Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
The chief captain (o xiliarxov). They actually had the Roman commander of the cohort along (cf. Acts 21:31), not mentioned before.
Seized (sunelabon). Second aorist active of sullambanw, old verb to grasp together, to arrest (technical word) in the Synoptics in this context (Mark 14:48; Matthew 26:55), here alone in John.
Bound (edhsan). First aorist active indicative of dew, to bind. As a matter of course, with the hands behind his back, but with no warrant in law and with no charge against him.
To Annas first (prov Annan prwton). Ex-high priest and father-in-law (penqerov, old word, only here in N.T.) of Caiaphas the actual high priest. Then Jesus was subjected to a preliminary and superfluous inquiry by Annas (given only by John) while the Sanhedrin were gathering before Caiaphas. Bernard curiously thinks that the night trial actually took place here before Annas and only the early morning ratification was before Caiaphas. So he calmly says that "Matthew inserts the name Caiaphas at this point (the night trial) in which he seems to have been mistaken." But why "mistaken"?
That year (tou eniautou ekeinou). Genitive of time.
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing John 18:12:
Matthew 27:2
Mark 15:1
John 7:32
John 18:24
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