John 18 is the eighteenth chapter of the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

of the

Christian Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. This chapter records the events on the day of the

Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and consid ...

, starting with the

arrest of Jesus The arrest of Jesus was a pivotal event in Christianity recorded in the canonical gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set ...

the evening before (in

Judaic Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the M ...

calculation, this would be considered part of the same day).Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook'': an Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1962. The three denials of Peter () are interwoven into the narrative concerning the trials of Jesus. The book containing this chapter is unattributed, however early Christian tradition generally considers that

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; ar, يوحنا الإنجيلي, la, Ioannes, he, יוחנן cop, ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given ...

composed the

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 40 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *

Rylands Library Papyrus P52 The Rylands Library Papyrus P52, also known as the St John's fragment and with an accession reference of Papyrus Rylands Greek 457, is a fragment from a papyrus codex, measuring only at its widest (about the size of a credit card), and conserved ...

(~Anno Domini 125; extant verses 31–33, 37–38) * Papyrus 90 (A.D. 150–175; extant verses 36–40) *

Papyrus 108 Papyrus 108 (in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by 𝔓108, is a copy of the New Testament in Greek language, Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of John, containing verses 17:23-24 (the end ...

(2nd/3rd century; extant verses 1–5) * Papyrus 66 (A.D. ~200; complete) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(A.D. 325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(A.D. 330–360) *

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, designated by siglum D or 05 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 5 (in the von Soden of New Testament manuscript), is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century writ ...

(A.D. ~400) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A.D. 400–440) * Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (A.D. ~450; extant verses 1–35) * Papyrus 60 (A.D. ~700; complete). *

Papyrus 59 Papyrus 59 (in the Gregory- Aland numbering), signed by 𝔓59, is a copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of John. The manuscript has been palaeographically assigned to the seventh century. ; Contents Gos ...

(7th century; extant verses 1–2, 16–17, 22).

Places

The events recorded in this chapter took place in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Jesus' betrayal and arrest in Gethsemane (18:1-11)

The opening of chapter 18 is directly connected with the final words of chapter 14: :''Arise, let us go from here'' (). The intervening chapters record Jesus' Farewell Discourse. Alfred Plummer, in the

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in parts by Cambridge University Press from 1882 onwards. Anglican bishop John Perowne was the general editor. The first section published was written by theologi ...

(1902), suggests that Jesus and His disciples have "rise from table and prepare to depart at John 14:31, but that the contents of chapters 15-17 are spoken before they leave the room".

Verse 1

:''When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook (or winter stream) Kidron, where there was a

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

, which He and His disciples entered.'' Some

translations Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

instead open with "When He had finished praying" or similar words. and refer to "a place called

Gethsemane Gethsemane () is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where, according to the four Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus underwent the agony in the garden and was arrested before his crucifixion. It is a place of great resona ...

", but it is unnamed here, simply referred to as a garden. In the place is the mount of Olives.

Verse 2

: ''And

Judas Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betr ...

, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples.'' Judas is now called "Judas the betrayer" or "Judas, who is betraying" ( gr, ιουδας ο παραδιδους, ''ioudas ho paradidous'') ( John 18:2 and again in verse 5). He comes to this familiar place with troops, a captain and officers and servants of the chief priests and the Pharisees, carrying torches and lanterns and weapons (verse 6, cf. verse 12). H. W. Watkins surmises that Gethsemane might have been belonged to "a friend or disciple" of Jesus.Watkins, H. W. (1905)
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
on John 18, accessed 16 July 2016 Where many modern translations say that Jesus "met" there with his disciples, or "gathered" there in the Revised Geneva Translation, older versions such as the King James states that they "resorted" there. The

New American Standard Bible The New American Standard Bible (NASB) is an English translation of the Bible. Published by the Lockman Foundation, the complete NASB was released in 1971. The NASB relies on recently published critical editions of the original Hebrew and Gre ...

notes that the troops were the ''Roman''

cohort Cohort or cohortes may refer to: * Cohort (educational group), a group of students working together through the same academic curriculum * Cohort (floating point), a set of different encodings of the same numerical value * Cohort (military unit ...

( gr, σπεῖρα, ''speira'' in is the technical word for the Roman cohort) whereas

Richard Francis Weymouth Dr. Richard Francis Weymouth (M.A., D.Litt.) (1822–1902) was an English schoolmaster, Baptist layman and Bible student known particularly for producing one of the earliest modern language translations of the New Testament. Life Born near Devo ...

identified them as a detachment of the Temple police. This was the garrison band from Fort Antonia, at the north-east corner of the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

also came with a weapon (verses 10–11): :''Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was

Malchus Malchus (; grc-x-koine, Μάλχος, translit=Málkhos, ) was the servant of the Jewish High Priest Caiaphas who participated in the arrest of Jesus as written in the four gospels. According to the Bible, one of the disciples, Simon Peter, b ...

''.

Verse 4

:''Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”'' Plummer notes from this verse that the evangelist's narrative confirms: *the voluntariness of Christ's sufferings, and *the fulfilment of a divine plan in Christ's sufferings and that the aim of the narrative is to endorse Jesus' earlier words, :''I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.'' and the evangelist's earlier commentary :''Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.Plummer, A. (1902)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
on John 18, accessed 8 June 2019

Verse 5

:''"Jesus of Nazareth", they answered.'' :''"I am he", he said.'' :''Judas, the traitor, was standing there with them.'' A more literal translation of the guards' answer is "Jesus the Nazarene", which Plummer calls "a rather more

contemptuous Contempt is a pattern of attitudes and behaviour, often towards an individual or a group, but sometimes towards an ideology, which has the characteristics of disgust and anger. The word originated in 1393 in Old French contempt, contemps, ...

expression than 'Jesus of Nazareth'". Jesus' response is Ἐγώ εἰμι (''ego eimi'', I am): the word 'he' is not expressed in the Greek text. This is a familiar expression throughout John's Gospel, seen in , , , , , and . Plummer comments that "Judas, if not the chief priests, must have noticed the significant words". Verses 6 and 8 repeat the words Ἐγώ εἰμι (in English, "I am he").

Verse 9

:''That the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, "Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none".'' According to the

New American Bible Revised Edition The New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) is an English-language Catholic translation of the Bible, the first major update in 20 years to the New American Bible (NAB), which was translated by members of the Catholic Biblical Association an ...

, the citation may refer to John 6:39, 10:28 or 17:12. *John 6:39: ''This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.'' *John 10:28: ''And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.'' *John 17:12: ''While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.'' Henry Alford,Alford, H.
Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary - Alford
on John 18, accessed 3 September 2022 Plummer, and Watkins concur in associating this verse with John 17:12. Arnold uses this fulfillment to argue (as "an unquestionable proof") that John 17 is a historical account of the words of Jesus and not merely "a description of the mind of our Lord at the time".

In the High Priest's Courtyard (18:12-27)

Jesus and "another disciple", or "the other disciple", who was known to the high priest, are taken to the High Priest's Courtyard, where initially Jesus meets with

Annas Annas (also Ananus or Ananias;Goodman, Martin, "Rome & Jerusalem", Penguin Books, p.12 (2007) , ; grc-x-koine, Ἅννας, ; 23/22 BC – death date unknown, probably around AD 40) was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius as the first High ...

. The other disciple then brings in Peter. Unusually,

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of ...

's bible translates gr, τω αρχιερει, ''tō archierei'' as "the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

Verse 19

:''The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine.''

is here referred to as "the high priest", although

Caiaphas Joseph ben Caiaphas (; c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD), known simply as Caiaphas (; grc-x-koine, Καϊάφας, Kaïáphas ) in the New Testament, was the Jewish high priest who, according to the gospels, organized a plot to kill Jesus. He famous ...

was the high priest that year ().

Heinrich Meyer Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer (10 January 1800 – 21 June 1873) was a German Protestant divine. He wrote commentaries on the ''New Testament'' and published an edition of that book. Biography Meyer was born in Gotha. He studied theology at Jena, ...

notes that Jesus ignores the first part of the question and answers only the second part, "and that by putting it aside as something entirely aimless, appealing to the publicity of His life".

In Pilate's Court (18:28-38)

Verse 28

:''Then they he Jewish leadersled Jesus from Caiaphas to the

Praetorium The Latin term (also and ) originally identified the tent of a general within a Roman castrum (encampment), and derived from the title praetor, which identified a Roman magistrate.Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 2 ed., ...

, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...

.'' The Jewish leaders: words supplied by the New International Version to clarify "they". The reference is to the Sanhedrists, according to Scottish Free Church minister William Nicoll. The text here confirms that in John's

timeline A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events. Timelines can use any suitable scale represen ...

, the trial of Jesus took place ''before'' the Passover and therefore likewise the events of chapters 13-17 preceded the Passover: cf. : ''before the Feast of the Passover ...''

Verse 31

: ''Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law."'' : ''Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,"''

Verse 37

: ''Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?"'' : ''Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king.'' :: ''For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world,'' :: ''that I should bear witness to the truth.'' :: ''Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”'' Cross reference: Matthew 27:11; Mark 15:2; Luke 23:3

What is truth? (18:39-40)

Verse 38

: ''Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"'' : ''And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews,'' :: ''and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all".'' NKJV

References

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Gospel of John

John 18 John 18 is the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. This chapter records the events on the day of the Crucifixion of Jesus, starting with the arrest of Jesus the evening before (in Judaic calculatio ...

Pontius Pilate Gethsemane