Malchus


Malchus was the servant of the Jewish High Priest Caiaphas who participated in the arrest of Jesus as written in the four gospels. According to the Bible, one of the disciples, Simon Peter, being armed with a sword, cut off the servant's ear in an attempt to prevent the arrest of Jesus.

Biblical accounts

That a disciple cut off the ear of a servant of the high priest is related in all four canonical gospels, in,,, and, but Simon Peter and Malchus are named only in the Gospel of John. Also, Luke is the only gospel that says Jesus healed the servant. This was Jesus' last recorded miracle prior to his resurrection.
The relevant passages in the Gospels of John and Luke, KJV, read:
James F. McGrath suggests that this account reflects an event that did happen, in that early Christians would hardly have invented a story portraying themselves as violent.
Later in Chapter 18, John records that a relative of Malchus witnessed Peter's assault in the Garden of Gethsemane, and identified Peter as a follower of Christ. Peter denied this.

Literature and arts

wrote a short play entitled, "The Servant's Name Was Malchus"; it appears in the collection The Angel That Troubled the Waters and Other Plays.
The Fire Gospel, a 2008 novel by Michel Faber, centers on the discovery of the fictional lost gospel of Malchus.
Malchus is portrayed by Paul Brightwell in the 2013 TV miniseries The Bible.
In the 2004 Mel Gibson film The Passion of the Christ, Malchus is represented as an armed member of the temple guard. In this depiction, Jesus heals Malchus' wounded ear, leaving the latter to stay behind sitting dumbfounded in a state of disbelief, suggesting a possible conversion to Christianity.