As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.
As soon then as he had said unto them, I am [he], they went backward (recoiled), and fell to the ground
- struck down by a power such as that which smote Saul of Tarsus and his companions to the earth (Acts 26:14). It was the glorious effulgence of the majesty of Christ which overpowered them. 'This,' as Meyer well remarks, 'occurring before His surrender, would show His power over His enemies, and so the freedom with which He gave Himself up.'