What Does John 18:3 Mean?
Judas then, having received the coiled band of soldiers and attendants from the chief priests and the separated ones, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.THE KEY
The word behind “received” returns in “took” when the band reaches Jesus: the seizure is already present in the force Judas gathers.
THE MEANING
The moment a force is gathered to take someone, the taking has already begun: people, officers, lights, and weapons are in place before hands close. The gathering itself is the first movement of the seizure.
THE ROOT
λαβών
labōn
GROWS FROM
λαμβάνω (λαμβ-)
to take, receive, or grasp
“Received” is λαβών (labōn), from λαμβάνω (lambanō), meaning “to take or receive.” Its compounds can describe taking someone into custody or grasping something in the mind, keeping seizure and comprehension close in a way the English wording does not show.
ALSO GROWS
syllambanō: to take together, seize, or arrest
συλλαμβάνω
John 18:12 uses this compound when the gathered band takes Jesus, making the movement from receiving a force to seizing a person explicit.
katalambanō: to seize, overtake, grasp, or comprehend
καταλαμβάνω
John 1:5 uses this word for darkness not comprehending the light; physical seizure and mental grasp echo one another in the same word family.
THE PATTERN
Opposition to the anointed gathers separate rulers and crowds into a coordinated attempt.
The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers sit down together against the LORD and against his anointed one, saying,For in truth, in this city, against your set-apart servant Jesus, whom you anointed, Herod and Pontius Pilate were gathered together with the nations and the peoples of Israel,THE THREAD
Then the coiled band, and the commander of a thousand, and the attendants of the Judeans seized Jesus and bound him.John 18:3 uses λαβών (labōn), “having taken” or “received,” for Judas gathering the band. John 18:12 uses συλλαμβάνω (syllambanō), a compound of the same root, when the band takes Jesus.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us