Bible Dictionary
Torches
Torches were handheld lights used to illuminate the night. Men carrying lanterns and torches accompanied Judas when he came with the authorities to arrest Jesus in Gethsemane.
Definition
Torches were portable lights used to illuminate dark places. They were carried with lanterns and weapons by the group that came to arrest Jesus in Gethsemane.
Biblical Usage
John records that Judas came with a band of men and officers carrying lanterns, torches, and weapons when Jesus was in the garden.
Historical Background
Torches were useful even at full moon because the Kidron valley contained deep shadows, caves, grottos, and other places where a fugitive might hide.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
On the night of his betrayal, when our Lord was in the garden of Gethsemane, Judas, “having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons” (John 18:1-3). Although it was the time of full moon, yet in the valley of the Kidron “there fell great, deep shadows from the declivity of the mountain and projecting rocks; there were there caverns and grottos, into which a fugitive might retreat; finally, there were probably a garden-house and tower, into whose gloom it might be necessary for a searcher to throw light around.” Lange’s Commentary. (Nahum 2:3, “torches,” Revised Version, “steel,” probably should be “scythes” for war-chariots.)