rather that it was produced by the majesty of His person, and by the answer which to Jewish ears conveyed the unutterable name, “Jehovah” (I AM). (Comp. Note on <a href="/context/john/8-24.htm" title="I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins.">John 8:24-25</a>.) Guilt trembled before the calmness of innocence. Man fell to the ground before the presence of God. To Judas the term must have been familiar, and have brought back a past which may well have made him tremble at the present. To the officers the voice came from Him of whom they had been convinced before that “Never man spake like this man” (<a href="/john/7-46.htm" title="The officers answered, Never man spoke like this man.">John 7:46</a>). They have come to take Him by force, but conscience paralyses all their intentions, and they lay helpless before Him. He will surrender Himself because His hour is come (<a href="/john/17-1.htm" title="These words spoke Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you:">John 17:1</a>); but His life no one taketh from Him. For this sense of awe in the presence of Christ, comp. the account of the cleansing of the Temple in <a href="/john/2-14.htm" title="And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:">John 2:14</a> <span class= "ital">et seq.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-7.htm">John 18:7</a></div><div class="verse">Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.</div>(7) <span class= "bld">Then asked he them again.</span>—Their fear has passed away, so that we are not to think, as men sometimes do, that they were struck to the ground helpless. His thought is still of saving those who are with Him. The question brings the same formal answer. They have no warrant to take any of those who are with Him. They seek only Jesus of Nazareth.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-8.htm">John 18:8</a></div><div class="verse">Jesus answered, I have told you that I am <i>he</i>: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way:</div>(8) <span class= "bld">If therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.</span>—It may be that some of the Roman cohort, not knowing Jesus, were already laying hands on the disciples. In any case, they are exposed to this danger, and the Good Shepherd, who Himself goes forth to meet the danger, will shield the flock from it.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-9.htm">John 18:9</a></div><div class="verse">That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.</div>(9) <span class= "bld">That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake.</span>—Comp. <a href="/john/17-12.htm" title="While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name: those that you gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.">John 17:12</a>. The quotation is in many ways suggestive. (1) It is not verbally accurate, <span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> St. John, quoting the words of Christ, which he has himself recorded a few verses before, is at no pains to reproduce it word for word, but is satisfied in giving the substance of it. This throws light on the general literary habits and feelings of this age and race, and it is in full harmony with the usual practice of quotation in the New Testament. (2) St. John quotes with an application to temporal persecution that which had been spoken of spiritual persecution. This illustrates the kind of way in which words are said to be “fulfilled” in more than one sense. Striking words fix themselves in the mind, and an event occurs which illustrates their meaning, and it is said therefore to fulfil them, though of each fulfilment it can be only part. (Comp. especially Notes on <a href="/john/2-17.htm" title="And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of your house has eaten me up.">John 2:17</a>; <a href="/john/12-38.htm" title="That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?">John 12:38</a> <span class= "ital">et seq.</span>) (3) The quotation shows that in the thought of St. John himself, the prayer recorded in John 17 is no <span class= "ital">résumé</span> of the words of our Lord, but an actual record of His prayer: he quotes the “saying” as fulfilled, just as he would have quoted a passage from the Old Testament Scriptures.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-10.htm">John 18:10</a></div><div class="verse">Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.</div>(10) <span class= "bld">Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it. . . .—</span>Comp. Note on <a href="/matthew/26-51.htm" title="And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear.">Matthew 26:51</a>. The fact is recorded by all the Evangelists. St. John only tells us that it was done by Peter, and that the servant’s name was Malchus. He is also careful to note, as St. Luke does too, that it was the “right ear.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-11.htm">John 18:11</a></div><div class="verse">Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?</div>(11) <span class= "bld">Put up thy sword into the sheath.</span>—Comp. Note on <a href="/matthew/26-52.htm" title="Then said Jesus to him, Put up again your sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.">Matthew 26:52</a>. Here again St. John’s narrative is more vivid and exact. St. Matthew has “place” for “sheath.”<p><span class= "bld">The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?</span>—Comp. Notes <span class= "ital">on</span> <a href="/matthew/20-22.htm" title="But Jesus answered and said, You know not what you ask. Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say to him, We are able.">Matthew 20:22</a>; <a href="/matthew/26-39.htm" title="And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as you will.">Matthew 26:39</a>. This is the only instance of the occurrence of this familiar imagery in St. John. St. Peter’s act is one of opposition to what Jesus Himself knew to be the will of the Father. There is in the words a tender trustfulness which robs the cup of all its bitterness—“The cup which My Father hath given Me.” They are, as it were, an echo of the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, which is not recorded by St. John. It is the Father to whom He has prayed, and solemnly committed the disciples (John 17); the Father whose presence never leaves Him (<a href="/john/16-32.htm" title="Behold, the hour comes, yes, is now come, that you shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.">John 16:32</a>); the Father into whose hands He is about from the cross to commend His Spirit (<a href="/luke/23-46.htm" title="And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.">Luke 23:46</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-12.htm">John 18:12</a></div><div class="verse">Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,</div>(12) <span class= "bld">Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews.</span>—A stop should be placed after “captain.” The “band and the captain” were the Roman cohort (comp. Note on <a href="/john/18-3.htm" title="Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.">John 18:3</a>) and their tribune (<span class= "ital">Chiliarch;</span> comp. <a href="/mark/6-21.htm" title="And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee;">Mark 6:21</a>). The “officers of the Jews” were, as before, the Temple servants (see above, <a href="/john/18-3.htm" title="Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.">John 18:3</a>), and the apparitors of the Sanhedrin.<p><span class= "bld">Took Jesus, and bound him.</span>—Comp. Notes on <a href="/matthew/26-50.htm" title="And Jesus said to him, Friend, why are you come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus and took him.">Matthew 26:50</a>; <a href="/matthew/27-2.htm" title="And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.">Matthew 27:2</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-13.htm">John 18:13</a></div><div class="verse">And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.</div>(13, 14) <span class= "bld">And led him away to Annas first.—</span>Comp. for account of Annas Note on <a href="/luke/3-2.htm" title="Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.">Luke 3:2</a>, and <a href="/acts/4-6.htm" title="And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.">Acts 4:6</a>. This trial before Annas was probably a preliminary investigation, distinct from the formal trial before Caiaphas, narrated in the earlier Gospels. (Comp. <a href="/john/18-19.htm" title="The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.">John 18:19</a>; <a href="/john/18-24.htm" title="Now Annas had sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.">John 18:24</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">For he was father in law to Caiaphas.</span>—The personal relationship between Annas and Caiaphas had led to a closeness of connection in official duties, which makes it difficult, with our partial knowledge of the circumstances, to trace the position taken by each in the trial of our Lord. This remark of St. John’s suggests that Annas may have occupied part of the high priest’s palace. He had been high priest. He is called high priest in the following year (<a href="/acts/4-6.htm" title="And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.">Acts 4:6</a>). His age would have given him authority in the Sanhedrin, which Caiaphas himself is not likely to have questioned, and he may have been President of the Sanhedrin or Father of the <span class= "ital">Beth Din</span> (House of Judgment), Whether officially, or personally, or both, he was, from the Jewish point of view, a person whose counsel and influence were of the utmost importance, and to him they bring Jesus for this doctrinal investigation (<a href="/john/18-19.htm" title="The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.">John 18:19</a>); while it is necessary that He should be sent to the legal high priest for official trial in the presence of the Sanhedrin (<a href="/john/18-24.htm" title="Now Annas had sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.">John 18:24</a>), before being handed over to the civil power (<a href="/john/18-28.htm" title="Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.">John 18:28</a>). It does not follow that the high priest (Caiaphas) was not present at this investigation; but it was altogether of an informal character.<p><span class= "bld">Which was the high priest that same year.</span>—On this clause, and the whole of the following verse, comp. Notes on <a href="/context/john/11-49.htm" title="And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said to them, You know nothing at all,">John 11:49-52</a>. The prophecy is quoted now that its fulfilment is close at hand, and that the act of Caiaphas is about to lead to it.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-15.htm">John 18:15</a></div><div class="verse">And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and <i>so did</i> another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.</div>(15) <span class= "bld">And Simon Peter followed Jesus.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">And Simon Peter was following Jesus.</span> (Comp. <a href="/matthew/26-58.htm" title="But Peter followed him afar off to the high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.">Matthew 26:58</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Another disciple.</span>—The reading is not certain, but the majority of the better MSS. support the text of the Authorised version. Others have, “<span class= "ital">The</span> other disciple,” which would mean, “The well-known disciple.” It has been usual to understand that John himself is intended by this designation, and this opinion agrees with the general reticence of the Gospel with regard to him. (Comp. <a href="/john/1-40.htm" title="One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.">John 1:40</a>; <a href="/john/13-23.htm" title="Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.">John 13:23</a>; <a href="/john/19-26.htm" title="When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son!">John 19:26</a>; and <span class= "ital">Introduction,</span> p. 375.) It agrees also with the fact that Peter and John are elsewhere found in special connection with each other (<a href="/luke/22-8.htm" title="And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.">Luke 22:8</a>; <a href="/acts/1-13.htm" title="And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where stayed both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.">Acts 1:13</a>; <a href="/acts/3-1.htm" title="Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.">Acts 3:1</a>; <a href="/context/acts/3-3.htm" title="Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.">Acts 3:3-4</a>; <a href="/acts/3-11.htm" title="And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.">Acts 3:11</a>; <a href="/acts/4-13.htm" title="Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.">Acts 4:13</a>; <a href="/acts/4-19.htm" title="But Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, judge you.">Acts 4:19</a>; <a href="/acts/8-14.htm" title="Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John:">Acts 8:14</a>). We are warranted, therefore, in saying that this opinion is probable, but not in assuming that it is necessarily true, as is often done. It may be, for instance, that by this term the Evangelist indicates his brother James, who is never mentioned in this Gospel. The fact that he is himself called “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (<a href="/john/13-23.htm" title="Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.">John 13:23</a>; <a href="/john/19-26.htm" title="When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son!">John 19:26</a>; comp. <span class= "ital">Introduction,</span> p. 375), is against rather than for the opinion that he is here called “another disciple.” If we adopt the reading, “<span class= "ital">the</span> other disciple,” the opinion has more support.<p><span class= "bld">Was known unto the high priest.</span>—How he was known we have no means of judging. We may, however, note that the name “John” occurs among the names of the kindred of the high priest in <a href="/acts/4-6.htm" title="And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.">Acts 4:6</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Into the palace of the high priest.</span>—Better, perhaps, <span class= "ital">into the court of the high priest.</span> (Comp. <a href="/matthew/26-3.htm" title="Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, to the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,">Matthew 26:3</a>; <a href="/matthew/26-58.htm" title="But Peter followed him afar off to the high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.">Matthew 26:58</a>; <a href="/matthew/26-69.htm" title="Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came to him, saying, You also were with Jesus of Galilee.">Matthew 26:69</a>.) St. John uses the word elsewhere only of the sheepfold (<a href="/john/10-1.htm" title="Truly, truly, I say to you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.">John 10:1</a>; <a href="/john/10-16.htm" title="And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.">John 10:16</a>). It has been established beyond doubt that the title “high priest” may have been and often was given to those who had held the sacred office. We cannot, therefore, say positively that it is not here given to Annas. It is, however, in the highest degree improbable that it is given in this chapter, after the words of <a href="/john/18-13.htm" title="And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.">John 18:13</a>, to Annas and Caiaphas without distinction. The writer has in that verse clearly marked out Caiaphas as the high priest that year, and consistency requires that we should uniformly understand him to be designated by the title.<p>The apparent difficulty here is met by the remark in <a href="/john/18-13.htm" title="And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.">John 18:13</a>, that Annas was father-in-law to Caiaphas. (See Note there.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-16.htm">John 18:16</a></div><div class="verse">But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter.</div>(16) <span class= "bld">But Peter stood at the door without.</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> at the door of the court. He remained here with the crowd. Jesus as a prisoner, and the other disciple as a friend of the high priest, went into the court.<p><span class= "bld">Unto her that kept the door.</span>—Comp. <a href="/acts/12-13.htm" title="And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to listen, named Rhoda.">Acts 12:13</a> and <a href="/2_samuel/4-6.htm" title="And they came thither into the middle of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under the fifth rib: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.">2Samuel 4:6</a> (LXX.). That women “kept the door” among the Jews we know from Josephus (<span class= "ital">Ant</span> vii. 2, § 1).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-17.htm">John 18:17</a></div><div class="verse">Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also <i>one</i> of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not.</div>(17) On Peter’s denials, comp. Notes on <a href="/context/matthew/26-69.htm" title="Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came to him, saying, You also were with Jesus of Galilee.">Matthew 26:69-75</a>, and see in this Gospel <a href="/john/13-38.htm" title="Jesus answered him, Will you lay down your life for my sake? Truly, truly, I say to you, The cock shall not crow, till you have denied me thrice.">John 13:38</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Art not thou also one of this man’s disciples?</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> “Thou as well as thy friend, whom I know.” There is no charge brought against him. The words are apparently simply words of recognition, or as furnishing a reason for admitting him with his friend, but Peter is conscious that he had attempted to kill, and had succeeded in wounding, one of the high priest’s servants. He therefore dreads this recognition.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-18.htm">John 18:18</a></div><div class="verse">And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.</div>(18) <span class= "bld">And the servants and officers stood there.</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> in the quadrangular court. The “servants” “are the household servants or slaves of the high priest. The officers are the Temple servants. (Comp. Note on <a href="/john/18-3.htm" title="Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.">John 18:3</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">A fire of coals.</span>—In the Greek this phrase is expressed by one word which occurs again in the New Testament in <a href="/john/21-9.htm" title="As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.">John 21:9</a>; and in the LXX. in <a href="//apocrypha.org/ecclesiasticus/11-30.htm" title="Like as a partridge taken and kept in a cage, so is the heart of the proud; and like as a spy, watcheth he for thy fall:">Ecclesiasticus 11:30</a>; <a href="//apocrypha.org/ecclesiasticus/11-32.htm" title="Of a spark of fire a heap of coals is kindled: and a sinful man layeth wait for blood.">Ecclesiasticus 11:32</a>; and 4Ma 9:20. It means a glowing fire. One of the Greek translators (Aquila) uses it in <a href="/psalms/119-4.htm" title="You have commanded us to keep your precepts diligently.">Psalm 119:4</a> (English version <a href="/psalms/120-4.htm" title="Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.">Psalm 120:4</a> : “coals of juniper”—that is, of the broom plant).<p><span class= "bld">Peter stood with them, and warmed himself:</span>—It is implied that the other disciple had been admitted into the house. As the houses were usually constructed, the court would be visible from the interior. Peter has already been identified as a disciple. To stand aloof would have been to call further attention to himself. He joins the company, therefore, round the fire.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-19.htm">John 18:19</a></div><div class="verse">The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.</div>(19) <span class= "bld">The high priest then asked Jesus.</span>—Comp. Notes on <a href="/john/18-15.htm" title="And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known to the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.">John 18:15</a>. By the “high priest” is probably-meant Caiaphas, though this preliminary investigation was held before Annas, and in his house, or that part of the high priest’s palace occupied by him.<p><span class= "bld">Of his disciples, and of his doctrine.</span>—This was the general subject of a series of questions. He asked, we may think, about the number of Christ’s followers; the aim they had in view; the principles which He had taught them. The object of the questions was apparently to find some technical evidence in Christ’s own words on which they may support the charges they are about to bring against Him in the legal trial before Caiaphas.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-20.htm">John 18:20</a></div><div class="verse">Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.</div>(20) <span class= "bld">I spake openly to the world.</span>—He does not distinctly answer the question about His disciples, but His words imply that all may have been His disciples. The pronoun is strongly emphatic; “I am one,” His words mean, “who spake plainly and to all men.” “My followers have not been initiated into secret mysteries, nor made conspirators in any political organisation.” “I have not been a leader, and they have not been members, of a party.”<p><span class= "bld">I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort.</span>—The better reading omits the article before “synagogue,” as in <a href="/john/6-59.htm" title="These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.">John 6:59</a>, and reads for the last clause, <span class= "ital">where all the Jews resort.</span> “In synagogue” is an adverbial phrase, as we say “in church.” His constant custom was to teach “in synagogue,” and in Jerusalem He taught in the temple itself, which was the resort of all the leaders of the people. This refers to His general custom, and does not, of course, exclude His teaching in other places. The point is that during His public ministry He was constantly in the habit of teaching under the authority of the officers of the synagogues and the temple. That was the answer as to what His doctrine had been.<p><span class= "bld">And in secret have I said nothing.</span>—His private teaching of the disciples is, of course, not excluded, but that was only the exposition of His public doctrine. There was nothing in it such as they understood by “secret teaching.” It was unlike “the leaven of the Pharisees which was hypocrisy;” for in it there was “nothing covered,” “nothing hid.” (Comp. <a href="/context/john/12-1.htm" title="Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.">John 12:1-3</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-21.htm">John 18:21</a></div><div class="verse">Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.</div>(21) <span class= "bld">Why askest thou me?</span>—Comp. <a href="/john/5-31.htm" title="If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.">John 5:31</a>. The pronoun “Me” is not the emphatic word as it is generally taken to be. The stress is on the interrogative, “<span class= "ital">Why,</span> for what purpose, dost thou ask Me? If you want witnesses, ask them which heard Me.”<p><span class= "bld">Behold, they know what I said.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">behold, these know what I said.</span> He pointed probably to some who were then present. In the next verse there is a reference to the “officers” who, as we know from <a href="/john/7-32.htm" title="The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.">John 7:32</a>; <a href="/john/7-46.htm" title="The officers answered, Never man spoke like this man.">John 7:46</a>, had heard this doctrine.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-22.htm">John 18:22</a></div><div class="verse">And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?</div>(22) <span class= "bld">With the palm of his hand.</span>—The Greek word occurs again in the New Testament only in <a href="/john/19-3.htm" title="And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.">John 19:3</a>, and <a href="/mark/14-65.htm" title="And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say to him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.">Mark 14:65</a> (see Note there, and on <a href="/matthew/26-67.htm" title="Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,">Matthew 26:67</a>). It is uncertain whether it means here a blow with the hand or, as the margin renders it, <span class= "ital">“</span>with a rod.” The word originally means a stroke with a rod, but in classical usage it acquired also the meaning of a slap in the face, or box on the ear, and the corresponding verb is certainly used in this sense in <a href="/matthew/5-39.htm" title="But I say to you, That you resist not evil: but whoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.">Matthew 5:39</a>. We may gather from <a href="/acts/23-2.htm" title="And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.">Acts 23:2</a> that a blow on the face was a customary punishment for a supposed offence against the dignity of the high priest; but in that case it was ordered by the high priest himself, and the fact that it was here done without authority by one of the attendants confirms the opinion that this was not a legal trial before the judicial authority.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-23.htm">John 18:23</a></div><div class="verse">Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?</div>(23) <span class= "bld">Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil.</span>—Comp. Note on <a href="/matthew/5-39.htm" title="But I say to you, That you resist not evil: but whoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.">Matthew 5:39</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Bear witness of the evil.</span>—That is,” Produce the evidence which the law requires.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-24.htm">John 18:24</a></div><div class="verse">Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.</div>(24) <span class= "bld">Now Annas had sent him bound. . . .</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">Annas therefore sent Him bound</span>. . . . The reading is uncertain; some MSS. read “Therefore;<span class= "ital">”</span> some read “Now;” some omit the word altogether. On the whole, the evidence is in favour of “therefore.” The tense is an aorist, and cannot properly have a pluperfect force. The rendering of the Authorised version is based upon the opinion that Jesus had before been sent to Caiaphas, and that all which followed from <a href="/john/18-13.htm" title="And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.">John 18:13</a> (see margin there) had taken place after the close of the investigation before Annas. This view is certainly more probable than that the words “high priest” should be used of Annas and Caiaphas indiscriminately (comp. Note on <a href="/john/18-15.htm" title="And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known to the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.">John 18:15</a>), but both do violence to the ordinary meaning of language, and, if the interpretation which is adopted in these Notes is correct, neither is necessary.<p>Jesus was still “bound;” as He had been from <a href="/john/18-12.htm" title="Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,">John 18:12</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-25.htm">John 18:25</a></div><div class="verse">And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also <i>one</i> of his disciples? He denied <i>it</i>, and said, I am not.</div>(25) <span class= "bld">And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">And Simon Peter was standing and warming himself.</span> (Comp. <a href="/john/18-18.htm" title="And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.">John 18:18</a>.) The words are repeated to draw attention to the fact that he was standing in the court at the time when Jesus was sent from Annas unto Caiaphas, that is, from one wing of the quadrangular building across the court to the other. In <a href="/luke/22-61.htm" title="And the Lord turned, and looked on Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, Before the cock crow, you shall deny me thrice.">Luke 22:61</a> it is said that “the Lord turned and looked upon Peter.”<p><span class= "bld">Art not thou also one of his disciples?</span>—Comp. Note to <a href="/john/18-17.htm" title="Then said the damsel that kept the door to Peter, Are not you also one of this man's disciples? He said, I am not.">John 18:17</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-26.htm">John 18:26</a></div><div class="verse">One of the servants of the high priest, being <i>his</i> kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him?</div>(26) <span class= "bld">One of the servants of the high priest.</span>—Comp. <a href="/luke/22-59.htm" title="And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean.">Luke 22:59</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Did not I see thee in the garden with him?</span>—This kinsman of Malchus, who had probably gone with him to the arrest, is not to be silenced by a simple denial. He asks emphatically, “Did not <span class= "ital">I</span> see thee in the garden with Him?” He feels certain that he is not deceived. The probable interpretation of <a href="/john/18-4.htm" title="Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come on him, went forth, and said to them, Whom seek you?">John 18:4</a> is that Jesus went forth out of the garden towards the band and the officers. If so, the moment when the kinsman saw Peter was previous to that of Malchus’ wound. If the kinsman had witnessed this, he would almost certainly have charged Peter with it now.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-27.htm">John 18:27</a></div><div class="verse">Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.</div>(27) <span class= "bld">And immediately the cock crew.</span>—Better, . . . a <span class= "ital">cock crew.</span> (Comp. <a href="/matthew/26-74.htm" title="Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.">Matthew 26:74</a>, and (on the whole question of the denial, Notes to <a href="/context/matthew/26-69.htm" title="Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came to him, saying, You also were with Jesus of Galilee.">Matthew 26:69-74</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-28.htm">John 18:28</a></div><div class="verse">Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.</div>(28) On the accusation before Pilate (<a href="/context/john/18-28.htm" title="Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.">John 18:28-38</a>), comp. Notes on the parallels in <a href="/context/matthew/27-11.htm" title="And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Are you the King of the Jews? And Jesus said to him, You say.">Matthew 27:11-14</a>; <a href="/context/mark/15-2.htm" title="And Pilate asked him, Are you the King of the Jews? And he answering said to them, You say it.">Mark 15:2-5</a>; <a href="/context/luke/23-2.htm" title="And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.">Luke 23:2-5</a>.<p><span class= "bld">The hall of judgment.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">the Prœtorium.</span> Comp. Note on <a href="/matthew/27-27.htm" title="Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered to him the whole band of soldiers.">Matthew 27:27</a>. It is interesting to observe the various renderings which our translators have given for this one word. Here, “hall of judgment,” or “Pilate’s house,” and “judgment-hall;” <a href="/john/18-33.htm" title="Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said to him, Are you the King of the Jews?">John 18:33</a>, “hall of judgment” without the marginal alternative; <a href="/john/19-9.htm" title="And went again into the judgment hall, and said to Jesus, From where are you? But Jesus gave him no answer.">John 19:9</a>, “judgment-hall;” in <a href="/matthew/27-27.htm" title="Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered to him the whole band of soldiers.">Matthew 27:27</a>, “common-hall,” or “governor’s house;” in <a href="/mark/15-16.htm" title="And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.">Mark 15:16</a>, “prætorium” (the original word Anglicised); in <a href="/acts/23-35.htm" title="I will hear you, said he, when your accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall.">Acts 23:35</a>, “judgment-hall;” in <a href="/philippians/1-13.htm" title="So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;">Philippians 1:13</a>, “palace,” this being perhaps the only passage where “palace” does not give the right meaning. (Comp. Note there.)<p><span class= "bld">And it was early.</span>—The Greek word occurs in the division of the night in <a href="/mark/13-35.htm" title="Watch you therefore: for you know not when the master of the house comes, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning:">Mark 13:35</a> (“even,” “midnight,” “cock-crowing,” “morning”) for the time between cock-crowing and sunrise, as we should say roughly, from three to six o’clock; but comp. <a href="/matthew/27-1.htm" title="When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:">Matthew 27:1</a>, and <a href="/luke/22-66.htm" title="And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying,">Luke 22:66</a>. We must remember that Pilate must have sent the band (<a href="/john/18-3.htm" title="Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.">John 18:3</a>), and was therefore expecting its return.<p><span class= "bld">And they themselves went not into the judgment hall.</span>—They sent Jesus in under guard of the Roman band, while they remained outside.<p><span class= "bld">But that they might eat the passover.</span>—Comp. <span class= "ital">Excursus F: The Day of the Crucifixion of our Lord.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-29.htm">John 18:29</a></div><div class="verse">Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man?</div>(29) <span class= "bld">Pilate then went out unto them.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">Pilate therefore went out unto them</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> because of their religious scruples they would not enter into the palace.<p><span class= "bld">What accusation bring ye against this man?</span>—Comp. <a href="/john/18-33.htm" title="Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said to him, Are you the King of the Jews?">John 18:33</a>. They expected that he would have at once ordered His execution; but he asks for the formal charge which they bring against Him. He knew by hearsay what this was, but demands the legal accusation without which the trial could not proceed. As the Roman procurator, he demands what crime Jesus has committed against the Roman law.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-30.htm">John 18:30</a></div><div class="verse">They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.</div>(30) <span class= "bld">If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.</span>—They take the position that the Roman is the executive, and their own the judicial power. They bring no legal charge against Jesus, but assert, in effect that they themselves, who understood and had investigated the whole matter, had condemned Him to death, and that the fact that they had done so was in itself sufficient proof that He was worthy of death. They use the vague word “malefactor,” “evil-doer,” though in the trial before Caiaphas they had not sought to prove any evil deed, and they expect that upon this assertion Pilate will pronounce on Him, as on other malefactors, the sentence of death.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-31.htm">John 18:31</a></div><div class="verse">Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:</div>(31) <span class= "bld">Take ye him, and judge him according to your law.</span>—Pilate takes them at their word. They claim the judicial right; let them exercise it. Their law gave them power to punish, but not the right of capital punishment. If they claim that the matter is wholly within their own power of judgment, then the sentence must also be limited to their own power. He can only execute a sentence which is pronounced by himself after formal trial.<p><span class= "bld">It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.</span>—Their words admit that they did not possess the power of life and death, while they imply that they had sentenced Jesus to death. They verbally give up the power, but in reality claim it, and regard the procurator as their executioner. The Jews had lost this power since the time that Archelaus was deposed, and Judæa became a Roman province (A.D. 6 or 7). The Talmud speaks of the loss of this power forty years or more before the destruction of Jerusalem. (Comp. Lightfoot’s Note here, and in <a href="/matthew/26-3.htm" title="Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, to the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,">Matthew 26:3</a>.)<p>On the stoning of Stephen, which was an illegal act, comp. Notes on <a href="/acts/7-57.htm" title="Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran on him with one accord,">Acts 7:57</a> <span class= "ital">et seq.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-32.htm">John 18:32</a></div><div class="verse">That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.</div>(32) <span class= "bld">That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled.</span>—Comp. Note on <a href="/john/18-9.htm" title="That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spoke, Of them which you gave me have I lost none.">John 18:9</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Signifying what death he should die.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">signifying by what manner of death He should die.</span> (Comp. Note on <a href="/john/10-32.htm" title="Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do you stone me?">John 10:32</a>.) For the prediction of the manner of death, comp. <a href="/john/3-14.htm" title="And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:">John 3:14</a>; <a href="/john/12-32.htm" title="And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to me.">John 12:32</a>; and Note on <a href="/matthew/20-19.htm" title="And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to whip, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.">Matthew 20:19</a>. If the Jews had possessed the power to put Him to death, they would have condemned Him on the technical charge of blasphemy, for which the punishment was stoning. (Comp. <a href="/john/8-59.htm" title="Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the middle of them, and so passed by.">John 8:59</a>; <a href="/john/10-31.htm" title="Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.">John 10:31</a>; and <a href="/acts/7-51.htm" title="You stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do you.">Acts 7:51</a> <span class= "ital">et seq.</span>) Crucifixion was not a Jewish punishment, and it was in the fact that He was executed, not by Jewish authority and on the charge of blasphemy, but by Roman authority and on a charge of Majestas (high treason), that His own prophecy of the manner of His death was fulfilled.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-33.htm">John 18:33</a></div><div class="verse">Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?</div>(33) <span class= "bld">Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">Pilate therefore entered into the Prœtorium</span> (or <span class= "ital">palace</span>)<span class= "ital"> again, and called Jesus.</span> (Comp. <a href="/john/18-28.htm" title="Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.">John 18:28</a>.) This was practically a private investigation, for the Jews could not enter the palace (<a href="/john/18-28.htm" title="Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.">John 18:28</a>). (Comp. <a href="/john/19-13.htm" title="When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.">John 19:13</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Art thou the King of the Jews?</span>—Comp. Note on <a href="/matthew/27-11.htm" title="And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Are you the King of the Jews? And Jesus said to him, You say.">Matthew 27:11</a>; <a href="/context/luke/23-2.htm" title="And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.">Luke 23:2-3</a>. Pilate, of course, knew of the charge brought against Him when he gave permission for the Roman cohort to apprehend Him.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-34.htm">John 18:34</a></div><div class="verse">Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?</div>(34) <span class= "bld">Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?</span>—The most probable interpretation of the question is that which regards it as establishing a distinction between the title “King of the Jews” as spoken by Pilate and the same title as spoken by Jesus. In the political sense in which Pilate would use it, and in this sense only the claim could be brought against Him in Roman law, He was not King of the Jews. In the theocratic sense in which a Jew would use that title, He was King of the Jews.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-35.htm">John 18:35</a></div><div class="verse">Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?</div>(35) <span class= "bld">Pilate answered, Am I a Jew</span><span class= "ital">?—</span>His question would say, “You surely do not suppose that <span class= "ital">I</span> am a <span class= "ital">Jew?”</span> The procurator’s Roman pride is fired at the very thought. He was the governor of the subject race. What did He know, or care to know, of their subtleties and distinctions?<p><span class= "bld">Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto</span> me.-” So far from the question coming from me,” his words mean, “It is <span class= "ital">thine own</span> nation, and especially the chief priests, who have delivered Thee unto me.” And then, weary of the technicalities with which a Roman trial had nothing to do, he asks the definite question, “What hast Thou done?”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-36.htm">John 18:36</a></div><div class="verse">Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.</div>(36) <span class= "bld">Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world.</span>—The answer of Jesus is two-fold, declaring (1) in this verse, that He is not a King in the political sense; and (2) in <a href="/john/18-37.htm" title="Pilate therefore said to him, Are you a king then? Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears my voice.">John 18:37</a>, that He is a King in the moral sense. By “of this world” we are to understand that the nature and origin of His kingdom are not of this world, not that His kingdom will not extend in this world. (Comp. <a href="/john/8-23.htm" title="And he said to them, You are from beneath; I am from above: you are of this world; I am not of this world.">John 8:23</a>; <a href="/john/10-16.htm" title="And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.">John 10:16</a>.) In the world’s sense of king and kingdom, in the sense in which the Roman empire claimed to rule the world, He had no kingdom.<p><span class= "bld">Then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">then would My servants have been fighting.</span> (Comp. <a href="/john/19-16.htm" title="Then delivered he him therefore to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.">John 19:16</a>.) His “servants” are His disciples, who would be in this relation to Him if He were a temporal king, and the crowds such as those who had sought to make Him king (<a href="/john/6-15.htm" title="When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.">John 6:15</a>), and had filled Jerusalem with the cry, “Hosanna: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel” (<a href="/john/12-13.htm" title="Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that comes in the name of the Lord.">John 12:13</a>). One of His servants had drawn the sword (<a href="/john/18-10.htm" title="Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.">John 18:10</a>), and, but that His will had checked the popular feeling, neither the Jewish officers nor the Roman cohort could have delivered Him to be crucified.<p><span class= "bld">But now is my kingdom not from hence.</span>—That is, “But, as a matter of fact, My kingdom is not from here.” It was proved by His standing bound in the presence of the procurator. The clause has been strangely pressed into the service of millennial views by interpreting it, “But <span class= "ital">now</span> My kingdom is not from hence. Hereafter it will be.” For the true sense of “now,” comp. <a href="/john/8-40.htm" title="But now you seek to kill me, a man that has told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.">John 8:40</a>; <a href="/john/9-41.htm" title="Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you should have no sin: but now you say, We see; therefore your sin remains.">John 9:41</a>; <a href="/john/15-22.htm" title="If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.">John 15:22</a>; <a href="/john/15-24.htm" title="If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.">John 15:24</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-37.htm">John 18:37</a></div><div class="verse">Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.</div>(37) <span class= "bld">Art thou a king then?</span>—The sentence is both a question and an inference from the word “kingdom” of the previous verse. There is a strong emphasis, and it may be sarcasm, expressed in the pronoun, “Does it not follow then that <span class= "ital">Thou</span> art a king?”<p><span class= "bld">Thou sayest that I am a king.</span>—Or, perhaps, <span class= "ital">Thou sayest; for I am a king.</span> (Comp. <a href="/matthew/26-25.htm" title="Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said to him, You have said.">Matthew 26:25</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">Unto this end have I been born, and unto this end am I come unto the world.</span> Our translators have rendered the same Greek words by different English words—“To this end,” “for this cause,” intending probably that the first phrase should be understood of the words which precede, and the second of those which follow: “To this end (that I may be a king) was I born, and for this (that I may bear witness unto the truth) came I into the world.” Had this been the meaning, it would have been almost certainly expressed by the usual distinction in Greek; and in the absence of any such distinction, the natural interpretation is, “To be king have I been born, and to be a king came I into the world, in order that I may bear witness unto the truth.” The birth and the entrance into the world both refer to the Incarnation, but make emphatic the thought that the birth in time of Him who existed with the Father before all time, was the manifestation in the world of Him who came forth from the Father. This thought of “coming into the world” is frequent in St. John. (Comp. especially <a href="/john/10-36.htm" title="Say you of him, whom the Father has sanctified, and sent into the world, You blaspheme; because I said, I am the Son of God?">John 10:36</a>; <a href="/john/16-28.htm" title="I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.">John 16:28</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">That I should bear witness unto the truth.</span>—Comp. Note on <a href="/john/1-8.htm" title="He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.">John 1:8</a>. He has indeed a kingdom, and He came into the world to be a king; but His rule is that of the majesty of Truth, and His kingdom is to be established by His witness of the eternal truth which He had known with His Father, and which He alone could declare to man. (Comp. Notes on <a href="/john/1-18.htm" title="No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.">John 1:18</a>; <a href="/john/16-13.htm" title="However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.">John 16:13</a>.) He came to be a witness—a martyr—to the truth, and to send forth others to be witnesses and martyrs to the same truth, through the Holy Spirit, who should guide them into all truth. Such was His kingdom; such the power by which it was to rule. It was not of this world: it possessed neither land nor treasury, neither senate nor legions, neither consuls nor procurators; but it was to extend its sceptre over all the kingdoms of the earth.<p><span class= "bld">Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.</span>—He has spoken of His kingdom. Who are its subjects, and what its power over them? Every one is included who, following the light which God has placed in his soul, comes to “the true Light which lighteth every man;” who, made in the image of God, and with capacities for knowing God, seeks truly to know Him; every one who, in an honest and true heart, is of the truth, and-therefore hears the voice of Him who is the Truth. The thought is familiar to us from the earlier chapters of the Gospel. (Comp. <span class= "ital">e.g.,</span> <a href="/john/3-21.htm" title="But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are worked in God.">John 3:21</a>; <a href="/john/7-17.htm" title="If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.">John 7:17</a>; <a href="/john/8-47.htm" title="He that is of God hears God's words: you therefore hear them not, because you are not of God.">John 8:47</a>; <a href="/john/10-16.htm" title="And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.">John 10:16</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-38.htm">John 18:38</a></div><div class="verse">Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault <i>at all</i>.</div>(38) <span class= "bld">Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?</span>—“‘What is truth?’ said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer.” Such is Lord Bacon’s well-known interpretation of Pilate’s well-known question. Others have seen in it the bitterness of a mind that had been tossed to and fro in the troubled sea of contemporaneous thought, and despaired of an anchorage. Others, again; have traced the tone of sarcasm in the governor’s words—“Is the son of Roman freedom and Greek thought, which had at this time been welded into one power, to learn truth of a Jewish enthusiast?” while the older interpreters, for the most part, regarded the question as that of an earnest inquirer desiring to be satisfied. These are a few among the many thoughts the passage has suggested; and yet none of them seem to give the natural impression which follows from the words. Bacon’s is nearest to it, but Pilate was far from jesting. He seems rather to have been irritated by the refusal of the Jews to furnish a formal accusation (<a href="/john/18-31.htm" title="Then said Pilate to them, Take you him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said to him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:">John 18:31</a>), and more so at the question of Jesus in <a href="/john/18-34.htm" title="Jesus answered him, Say you this thing of yourself, or did others tell it you of me?">John 18:34</a>, and the subtleties, as he thinks them, of <a href="/john/18-36.htm" title="Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.">John 18:36</a>. This seems to him to be another, and at all events it is wholly irrelevant to the question at issue. He has neither time nor will to deal with it, and at once goes from the palace again to the Jews.<p><span class= "bld">I find in him no fault at all.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">I find</span> <span class= "ital">no crime in Him.</span> St. John uses the word rendered “fault” only in this phrase. (Comp. <a href="/john/19-4.htm" title="Pilate therefore went forth again, and said to them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him.">John 19:4</a>; <a href="/john/19-6.htm" title="When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, Take you him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.">John 19:6</a>.) It is used by St. Matthew (<a href="/matthew/27-37.htm" title="And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.">Matthew 27:37</a>) for the technical “accusation written, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews,” and this seems to be the sense here. “I find no ground for the legal charge (<a href="/john/18-33.htm" title="Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said to him, Are you the King of the Jews?">John 18:33</a>). Whatever He may be, there is no proof of treason against the majesty of Cæsar.”<p>On the attempt of Pilate to release Jesus (<a href="/context/john/18-39.htm" title="But you have a custom, that I should release to you one at the passover: will you therefore that I release to you the King of the Jews?">John 18:39-40</a>), comp. <a href="/context/matthew/27-15.htm" title="Now at that feast the governor was wont to release to the people a prisoner, whom they would.">Matthew 27:15-23</a>; <a href="/context/mark/15-6.htm" title="Now at that feast he released to them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired.">Mark 15:6-14</a>; <a href="/context/luke/23-13.htm" title="And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,">Luke 23:13-23</a>. It is preceded in St. Luke by the trial before Herod (<a href="/context/john/18-6.htm" title="As soon then as he had said to them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.">John 18:6-12</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-39.htm">John 18:39</a></div><div class="verse">But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?</div>(39) <span class= "bld">At the Passover.</span>—Comp. <span class= "ital">Excursus F: The Day of the Crucifixion of our Lord.</span><p><span class= "bld">The King of the Jews.</span>—These words are of course said in mockery, but not at Jesus who was still in the palace. They seem to mean, “This is your king; Such is your national subjection, that He is bound in the Prætorium of the Roman governor. Shall I release Him unto you?”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/john/18-40.htm">John 18:40</a></div><div class="verse">Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.</div>(40) <span class= "bld">Then cried they all again.</span>—St. John has not recorded any clamour before, but implies that of <a href="/mark/15-8.htm" title="And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done to them.">Mark 15:8</a>, and <a href="/context/luke/23-5.htm" title="And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place.">Luke 23:5-10</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Now Barabbas was a robber.</span>—Comp. Note on <a href="/john/10-1.htm" title="Truly, truly, I say to you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.">John 10:1</a>. The word includes the meaning of unrestrained violence, which often leads to bloodshed (<a href="/mark/15-7.htm" title="And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.">Mark 15:7</a>; <a href="/luke/23-19.htm" title="(Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.)">Luke 23:19</a>), and is thus used in a striking parallel in Sophocles:—<p>“And him, so rumour runs, <span class= "ital">a robber band</span><p>Of aliens <span class= "ital">slew.”</span>—<p>(<span class= "ital">Œdipus Rex.,</span> 724. Plumptre’s Translation.)<p>There is a solemn emphasis given to the context by the abrupt brevity of the sentence. (Comp. <a href="/john/11-35.htm" title="Jesus wept.">John 11:35</a>; <a href="/john/13-30.htm" title="He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.">John 13:30</a>; see also <a href="/acts/3-14.htm" title="But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted to you;">Acts 3:14</a>.)<p><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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