How many Roman soldiers came to arrest Christ? Answer – None – the guard force was from the Temple guard. A Roman guard would not have taken Jesus to the High Priest’s house but to the Roman fortress to be held.<\/p>\n\t
“The band of soldiers (t\u00ean speiran<\/em>). No word for “of soldiers” in the Greek, but the Latin\u00a0spira<\/em> (roll or ball) was used for a military cohort (Polybius 11, 23, 1) as in Matthew 27:27; Acts 10:1, etc., here for a small band secured from the Tower of Antonia” [Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament].<\/p>\n
“The “cohort” in the regular Romans legions typically had 600 men but could number as many as 1,000 in the auxiliary forces (all New Testament references, apparently; see Bruce,\u00a0New International Commentary on the New Testament<\/em>, Acts, p. 202).” [The Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary<\/em>].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
“Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him<\/em>” (John 18:12). Notice that though a captain is an officer, he is listed separately from the Jewish officers. Thus, the soldiers arresting Jesus were under a non-Jewish captain — in other words, this was a Roman band. In every case, the use of\u00a0speiran<\/em>\u00a0in the New Testament refers to a Roman band of soldiers (Matthew 27:27; Mark 15:16; John 18:3, 12; Acts 10:1; 21:31; 27:1) and the use in John 18 is particularly clear that it was a Roman band.<\/p>\n
It is possible for the Roman government to loan out soldiers. Pilate loaned the Jews a group to secure the tomb. “Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how’<\/em>” (Matthew 27:65), which explains why they reported the resurrection to the Jewish priests first before going to Pilate. “Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened<\/em>” (Matthew 28:11).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: How many Roman soldiers came to arrest Christ? Answer – None – the guard force was from the Temple guard. A Roman guard would not have taken Jesus to the High Priest’s house but to the Roman fortress to be held. Answer: “The band of soldiers (t\u00ean speiran). No word for “of soldiers” in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[228,606],"class_list":["post-28452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-crucifixion","tag-gospels"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14358,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-many-roman-soldiers-came-to-the-garden-to-arrest-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":28452,"position":0},"title":"How many Roman soldiers came to the garden to arrest Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How many Roman soldiers came to the garden to arrest Jesus? Answer: The Scriptures do not say. \"And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with\u00a0a great multitude\u00a0with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people\" (Matthew 26:47). \"And immediately,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88481,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-resurrection-of-jesus-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":28452,"position":1},"title":"The Resurrection of Jesus (Benton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton It was evidence-based faith that drove the apostles to testify of Jesus' resurrection openly. If Jesus were only a man, then the body should have remained in the tomb guarded by Roman soldiers. If it were still there after three days, the religion of Christ would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27520,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-there-mention-of-the-young-man-who-fled-naked-in-mark\/","url_meta":{"origin":28452,"position":2},"title":"Why is there mention of the young man who fled naked in Mark?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Mark 14:51-52, it reads, \"And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him:\u00a0 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.\" What could be the purpose of these two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32925,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-armor-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":28452,"position":3},"title":"The Armor of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 6:10-18 Rome was the mighty governing power in the days the New Testament was written. Its strength was in its military, which constantly was on guard Josephus, a Jewish historian, observed that Roman soldiers always carried their weapons with them, even in times of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/RomanBelt.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35713,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/there-they-crucified-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":28452,"position":4},"title":"There They Crucified Him","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wayne Greeson Mere days before the crowds had thronged into the narrow streets of Jerusalem to catch a glimpse of Him and shout his praises. But almost overnight the joyful cries of \"Blessed is the King\" had turned into screams of \"Crucify Him.\" He was arrested, abandoned by his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17189,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-resurrection-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":28452,"position":5},"title":"The Resurrection of Jesus (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 13:16-41 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Central to every Christian\u2019s belief in his salvation is the resurrection of Jesus - I Corinthians 15:12-19 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If Jesus was not raised, . . . \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Then every preacher has been teaching falsehoods \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our faith in the Bible would be useless \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our hope\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28452\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}