Discovery BoxJohn 18:10-12
Context18:10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the high priest’s slave, 1 cutting off his right ear. 2 (Now the slave’s name was Malchus.) 3 18:11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath! Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” 4
18:12 Then the squad of soldiers 5 with their commanding officer 6 and the officers of the Jewish leaders 7 arrested 8 Jesus and tied him up. 9
[18:10] 1 tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.
[18:10] 2 sn The account of the attack on the high priest’s slave contains details which suggest eyewitness testimony. It is also mentioned in all three synoptic gospels, but only John records that the disciple involved was Peter, whose impulsive behavior has already been alluded to (John 13:37). Likewise only John gives the name of the victim, Malchus, who is described as the high priest’s slave. John and Mark (14:47) both use the word ὠτάριον (wtarion, a double diminutive) to describe what was cut off, and this may indicate only part of the right ear (for example, the earlobe).
[18:10] 3 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
[18:11] 4 tn Grk “The cup that the Father has given me to drink, shall I not drink it?” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to reflect contemporary English style.
[18:12] 7 tn Grk “a cohort” (but since this was a unit of 600 soldiers, a smaller detachment is almost certainly intended).
[18:12] 8 tn Grk “their chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). In Greek the term χιλίαρχος (ciliarco") literally described the “commander of a thousand,” but it was used as the standard translation for the Latin tribunus militum or tribunus militaris, the military tribune who commanded a cohort of 600 men.
[18:12] 9 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, who were named as “chief priests and Pharisees” in John 18:3.
