John 18:12-17

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  18:13 They ⁶  brought him first to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ⁷  18:14 (Now it was Caiaphas who had advised ⁸  the Jewish leaders ⁹  that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people.) ¹⁰ 

Peter’s First Denial

18:15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed them as they brought Jesus to Annas. ¹¹  (Now the other disciple ¹²  was acquainted with the high priest, and he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard.) ¹³  18:16 But Simon Peter was left standing outside by the door. So the other disciple who was acquainted with the high priest came out and spoke to the slave girl who watched the door, ¹⁴  and brought Peter inside. 18:17 The girl ¹⁵  who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You’re not one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” ¹⁶  He replied, ¹⁷  “I am not.”

John 18:24

18:24 Then Annas sent him, still tied up, ¹⁸  to Caiaphas the high priest. ¹⁹ 

[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.”

[18:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “up, and brought.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[18:13]  ⁷ sn Jesus was taken first to Annas. Only the Gospel of John mentions this pretrial hearing before Annas, and that Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who is said to be high priest in that year. Caiaphas is also mentioned as being high priest in John 11:49. But in 18:15, 16, 19, and 22 Annas is called high priest. Annas is also referred to as high priest by Luke in Acts 4:6. Many scholars have dismissed these references as mistakes on the part of both Luke and John, but as mentioned above, John 11:49 and 18:13 indicate that John knew that Caiaphas was high priest in the year that Jesus was crucified. This has led others to suggest that Annas and Caiaphas shared the high priesthood, but there is no historical evidence to support this view. Annas had been high priest from a.d. 6 to a.d. 15 when he was deposed by the Roman prefect Valerius Gratus (according to Josephus, Ant. 18.2.2 [18.34]). His five sons all eventually became high priests. The family was noted for its greed, wealth, and power. There are a number of ways the references in both Luke and John to Annas being high priest may be explained. Some Jews may have refused to recognize the changes in high priests effected by the Roman authorities, since according to the Torah the high priesthood was a lifetime office (Num 25:13). Another possibility is that it was simply customary to retain the title after a person had left the office as a courtesy, much as retired ambassadors are referred to as “Mr. Ambassador” or ex-presidents as “Mr. President.” Finally, the use of the title by Luke and John may simply be a reflection of the real power behind the high priesthood of the time: Although Annas no longer technically held the office, he may well have managed to control those relatives of his who did hold it from behind the scenes. In fact this seems most probable and would also explain why Jesus was brought to him immediately after his arrest for a sort of “pretrial hearing” before being sent on to the entire Sanhedrin.

[18:14]  ⁸ tn Or “counseled.”

[18:14]  ⁹ tn Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, specifically members of the Sanhedrin (see John 11:49-50). See also the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 12.

[18:14]  ¹⁰ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[18:15]  ¹¹ tn The words “them as they brought Jesus to Annas” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify who Peter and the other disciple were following. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[18:15]  ¹² tn Grk “that disciple.”

[18:15]  ¹³ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[18:16]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “spoke to the doorkeeper”; her description as a slave girl is taken from the following verse. The noun θυρωρός (qurwro") may be either masculine or feminine, but the article here indicates that it is feminine.

[18:17]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “slave girl.” Since the descriptive term “slave girl” was introduced in the translation in the previous verse, it would be redundant to repeat the full expression here.

[18:17]  ¹⁶ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are you?”).

[18:17]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “He said.”

[18:24]  ¹⁸ tn Or “still bound.”

[18:24]  ¹⁹ sn Where was Caiaphas the high priest located? Did he have a separate palace, or was he somewhere else with the Sanhedrin? Since Augustine (4th century) a number of scholars have proposed that Annas and Caiaphas resided in different wings of the same palace, which were bound together by a common courtyard through which Jesus would have been led as he was taken from Annas to Caiaphas. This seems a reasonable explanation, although there is no conclusive evidence.