John 18:3 - Exposition

Judas therefore , because he knew the place, was able treacherously to use his knowledge. Having received the cohort , ἡ σπεῖρα is used for the lemon or portion of the legion of soldiers, who, under the direction of the Roman procurator, garrisoned the Tower of Antonia, which dominated the north-east temple courts. The article ( τὴν ) is probably used because the χιλίαρχος , military tribune, chief captain, or commander of the thousand men, had ( John 18:12 ) accompanied the detachment. "The word σπεῖρα , is used by Polybius for the Latin manipulus , not cohors (Polyb., 11.23), consisting of about two hundred men, the third part of a cohort" (Westcott). It should, however, be observed that the word is used of the Roman garrison of the tower ( Acts 10:1 ; Acts 21:31 ; Acts 27:1 ; Josephus, 'Ant.,' 20.4. 3; ' Bell. Jud.,' 5.5. 8). χιλίαρχος was the proper name for the commander of a cohors , equivalent to one-sixth of a legion, i.e. a thousand men and a hundred and twenty horsemen. The strength of the cohort differed according to circumstances and need. Josephus ('Bell. Jud.,' 3.4. 2) says that some σπείραι consisted of a thousand, some of six hundred, men. It is not rational to suppose that the whole cohort were visibly present , but they were-present in close proximity. Though John alone mentions the Roman soldiers , yet cf. Matthew 26:53 , Matthew 26:54 , where our Lord says, "Thinkest thou not that I could pray ( παρεκαλέσαι ) my Father , and he would henceforth furnish me with more than twelve legions of angels? "—a legion of angels for each one of the little group. The presence of this band of Roman soldiers with the Jewish police gives very great force and impressiveness to this scene of Israel's degradation and of the world's assault upon the Divine Savior. The other hints given by the synoptists of the presence of weapons in the "band," is Peter's use of the sword. Judas brought with him, not only the drilled and armed Roman soldiers, but the officers from the chief priests and of the £ Pharisees ; i.e. a detachment of the Jewish guard of the temple, under direction of the Sanhedrin. The chief priests would have small difficulty in securing the aid of a detachment of the Roman garrison to prevent popular outbreak at the time of the feast. These ὑπηρέται , under the direction of the chief priests and Pharisees, have been mentioned in John 7:32 and John 7:45 , and the same name is given to the ὑπηρέται in Acts 5:22 , Acts 5:26 , where the high priests and Sadducees are spoken of as their masters. In Luke 22:4 , Luke 22:52 the commandants of the temple are spoken of in the plural, στρατηγοῖς τοῦ ἱεροῦ . The Jewish guard was under the custody of one officer, ὁ στρατηγός , and he was a man of high rank and dignity (Josephus, ' Ant.,' 20.6. 2; ' Bell. Jud.,' 2.17.2)—not two, but one; the reference to more than one must therefore point to the Roman military official as well, thus unconsciously sustaining the more definite information given by John. Judas with his band cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons ; for, though it was the Paschal full moon, they were intent on finding an individual, whom Judas would identify for them, amid the depths of the olive shades. ( λαμπάς is in its primary sense a torch, or even meteoric light, but it is used for a lamp or lantern; and φανός also is used for "torch" primarily, with secondary meaning of "lantern.") Matthew and Mark mention "swords" and "staves," but say nothing of the flaring torches which so arrested the eve of John. Thoma sees a reference to the frequent declaration of Christ, that he was the "Light of the world," and to the contrast between that light and the power of darkness.