John 18:1

Betrayal and Arrest

18:1 When he had said these things, ¹  Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley. ²  There was an orchard ³  there, and he and his disciples went into it.

John 18:26

18:26 One of the high priest’s slaves, ⁴  a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, ⁵  said, “Did I not see you in the orchard ⁶  with him?” ⁷ 

John 7:28

7:28 Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts, ⁸  cried out, ⁹  “You both know me and know where I come from! ¹⁰  And I have not come on my own initiative, ¹¹  but the one who sent me ¹²  is true. You do not know him, ¹³ 

[18:1]  ¹ sn When he had said these things appears to be a natural transition at the end of the Farewell Discourse (the farewell speech of Jesus to his disciples in John 13:31-17:26, including the final prayer in 17:1-26). The author states that Jesus went out with his disciples, a probable reference to their leaving the upper room where the meal and discourse described in chaps. 13-17 took place (although some have seen this only as a reference to their leaving the city, with the understanding that some of the Farewell Discourse, including the concluding prayer, was given en route, cf. 14:31). They crossed the Kidron Valley and came to a garden, or olive orchard, identified in Matt 26:36 and Mark 14:32 as Gethsemane. The name is not given in Luke’s or John’s Gospel, but the garden must have been located somewhere on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives.

[18:1]  ² tn Grk “the wadi of the Kidron,” or “the ravine of the Kidron” (a wadi is a stream that flows only during the rainy season and is dry during the dry season).

[18:1]  ³ tn Or “a garden.”

[18:26]  ⁴ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

[18:26]  ⁵ sn This incident is recounted in v. 10.

[18:26]  ⁶ tn Or “garden.”

[18:26]  ⁷ tn This question, prefaced with οὐκ (ouk) in Greek, anticipates a positive answer.

[7:28]  ⁷ tn Grk “the temple.”

[7:28]  ⁸ tn Grk “Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying.”

[7:28]  ⁹ sn You both know me and know where I come from! Jesus’ response while teaching in the temple is difficult – it appears to concede too much understanding to his opponents. It is best to take the words as irony: “So you know me and know where I am from, do you?” On the physical, literal level, they did know where he was from: Nazareth of Galilee (at least they thought they knew). But on another deeper (spiritual) level, they did not: He came from heaven, from the Father. Jesus insisted that he has not come on his own initiative (cf. 5:37), but at the bidding of the Father who sent him.

[7:28]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “And I have not come from myself.”

[7:28]  ¹¹ tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.

[7:28]  ¹² tn Grk “the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know.”