Section 22:47–53

Judas helped Jesus’ enemies to find him and arrest him

In this section Judas arrived at the place where Jesus and his disciples were talking. Judas was leading a crowd of men who had come to arrest Jesus and take him to the Jewish leaders for trial. Many of these men were probably temple guards. Judas had agreed to greet Jesus with a kiss so that they would know which person to arrest.

The disciples saw what was about to happen, and they asked Jesus if they should fight to prevent his arrest. Peter cut off one man’s ear, but Jesus healed the man and told his disciples not to fight against his arrest. The temple guards arrested Jesus, and he did not resist them.

Some other examples of headings for this section are:

Jesus Is Arrested (God’s Word)
-or-
The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus (New Revised Standard Version)

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 26:47–56, Mark 14:43–50, and John 18:3–11.

Paragraph 22:47–48

22:47a

While He was still speaking, a crowd arrived: In the Greek text, 22:47a is more literally “in his speaking, look, a crowd!” It indicates that Jesus was still talking to his disciples when a crowd arrived. The word “look” indicates here that the coming of the crowd is an important event, and readers should pay special attention to it. It also may imply that the event happened suddenly.

Some other ways to translate this part of the verse are:

Jesus was still speaking when a crowd arrived… (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus had not finished saying that to his disciples when ⌊suddenly⌋ ⌊they saw that⌋ a big group of people had come.

Judas led this crowd to Jesus and his disciples. In some languages it may be more natural to mention him first. See the General Comment on 22:47a–c at the end of 22:47c for an example.

a crowd: The word crowd refers in general to the large group of people who came to arrest Jesus. In 22:52 the text describes them more specifically. It indicates that the crowd included “chief priests,” “temple officers,” and “elders.” These people were probably all men. In 22:52 Jesus indicated that they were carrying swords and clubs.

In some languages it may be necessary to mention some of this information here when the crowd is first introduced. If this is true in your language, introduce them in a natural way in your language. Some other ways to do that in English are:

a big group of ⌊armed⌋ men
-or-
many ⌊hostile⌋ people

22:47b

led by the man called Judas, one of the Twelve: In this context the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as led by means that Judas was walking in front of the crowd to lead them to Jesus. He was showing them where Jesus was. Judas was their guide, but not their leader in any other way. Other ways to translate led by is:

the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading the way (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
the person named Judas, one of the twelve, was going ahead of them

the man called Judas, one of the Twelve: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the man called Judas, one of the Twelve introduces Judas as an important person in this section. The phrase the man called Judas tells Judas’ name. Here is another way to translate this:

the man named Judas, one of the twelve (NET Bible)

In some languages a phrase like “who was called” is not necessary. For example, the New Century Version simply says:

Judas, one of the twelve apostles (New Century Version)

Introduce Judas here in a natural way in your language.

22:47c

He approached Jesus to kiss Him: This clause indicates that Judas went close to Jesus in order to greet him in the usual way, with a kiss. Luke did not say explicitly that Judas actually kissed Jesus, but it is implied by 22:48b. See also Mark 14:45.

kiss: The kiss of greeting that Judas was coming to give Jesus was probably a light touch of his lips on Jesus’ cheek or maybe on both cheeks. In some cultures it is unusual or inappropriate for a man to kiss another man. If that is true in your culture, here are some options to consider:

• Use an appropriate term for kiss and indicate the purpose of the kiss. For example:

⌊greet according to custom⌋ with a kiss
-or-

⌊greet by⌋ touching ⌊his cheek⌋ with his lips

• Use a more general expression for an appropriate greeting. For example:

to give him a ⌊friendly⌋ greeting
-or-
to greet ⌊as his rabbi⌋
-or-
to embrace ⌊respectfully⌋

General Comment on 22:47a–c

In some languages it may be more natural to mention the arrival of Judas before mentioning the crowd. For example:

47aAnd while Jesus was still speaking, 47bJudas, who was one of his twelve disciples, arrived. He was guiding 47aa large crowd toward them. 47cAnd he came to Jesus to ⌊greet⌋ him with a kiss.

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