John 13

It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. He had loved his own people who were in the world, and he loved them to the very end.

1Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

NoteThe Passover was the yearly Jewish festival marking Israel's escape from slavery in Egypt; it drew huge crowds to Jerusalem, and its meals and preparations ran across several days, which is why the feast can still be ahead here while a meal is already under way in the next verse. "His hour" translates a word John uses throughout the book for the one fixed moment of Jesus' death and return to the Father. The closing phrase is genuinely double in Greek: it can mean "to the very last moment" and "to the uttermost, completely," and the sentence does not choose between them.

2The evening meal was going on. The devil had already put the idea into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to hand Jesus over.

2And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him;

Note"And supper being ended" is misleading in modern English: the Greek says the meal was in progress, not finished, which is why Jesus gets up from it in verse 4. The word translated "betray" means simply to hand a person over, the ordinary term for delivering someone to the authorities. "Iscariot" is most likely a place name, "man of Kerioth," a town in Judea, which would make Judas the only one of the twelve not from Galilee.

3Jesus knew that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God.

3Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;

4So he got up from the meal, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around his waist.

4He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

NoteTaking off the outer robe and tying a cloth around the waist was how a household slave dressed for work. The detail is about costume: Jesus is visibly putting on the working clothes of the lowest servant in the house.

5Then he poured water into a basin. He began to wash his disciples' feet and to dry them with the towel he had tied around himself.

5After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

NoteWashing the guests' feet was the job of the most junior slave in a household. Roads were dirt, people walked in open sandals, and feet were filthy on arrival. Jewish teachers of the period treated the task as too demeaning to require of a Jewish slave, leaving it to foreign slaves, to women, or to children.

6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

6Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?

7Jesus answered him, "You do not understand now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

7Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

8Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me."

8Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

Note"No part with me" uses a word meaning a share or portion, the term used for a share in an inheritance or a stake in a business. Peter is being told he would have no place with Jesus at all, not merely that he would miss a benefit.

9Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, then do not wash only my feet. Wash my hands and my head too."

9Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

10Jesus said to him, "A person who has bathed only needs to wash his feet, and he is completely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you are."

10Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

Note"Every whit" is old English for "every bit," completely. The picture behind the saying is an everyday one: guests bathed at home before going out to dinner, so on arrival only their feet needed washing. The words "save to wash his feet" are absent from several of the oldest manuscripts, so the sentence may originally have read simply "a person who has bathed is completely clean."

11He knew who was going to hand him over. That is why he said, "Not all of you are clean."

11For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.

12So when he had washed their feet and put his outer robe back on, he sat down at the table again. He said to them, "Do you understand what I have done for you?

12So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?

NoteDiners at a formal meal did not sit on chairs. They lay on low couches around the table, propped on the left elbow with their feet pointing away, which is also what put their feet within easy reach in verse 5. The King James "was set down again" means he took his place at the table once more.

13You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right to say it, because that is what I am.

13Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

Note"Master" in 1611 English means teacher, the sense preserved in "schoolmaster." It does not mean owner. The Greek word is the ordinary one for a teacher, and "Rabbi" is its Hebrew equivalent.

14So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.

14If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.

15I have given you an example, so that you should do just as I have done for you.

15For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

16I tell you the truth: a servant is not greater than his master, and someone who is sent is not greater than the one who sent him.

16Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.

Note"Verily, verily" renders "Amen, amen," a Hebrew word meaning "truly" or "this is reliable." Jesus characteristically uses it to open a statement rather than, as everyone else did, to close a prayer. "He that is sent" is the Greek word apostolos, a messenger or envoy sent with someone else's commission, the word behind "apostle."

17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

17If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

Note"Happy" in the King James does not mean cheerful. It translates a word meaning fortunate or well placed, the same word rendered "blessed" elsewhere.

18I am not talking about all of you. I know the ones I have chosen. But this happens so that the Scripture will come true: 'The one who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.'

18I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.

NoteThe quotation is from Psalm 41:9. In that culture sharing a meal created an obligation of loyalty, so eating a man's bread and then turning on him was a particularly grave breach. "Lifted up his heel" is a picture drawn either from an animal kicking or from a person turning away and showing the sole of the foot, an insulting gesture in that part of the world.

19I am telling you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am he.

19Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.

NoteThe Greek says only "I am"; there is no word for "he" after it, and translators supply one to make an English sentence. The phrase can be read plainly as "I am the one," but the same two words are how God names himself in the Greek Old Testament that John's first readers used, and John repeats the phrase often enough that both readings stay in play.

20I tell you the truth: whoever welcomes anyone I send welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me."

20Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

Note"Receive" here is the formal word for accepting someone as an accredited representative. Jewish practice worked with the idea of an agent whose acceptance or rejection counted legally as the acceptance or rejection of the person who sent him. That convention is the framework the sentence is built on.

21After Jesus said this, he was troubled deep inside. He said openly, "I tell you the truth: one of you is going to hand me over."

21When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

Note"Testified" translates a word from the law court. He did not merely remark on it; he stated it formally and on the record.

22The disciples looked at one another, unsure which one of them he meant.

22Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.

23One of his disciples, the one Jesus loved, was lying at the table close beside Jesus.

23Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

NoteGuests at a formal meal lay on their sides around a low table, each propped on his left elbow, so that a man's head came near the chest of the person reclining behind him. "Leaning on Jesus' bosom" describes the seating plan, not an embrace, and the place directly in front of the host was the position of honor. John never gives this disciple's name.

24So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus which one he was talking about.

24Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.

25Leaning back against Jesus, he said to him, "Lord, who is it?"

25He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?

26Jesus answered, "It is the one I give this piece of bread to, after I have dipped it." Then he dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

26Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

NoteThe "sop" is a piece of flatbread dipped into a shared bowl of sauce or broth, the normal way of eating at such a meal. For the host to dip a morsel and hand it to one particular guest was a gesture of honor, which is part of why no one at the table reads anything sinister into it. It also means Judas was reclining close enough for Jesus to reach him.

27As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly."

27And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

Note"Satan" is a Hebrew word meaning adversary or accuser, used here as a name. It refers to the same figure called "the devil" in verse 2, where the Greek word means slanderer.

28No one at the table understood why Jesus said this to him.

28Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him.

29Judas kept the money bag, so some of them thought Jesus was telling him to buy what they needed for the feast, or to give something to the poor.

29For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.

Note"The bag" was the box or pouch holding the group's common money, and Judas kept it. "Against the feast" is old English for "in preparation for the feast." Giving to the poor was a customary act at Passover, which is why the second guess at the table is as natural as the first.

30As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

30He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.

NotePassover-season evening meals ran well into the dark, so this is a plain statement of the hour. Night and darkness are also words John uses repeatedly through the book, so the short sentence carries weight beyond the clock.

31After Judas had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is given glory, and God is given glory in him.

31Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

Note"Son of man" is the phrase Jesus most often uses of himself. In ordinary Hebrew and Aramaic it can mean simply "a human being," but it is also the title of the figure who is given authority in Daniel chapter 7, and hearers of the time could take it either way. "Glorified" translates a word covering both honor itself and the public display of it: to be shown openly as who one is.

32If God is given glory in him, then God will also give the Son glory in himself, and he will do it at once.

32If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.

33My children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and what I said to the Jews I now say to you: where I am going, you cannot come.

33Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.

Note"Little children" renders an affectionate diminutive, closer to "my dear children" than to any comment about age. "The Jews" in John's Gospel usually means a particular group, the Jerusalem authorities who opposed Jesus, rather than Jewish people generally; Jesus, the twelve, and almost everyone in these scenes were themselves Jews.

34I give you a new command: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another.

34A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Note"New" translates a word meaning new in kind or fresh, not merely recent. The command to love one's neighbor was already ancient in Israel's law; what the sentence attaches to it is a new measure, "as I have loved you."

35This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

35By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

36Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later."

36Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.

37Peter said to him, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will give up my life for you."

37Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.

38Jesus answered him, "Will you really give up your life for me? I tell you the truth: before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you do not know me."

38Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

NoteRoosters crow in the dark hours before dawn, so the saying fixes the time: before this night is over. "Deny" translates a word meaning to disown a person, to state publicly that you have no connection with him, which is stronger than simply telling a lie. "Thrice" is three times.