<p>18:22<em> And when he had said this, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying: Do you answer the high priest so?</em>- &quot;Struck&quot; is the word used in the LXX of the Messianic Is. 50:6 &quot;I gave my cheeks to blows&quot;. Perhaps, in the spirit of giving His life and not having it taken from Him, the Lord offered his cheek; although see on :23. This was totally unprovoked; perhaps the officer was over eager to ingratiate himself to the high priest. Or perhaps he was Malchus, or some other beneficiary of the Lord's healing work who wanted to demonstrate that he was not a secret Jesus sympathizer.</p>