Adrianne L
New member
We had a discussion in Bible study about this. The leader of the study said it was Roman soldiers. I said I thought it was the Temple guards. The four Gospels mention "a great multitude, chief priests and elders of the people" (Matthew 26;47), "a multitude from the chief priests, scribes and elders" (Mark 14:43), "a multitude" (Luke 22:47), "chief priests, captains of the temple and elders" (Luke 22:52), "a band of men, officers from teh chief priests and Pharisees" (John 18:3). Nowhere does it mention Roman soldiers per se, but the study leader still insists that Roman soldiers were likely present. I do not know why Roman soldiers would have been involved at this point. If the chief priests went to the Roman garrison and said in effect, "C'mon, let's go arrest Jesus right now!" they probably would have been mocked and thrown out by the soldiers. However, they had the Temple guards right there to do their bidding. Any opinions?