Paragraph 18:4–9

Jesus protected his disciples by offering himself to his enemies. He allowed them to arrest him without resisting or fighting.

18:4a

The Greek begins this verse with a conjunction that is usually translated “therefore” but some English versions translate it as “then.” Here it indicates that Jesus’ knowledge of what would happen to him influenced or caused him to come forward. For example:

Then Jesus, because he knew… (NET Bible)
-or-
Jesus knew…so (Good News Translation)

In some languages it may be natural to leave this connector untranslated or implied as in the Berean Standard Bible.

Jesus, knowing all that was coming upon Him, stepped forward: Jesus went to meet the soldiers knowing that they were going to arrest him and punish him with death. He willingly offered himself to his enemies.

In some languages it may be natural to translate this clause using two independent verbs. For example:

Jesus knew everything that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward. (Good News Translation)
-or-
Because Jesus knew everything that would happen to him, he went to meet them.

all that was coming upon Him: This phrase here means “all that would happen to him.” It refers mainly to the suffering Jesus would soon endure. His enemies would soon arrest, mock, try, condemn, and crucify him. Jesus knew about all these things before they happened. In your translation, it is good to imply that what was going to happen to Jesus was bad. For example:

all that they would do to him
-or-
all that he would soon suffer/endure

stepped forward: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as stepped forward indicates that Jesus left the group of disciples and walked toward the crowd. It probably means that Jesus left the garden to go to a place where those with Judas could see him. For example:

came forward (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
went out (New International Version)

18:4b

and asked them, “Whom are you seeking?”: This expression indicates that Jesus asked the guards to name the man they came to arrest. He knew that they were looking for him, but he wanted them to state it publicly. Then he could identify himself and the disciples could go free.

In your translation, place the speech introducer asked them in the position where it is natural in your language. For example:

“Who are you looking for?” he asked. (New Living Translation (2004))

asked them: The pronoun them refers to the crowd of soldiers and police mentioned in 8:3. In some languages it may be natural to make this explicit here. Use the expression that you used in 8:3, or one that combines the two groups. For example:

asked the armed men

Whom are you seeking?: This question is a request for the guards to identify by name the person they wanted to arrest. For example:

Who is it you want? (New International Version)

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