12. The tribune was the commander of the cohort. χιλιάρχος, [pg 312] strictly taken, means the commander of one thousand men. See above on verse 3.

13. Et adduxerunt eum ad Annam primum: erat enim socer Caiphae, qui erat pontifex anni illius.13. And they led him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiphas, who was high-priest of that year.

13. This journey to Annas is mentioned only by St. John. Annas, though not the actual high-priest, was the head of the Sanhedrim, and a man of great authority among the Jews (see above on [xi. 49]), and so Jesus was brought before him in the first instance.

14. Erat autem Caiphas, qui consilium dederat Iudaeis: Quia expedit, unum hominem mori pro populo.14. Now Caiphas was he who had given the counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
15. Sequebatur autem Iesum Simon Petrus, et alias discipulus. Discipulus autem ille erat notus pontifici, et introivit cum Iesu in atrium pontificis.15. And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. And that disciple was known to the high-priest, and went in with Jesus into the court of the high-priest.

15. The other disciple was almost certainly our Evangelist himself (see [Introd. I. B. 2]); and the fact that he was known to the high-priest makes it probable that he belonged to a family of some importance.

But who is the high-priest into whose court Peter and John followed Jesus? Is it Caiphas that is meant, or Annas? Some think the reference is to Annas, who, it must be admitted, is called “high-priest” by St. Luke (Luke iii. 2; Acts iv. 6), and to whom it has just been stated, in verse 13, that Jesus was led. But as our Evangelist has just stated in verse 13, as he also does in xi. 49, that Caiphas was high-priest for that year, we prefer to hold that the “high-priest” here referred to is not Annas, but Caiphas. We hold, then, that what is recorded by St. John in this passage (verses 15-23) took place in the court of Caiphas, after Jesus had been led thither from Annas, and that verse 24: “Annas (had) sent,” &c., is added by St. John to guard the reader against supposing that what is recorded in verses 15-23 took place at the house of Annas. St. Cyril of Alexandria, and a few Greek and Syrian MSS. read verse 24 between verses 13 and 14.

In this view the account of St. John harmonizes at once with the Synoptic Gospels, which represent St. Peter's first denial, recorded in verse 17 here, as taking place in the court of Caiphas.

Many commentators of note, such as Patrizzi among Catholics, and Alford among Protestants, reconcile St. John's account with that of the Synoptic Evangelists in another way. They hold that the events recorded in verses 15-23 took place when Jesus was brought before Annas; but as Caiphas and Annas occupied an official residence in common, or as Annas was, perhaps, the guest of Caiphas, his son-in-law, on this night of the Paschal Supper, though it was Annas who examined Christ, as recorded by St. John (verses 10-23), yet it was to the court of Caiphas, or the common court attached to the house of Annas and Caiphas, that Jesus entered (verse 15); and there, too, St. Peter denied His Master for the first time. In any of the above opinions, St. John agrees with the Synoptic Evangelists, that the place of St. Peter's first denial was the court of Caiphas: but in the second opinion, the “high priest” of verse 19 is Annas, not Caiphas. See Patriz., Liber ii. Adnot. clxxvii.

From St. Matthew (xxvi. 59) and St. Mark (xiv. 55) we learn that Caiphas was not alone on this occasion. The whole Sanhedrim was present; but as the case was an important one, this body had to meet again formally after day-dawn, to finally decide it. See below on verse [28].

16. Petrus autem stabat ad ostium foris. Exivit ergo discipulus alius qui erat notus pontifici, et dixit ostiariae: et introduxit Petrum.16. But Peter stood at the door without. The other disciple therefore who was known to the high-priest, went out, and spoke to the portress, and brought in Peter.