LOS ANGELES, CA — Filmmaker George Lucas was reportedly branching out into Bible sales with a bold new special edition of God's Word, featuring a new edit where Malchus attacks Peter first.
In the original text, the Apostle Peter cuts off the ear of Malchus, servant of the high priest, when the Pharisees send men to arrest Jesus. But not so fast, says Lucas, who argued that the original story lacked moral clarity because it depicts Peter as a "morally gray" figure who was willing to kill.
"This scene presented a moral dilemma," Lucas said. "Peter is one of the twelve, he's the first to speak on the day of Pentecost — and you look back and say, 'Should he be portrayed as a cold-blooded killer?' Because I was thinking scripturally — should he be a cowboy, should he be John Wayne? And I said, 'Yeah, he should be John Wayne.' And when you're John Wayne, you don't cut off people's ears unless they attack you first. It's a scriptural reality that I hope our society pays attention to."
In the newly extended passage, Malchus comes at Peter with a dagger, forcing Peter to defend himself. And though his title of "servant" remains unchanged from the original text, Malchus is depicted as a threatening figure, possibly even a bounty hunter under the employ of High Priest Caiaphas.
"Malchus is described as a servant, but that can mean so many things. Is he a slave? Is he a bounty hunter? I think Peter's more likely to attack a bounty hunter than a slave," Lucas said. "Peter also famously aimed for the head and missed, striking the ear. Why? Obviously because Malchus may have been wearing body armor of some kind. Peter had to aim for the head. He had no choice."
Lucas' special edition of the Bible also features an extra scene with Judas accepting 30 pieces of silver from a Hutt crimelord and additional detail for the city of Nazareth, describing it as a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" so that readers can better understand why Nathanael, in John 1:46, is surprised that the Messiah could come from there.
According to sources, Lucas took special care not to contradict scripture — only clarify it. "Nothing I've added changes the original story, but it does alter how we perceive it," he explained. "In the apostle's case, we can now see that Peter is a really good guy; someone you can really root for, so that when he later denies Jesus three times, we think, 'Oh, I hope he redeems himself,' instead of what we used to think, which is: 'Wow, what an idiot this Peter guy is.'"
At publishing time, Lucas had delayed the release of his Special Edition Holy Bible to add in a line where Malchus shouts, "Maclunkey!"
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