John 18 Footnotes

18:12-14,19-23 John described a hearing before Annas, whereas the other Gospels set the trial before the Sanhedrin. Both are plausible, in sequence. As the prior high priest, deposed by Rome, Annas would have still been respected by the Jewish leaders, since the office was supposed to be for life. “That year” (v. 13) didn’t imply that Caiaphas was high priest only that year; it probably carried the force of “that fateful year.” John knew the subsequent trial (vv. 24,28) but chose not to narrate it in detail, probably because it was already well known from the other Gospels.

18:31 It has been argued that the Jews did have the right to execute capital offenders—witness the stoning of Stephen (Ac 7:54–8:1) and the execution of James the brother of Jesus in AD 62 (Josephus, Antiquities 20.197-203). But the former execution appears to have degenerated into a mob action and the latter occurred between Roman procurators occupying the government seat in Judea. Josephus’s wording also suggests that, in all but a handful of cases, Rome had taken away the privilege of capital punishment (War 2.117; 6.124-126).