Malchus

Malchus is the named slave of the high priest whom Simon Peter wounded with a sword on the night of Jesus' arrest in the garden. He appears across three Gospels in UPDV — unnamed in Mark and Luke, named only in John — and his household reappears later in John's courtyard scene, when one of his kinsmen identifies Peter as having been in the garden with Jesus.

A Slave in the Arresting Party

Malchus belongs to the high priest's household. Mark's account is the barest: "a certain one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest, and took off his ear" (Mark 14:47). Luke specifies which ear and identifies the wounded man's office: "a certain one of them struck the slave of the high priest, and took off his right ear" (Luke 22:50). John alone supplies the names on both sides of the sword: "Simon Peter therefore having a sword drew it, and struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear. Now the slave's name was Malchus" (John 18:10).

The repeated phrase across all three accounts is "the slave of the high priest" / "the high priest's slave." Malchus is not described as a soldier or a temple guard but as a household slave caught up in the arrest.

Healed by Jesus

Luke is the only UPDV witness to the immediate aftermath: "But Jesus answered and said, Allow⁺ [them] thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him" (Luke 22:51). The plural-you (⁺) signals that Jesus addresses more than one person — his disciples, restraining further violence — before turning to the wounded man. The touch and the healing are distinct from the verbal restraint, and they reverse Peter's blow.

Mark and John report the wound without recording the healing that Luke supplies.

Witness in the Courtyard

Malchus' household reappears later in John's narrative of Peter's denials. After Peter has followed Jesus into the high priest's courtyard, one of the bystanders confronts him: "One of the slaves of the high priest, being a kinsman of him whose ear Peter cut off, says, Didn't I see you in the garden with him?" (John 18:26). The unnamed kinsman places Peter at the scene of the assault on Malchus and presses the recognition that triggers Peter's third denial. Malchus is named in UPDV at John 18:10, but the earlier wound is what gives the courtyard challenge its force.