Joh 18:1 | Clarke | e4.org | CHAPTER XVIII. Jesus passes the brook Cedron, and goes to the garden of Gethsemane , 1. Judas, having betrayed him, comes to the place with a troop of men to take him , 2, 3. Jesus addresses them, and they fall to the ground , 4-6. He addresses them again, and Peter smites Malchus , 7-11. They seize him and lead him away to Caiaphas , 12-14. Peter follows to the palace of the high priest , 15-18. The high priest questions Christ concerning his doctrine, and Jesus answers, and is smitten , 19-23. Peter denies his Lord twice , 24-27. Jesus is led to the judgment hall, and Pilate and the Jews converse about him , 28-32. Pilate converses with Jesus, who informs him of the spiritual nature of his kingdom , 33-37. Pilate returns to the Jews, and declares Christ to be innocent , 38. He seeks to discharge him, and the Jews clamour for his condemnation , 39. 40. NOTES ON CHAP. XVIII. Verse 1. Over the brook Cedron ] Having finished the prayer related in the preceding chapter, our Lord went straight to the garden of Gethsemane, , which was in the mount of Olives, eastward of Jerusalem. This mount was separated from the city by a very narrow valley, through the midst of which the brook Cedron ran: see 1 Macc. 12:37; Joseph . War, b. v. c. 2, s. 3. xii. 2. Cedron is a very small rivulet, about six or seven feet broad, nor is it constantly supplied with water, being dry all the year, except during the rains. It is mentioned in the Old Testament: ; ; . And it appears the evangelist only mentions it here to call to remembrance what happened to David, when he was driven from Jerusalem by his son Absalom, and he and his followers obliged to pass the brook Cedron on foot: see . All this was a very expressive figure of what happened now to this second David, by the treachery of one of his own disciples. This brook had its name probably from Kadar , he was black; it being the place into which the blood of the sacrifices, and other filth of the city, ran. It was rather, says Lightfoot, the sink, or the common sewer, of the city, than a brook. Some copyists, mistaking κεδρων for Greek, have changed του into των, and thus have written τωνκεδρων, of cedars , instead of του κεδρων, the brook of Cedron: but this last is undoubtedly the genuine reading. A garden ] Gethsemane: . The Jewish grandees had their gardens and pleasure grounds without the city even in the mount of Olives. This is still a common custom among the Asiatics. St. John mentions nothing of the agony in the garden; probably because he found it so amply related by all the other evangelists. As that account should come in here, the reader is desired to consult the notes on . See also , and .

‏ John 18:1

CHAPTER XVIII.

Jesus passes the brook Cedron, and goes to the garden of Gethsemane, 1.

Judas, having betrayed him, comes to the place with a troop of men to take him, 2, 3.

Jesus addresses them, and they fall to the ground, 4-6.

He addresses them again, and Peter smites Malchus, 7-11.

They seize him and lead him away to Caiaphas, 12-14.

Peter follows to the palace of the high priest, 15-18.

The high priest questions Christ concerning his doctrine, and Jesus answers, and is smitten, 19-23.

Peter denies his Lord twice, 24-27.

Jesus is led to the judgment hall, and Pilate and the Jews converse about him, 28-32.

Pilate converses with Jesus, who informs him of the spiritual nature of his kingdom, 33-37.

Pilate returns to the Jews, and declares Christ to be innocent,

38.

He seeks to discharge him, and the Jews clamour for his condemnation, 39. 40.

NOTES ON CHAP. XVIII.

Verse 1. Over the brook Cedron] Having finished the prayer related in the preceding chapter, our Lord went straight to the garden of Gethsemane, Mt 26:36, which was in the mount of Olives, eastward of Jerusalem. This mount was separated from the city by a very narrow valley, through the midst of which the brook Cedron ran: see 1 Macc. 12:37; Joseph. War, b. v. c. 2, s. 3. xii. 2. Cedron is a very small rivulet, about six or seven feet broad, nor is it constantly supplied with water, being dry all the year, except during the rains. It is mentioned in the Old Testament: 2Sa 15:23; 1Ki 15:13; 2Ki 23:4. And it appears the evangelist only mentions it here to call to remembrance what happened to David, when he was driven from Jerusalem by his son Absalom, and he and his followers obliged to pass the brook Cedron on foot: see 2Sa 15:23. All this was a very expressive figure of what happened now to this second David, by the treachery of one of his own disciples. This brook had its name probably from Kadar, he was black; it being the place into which the blood of the sacrifices, and other filth of the city, ran. It was rather, says Lightfoot, the sink, or the common sewer, of the city, than a brook. Some copyists, mistaking κεδρων for Greek, have changed του into των, and thus have written τωνκεδρων, of cedars, instead of του κεδρων, the brook of Cedron: but this last is undoubtedly the genuine reading.

A garden] Gethsemane: See Clarke on Mt 26:36.

The Jewish grandees had their gardens and pleasure grounds without the city even in the mount of Olives. This is still a common custom among the Asiatics.

St. John mentions nothing of the agony in the garden; probably because he found it so amply related by all the other evangelists. As that account should come in here, the reader is desired to consult the notes on Mt 26:36-47. See also Mr 14:30-36, and Lu 22:40-44.