John 18:12

Jesus Before Annas

18:12 Then the squad of soldiers ¹  with their commanding officer ²  and the officers of the Jewish leaders ³  arrested ⁴  Jesus and tied him up. ⁵ 

Psalms 3:1-2

Psalm 3 ⁶ 

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom. ⁷ 

3:1 Lord, how ⁸  numerous are my enemies!

Many attack me. ⁹ 

3:2 Many say about me,

“God will not deliver him.” ¹⁰  (Selah) ¹¹ 

Psalms 22:12

22:12 Many bulls ¹²  surround me;

powerful bulls of Bashan ¹³  hem me in.

[18:12]  ¹ tn Grk “a cohort” (but since this was a unit of 600 soldiers, a smaller detachment is almost certainly intended).

[18:12]  ² 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]  ³ 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.

[18:12]  ⁴ tn Or “seized.”

[18:12]  ⁵ tn Or “bound him.”

[3:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 3. The psalmist acknowledges that he is confronted by many enemies (vv. 1-2). But, alluding to a divine oracle he has received (vv. 4-5), he affirms his confidence in God’s ability to protect him (vv. 3, 6) and requests that God make his promise a reality (vv. 7-8).

[3:1]  ⁷ sn According to Jewish tradition, David offered this prayer when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s attempted coup (see 2 Sam 15:13-17).

[3:1]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term מָה (mah, “how”) is used here as an adverbial exclamation (see BDB 553 s.v.).

[3:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “many rise up against me.”

[3:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “there is no deliverance for him in God.”

[3:2]  ¹¹ sn The function of the Hebrew term סֶלָה (selah), transliterated here “Selah,” is uncertain. It may be a musical direction of some kind.

[22:12]  ¹² sn The psalmist figuratively compares his enemies to dangerous bulls.

[22:12]  ¹³ sn Bashan, located east of the Jordan River, was well-known for its cattle. See Ezek 39:18; Amos 4:1.