Jewish Idioms: Disqualifying the Servant

The third idiom comes from Mark 14:43-50 where Peter cuts off the ear of a servant of the high priest:

“ 43And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard." 45And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, "Rabbi!" And he kissed him. 46And they laid hands on him and seized him. 47But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48And Jesus said to them, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled." 50And they all left him and fled.”

This servant with the high priest was not just an ordinary servant, but he was the chief assistant to the high priest known as the segan hacohanim. The understanding we usually have about this passage is that Peter was a little cranky because Judas and the gang woke him from his sleep and was trying to arrest Jesus, so Peter goes to swinging trying to kill the servant but he only manages to cut off his ear. (Well maybe something along those lines)

But, what if Peter actually did what he intended to do? (he always catches a bad rap for doing something stupid). According to Judaic law, to lose an ear not only shamed the servant, but also disqualified him for service in the Temple.

All of the Jews knew the basis for cutting off the ear; it was derived from Leviticus 21:18-21:

“16And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17"Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. 21No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the LORD's food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, 23but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them." 24So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.”

There are several other incidents of this in history. In 40 B.C., Antigonus, a Persian candidate for high priest, had the ear of this uncle, Hyrcanus II, cut off to disqualify him for the office. Josephus mentioned in “Wars”, that it happened more than once during the reign of Herod the Great. The Mishnah, which contains the Jewish “oral law”, gives details of the practice, saying it was actually the ear lobe that was cut off. The Mishnah along with the Gemara (rabbinic commentaries on the Mishnah) makes up the Talmud, which is a major religious text for Rabbinic Judaism.

So maybe the moral of the story should be that Peter was skilled with a sword after all.