Malchus

Malchus (meaning reigning or my king) was the personal servant or slave of the high priest Caiaphas who was present at the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane. When the armed party came to seize Jesus, Simon Peter drew his sword and cut off Malchus's right ear (John 18:10; Matthew 26:51; Mark 14:47; Luke 22:50–51). Only John's Gospel names both Peter and Malchus; the Synoptics describe the act without naming either party. Luke alone records that Jesus healed the severed ear immediately after the blow, a final miracle before his passion.

The episode serves several narrative functions: it demonstrates the disciples' misunderstanding of the nature of Jesus's kingdom (a kingdom not advanced by the sword; Matthew 26:52), displays Jesus's sovereign composure and continued ministry of healing even in the moment of arrest, and underscores the voluntary nature of his submission to the authorities. Malchus himself disappears from the narrative after this moment, his name preserved in John's eyewitness tradition as a specific identifying detail.