John 18
1 After saying these things, Jesus went out with his students across the Wadi Kidron.a He and his students went into a gardenb that was there. 2 Judah, who handed him over, had also known the place because Jesus often gathered there with his students. 3 Then Judah—after getting the squad of soldiers and some attendants of the lead priests and Pharisees—came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
4 Then Jesus, perceiving everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Who are you looking for?”
5 “Jesus the Nazarene,” they answered.
“I am he,”c he said. (Judah, who handed him over, was standing with them).
6 When he said to them, “I am he,”d they backed away and fell to the ground.
7 Then, again, he demanded of them, “Who are you looking for!”
So they told him, “Jesus the Nazarane.”
8 “I told you, ‘I am he,’”e answered Jesus. “So, if you’re looking for me, let these people go.” 9 Him saying so was living out what he said in conversation:f “I haven’t lost any of those you have given to me to death.”g
10 Then Simeon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the worker enslaved by high priest and cut off his right ear. The name of the enslaved worker was Melech.h
11 Then Jesus told Peter, “Drop the sword in its sheath! Shouldn’t I certainly drink the cup the Father has given me?”
12 Then the squad of soldiers and the commander and the attendants of the Judean authorities took Jesus prisoner and bound him. 13 They brought him to Annas first. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year. 14 It was Caiaphas who advised the Judean authorities that it would be beneficial for one person to die for the sake of the whole population.i j
15 Simeon Peter and another student were following Jesus. That student was someone who knew the high priest, and he went in with Jesus to the high priest’s courtyard. 16 Peter had stood outside near the entrance. Then the other student who knew the high priest came out and spoke to the girl watching the entrance and brought Peter inside.
17 Then the girl who was watching the door said to Peter, “Aren’t you also one of this person’s students?”
“I am not,” he said.
18 The enslaved workers and attendants had been standing around a charcoal fire they had made and warming themselves because it was cold. Peter, who was also standing and warming himself, was with them.
19 Then the high priestk questioned Jesus about his students and about his teaching.
20 “I have spoken openly to the whole world,” answered Jesus. “I always taught in a synagogue and in the sacred grounds where all the Judeans got together, and I didn’t say anything secretly. 21 Why are you asking me? Ask the people who have heard what I said to them. Look, they know what I said.”
22 While Jesus was saying these things, one of the attendants standing nearby hit Jesus in the face and said, “Is this how you answer the high priest!”
23 “If I said something wrong,” answered Jesus, “then tell me about what was wrong, but if I said what is right, why are you beating me?”
24 Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.
25 Simeon Peter was still standing and warming himself. Then people said to him, “Aren’t you also one of his students?”
Peter denied it. “I am not,” he said.
26 One of the workers enslaved by the high priest, who was a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?”
27 Then Peter denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.
28 Before dawn,l they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the Roman headquarters.m They did not go inside the Roman headquarters so they would not be contaminatedn but could eat the Passover meal.
29 Pilate came outside with them and demanded, “What accusation are you loading on this man?”
30 “We would not hand him over to you if he were not making trouble,” they answered.
31 Then, Pilate told them, “Take him and put him on trial based on your law yourselves.”o
The Judean authorities answered, “It’s not allowed for us to kill anyone.”
32 It resulted in what Jesus had discussed,p when he spoke signaling what kind of death he was going to die, being brought to reality.
33 Pilate went back inside the Roman headquarters and called for Jesus.
“Are you the king of the Judeans?” he asked.v
34 “Are you saying this by yourself, or did others tell you about me?” replied Jesus.
35 “I’m not a Judean, am I?” answered Pilate. “The lead priests—your own peopleq—handed you over to me. What did you do?”
36 “My reign is not part of this world system,” replied Jesus. “If my reign were part of this world system, my attendants would be fighting so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Judean authorities.r The reality is that my reign is not of that origin.”
37 “So, aren’t you a king then?” said Pilate.
“You’re saying I’m a king,” replied Jesus. “I was born for this—I’ve come to the world for this: so I could present the truth. Everyone who is froms the truth listens to my voice.”t
38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
After saying this, he went out again to the Judean authorities and said, “I find nothing incriminating in connection with him. 39 But it’s customary to you that I set someone free for you at the Passover.u Are you intending, then, for me to set free the king of the Judeans for you?”
40 They shouted back, “Not this one! Barabbas instead!” (Barabbasv was a criminal.)w
FOOTNOTES:
a Traditionally, ‘Kidron Valley.’ The word in Greek refers specifically to a Wadi (or nahal in Hebrew), which is a waterway that only flows during parts of the year and is dry others. This passage almost certainly refers to the portion of the wadi near Jerusalem and not just any portion of the waterway along its whole length.
b Or ‘orchard’
c Literally, “I am.”
d Literally, “I am.”
e Literally, “I told you that I am.”
f Literally, “the logos which he said.” See note in John 1:1
g What is here translated as ‘lost to death, could be ‘destroyed’ or ‘killed’ or ‘had die.’ It seems to be a reference to John 17:12.
h Traditionally, ‘Malchus.’ However, Malchus is from the Latin version of the Greek word Malchos. Malchos is the Greek version of the Hebrew word Melech. Melech in Hebrew means ‘king’ and was also used as a name.
i The Greek is laos, where the word ‘lay person’ or ‘laity’ comes from in church contexts, meaning all the people who aren’t clergy. The Greek word just meant all the people as a collective. It could be translated as ‘the people’ or ‘the public’ or ‘the community’ or ‘the crowd,’ etc.
j Reference to John 11:50
k The ‘high priest’ being referred to here is Annas. However, it said in 11:49 and again in 18:13 that Caiaphas was the high priest. The historical data shows that Caiaphas was officially the high priest. However, Annas had served as high priest previously and had only stopped being the high priest when the Romans deposed him. It was intended to be a lifetime position. The repetition of ‘high priest that year’ could be a way to signal that something was amiss about who was actually high priest at the time. The fact that Jesus was taken to Annas first seems to indicate he was still operating with a lot of authority. So, whether Caiaphas was something of a figurehead to appease the Romans while Annas truly held the power of high priest or Annas was being honored with the title since it was not supposed to removed but Caiaphas was genuinely operating as the current high priest is difficult to say with certainty. It could even be equivalent to addressing former American presidents as “Mr. President” (or “Madam President” someday).
l Literally, ‘it was proi.’ There is not an exact equivalent in modern English. It means the few hours right before dawn. One way to translate it is based on 3-hour ‘watches,’ which were stretches of time people took turns keeping watch while the rest of a group sleeps. It would be the ‘early morning watch.’
m Or ‘governor’s residence’ or literally ‘Praetorium’
n Or ‘stained’ or ‘polluted’
o This word is the same that has been translated as ‘Torah’ elsewhere. There is a lot of political intrigue happening here, and possibly some irritation at being woken before dawn. Pilate is known historically as a brutal tyrant, using deadly force indiscriminately. His reluctance to get involved seems against his character unless he had ulterior motives. In any case, he likely did not respect the Jewish law, found in the Torah, but simply wanted to dismiss the Judean authorities’ concerns. In the context, it’s possible he thought Jesus’ accusations would be about breaking Torah, which he certainly would not have any reason to care about. Their answer that his crime might be worthy of execution seems to have swayed him, whether because he might enjoy it or because it could be politically dangerous for him to ignore it is hard to say (what comes later in the text seems to point to the latter), but almost certainly it wasn’t a case of them reminding him of his responsibilities and him acting with integrity to carry out his duties.
p Literally, ‘the logos of Jesus.’ See note in John 1:1
q The word here is what is traditionally “Gentile” in most other instances. The word means ‘people group’ or ‘ethnicity,’ not technically “non-Jew.” It is often used by people about people groups other than their own, which since most figures in these writings are Jewish, it most often is about non-Jews. In this case, it is used about Jews because Pilate is not Jewish.
r See John 18:10-11
s Or ‘part of’ or ‘of’
t Parallel to John 10:16, 27
u Somehow both highly appropriate and symbolic and also demeaning and reductionist at the same time… It’s reminiscent of Pharoah begrudgingly allowing some of the Israelites to leave briefly to worship God (then taking it back) when it is full scale liberation for all that is being called for.
v ‘Barabbas’ was Aramaic for ‘Son of Father’ or “Son of Master,” which could have been his father’s name (Abba) or he could have been a known follower of some other master, or it could have been a title or pseudonym of some kind. (See Matthew 27:16 where it indicates his name was also Jesus, which means ‘the LORD rescues/liberates’)
w Most likely, he was a political criminal, a Jewish revolutionary attempting to subvert the Roman occupation of Judea and would have been seen as a hero by the Judeans.