John 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The "latter half",MacLaren's Expositions on John 13, accessed 15 June 2016 "second book",, 60. John, in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary , p. 985 or "closing part"Nicoll, W. R., Expositor's Greek Testament on John 13, accessed on 20 June 2016 of John's Gospel commences with this chapter. The nineteenth-century biblical commentator Alexander Maclaren calls it "the Holy of Holies of the New Testament" and the "most sacred part of the New Testament", as it begins John's record of the events on the last night before the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, emphasising Jesus' love for his disciples, demonstrated in the service of washing their feet, and his commandment that they love one another in the same way.Halley, Henry H. Halley's Bible Handbook: an Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1962. The gospel identifies an unnamed "disciple whom Jesus loved" as its source and possible author.Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "John" pp. 302–10 Early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that John composed this Gospel.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.
Text The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 38 verses. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Greek are: Papyrus 75 (AD 175–225) Papyrus 66 (~200) Codex Vaticanus (325–350) Codex Sinaiticus (330–360) Codex Bezae (~400) Codex Alexandrinus (400–440) Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; extant verses 8–38) Papyrus 92 (5th century; extant verses 15–17)
Another ancient manuscript containing parts of this chapter is Papyrus 6 (AD ~350; extant verses , ) which is written in the Coptic language.
Places All the events recorded in this chapter and the succeeding chapters up to John 17 took place in Jerusalem. The precise location is not specified, but John 18:1 states that afterwards, "Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley".
Old Testament references John 13:18: Psalm
Verses 1–3: the appointed hour
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God.: NKJV Using the Greek syntax and theme perspective, evangelical scholar D. A. Carson regards verse 1 as an introduction to the whole 'Farewell Discourse', while verses 2 and 3 show the first demonstration of the full extent of Christ's love.
The narrative begins before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour () had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, [when] having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.: NKJV The appointed hour, anticipated earlier in the gospel ( and ), had now arrived. Jesus had announced publicly in that "the hour when the Son of Man should be glorified" had now arrived, and he had declined, in , to ask his Father to "save [him] from this hour" ().
Heinrich Meyer notes, "How long before the feast, our passage does not state",Meyer, H., Meyer's NT Commentary on John 13, translated from the German sixth edition, accessed 16 June 2016 but Bengel's Gnomon and Wesley's Notes,Wesley's Notes on the Bible on John 13, accessed 16 June 2016 which drew widely on Bengel, both associate this passage with the Wednesday of the week leading to the Passover. The New International Version translation says It was just before the Passover Festival.: NIV
Jesus' love for his own continued "to the end". Henry Alford takes this to mean "even to the end of his life in the flesh",Alford, H., Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary - Alford, accessed 29 January 2024 and William D. Mounce refers to "the very end".: Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament (2011) However, Baptist writer Bob Utley notes that "this is the Greek word telos, which means an accomplished purpose. This refers to Jesus' work of redemption for humanity on the cross."Utley, B., John 13, accessed 29 January 2024
During or after supper, (, deipnou genomenou) the narrative explains that "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God" (). The King James Version speaks of "supper being ended" (), whereas the American Standard Version says "during supper" and the New International Version has "the evening meal was in progress".Translations taken from Bible Hub There was still food to be shared at , so the reading "after supper" sits less harmoniously with the passage as a whole. By this time, the devil had "already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son (, Ioudas Simōnos Iskariōtou), to betray Him". Alfred Plummer, in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges argues that "the true reading of τοῦ διαβόλου ἤδη βεβληκότος εἰς τὴν καρδίαν (tou diabolou ēdē beblēkotos eis tēn kardian) gives us, "The devil having now put it into the heart, that Judas, Simon's son, Iscariot should betray Him", and asks "whose heart?" Grammatically, the meaning can be read as either "the heart of the devil" or "the heart of Judas", but the received reading (i.e. "the heart of Judas") is preferred Plummer, A. (1902), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on John 13, accessed 18 June 2016 and most English translations follow this reading. The Jerusalem Bible and J B Phillips' version both have "the mind of Judas".Jerusalem Bible (1966), John 13:2: The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips
Jesus washes the disciples' feet (verses )
Jesus washes and dries the feet of each of his disciples. The evangelist "concentrates" on this narrative, providing a detailed account of the actions Jesus took, removing His outer garment and wrapping a towel around his waist. Scottish commentator William Robertson Nicoll says, "Each step in the whole astounding scene is imprinted on the mind of John". says that Jesus began to wash their feet: the washing was interrupted by Peter's initial refusal to allow Jesus to wash his feet, but suggests that the task was later completed and the feet of all the Disciples were washed, including those of Judas,Bengel's Gnomon on John 13, accessed 16 June 2016 as Jesus then took back His garments and reclined [at table] again.
The interruption consists of a question from Peter, "Lord (, Kyrie), are You washing my feet?", Jesus' reply that at present they would not understand what He was doing, Peter's refusal to have Jesus wash his feet, Jesus' reply that "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me", Peter's willingness to have his whole body washed by Jesus, and Jesus' closing statement that "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you". The evangelist adds a note, "He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean" (). Peter calls Jesus 'Lord' in two of his three statements, and Jesus later () acknowledges the title as correctly used.
From verse 12 onwards, the action having been completed, Jesus explains what he has done. Henry Alford calls the foot-washing "a pattern of self-denying love for His servants".Alford, H., Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary - Alford on John 13, accessed 25 August 2022 Carson sees the episode pointing in two directions: one as a symbolic spiritual cleansing () and the other as a "standard of humble service", followed by a calling to the disciples to "wash one another's feet" (). The words "Do you know what I have done to you?" (verse 12) are uttered to introduce Jesus' teaching, but without expectation of an answer.
Jesus identifies his betrayer (verses )
Verse 18 [Jesus says:] "I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.'" NKJV Jesus quotes the words of Psalm : Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me. NASB in shorter statement: '' ( NASB).
According to the Pulpit Commentary, in the Psalm, "Ahithophel (who had been a counsellor to King David) is almost certainly intended",Pulpit Commentary on John 13, accessed 23 June 2016 and Plummer notes that "the words of the Psalm are not a direct prediction, but the treachery and the fate of Ahithophel foreshadowed the treachery and the fate of Judas". The Jerusalem Bible translates John 13:18 as "Someone who shares my table rebels against me".Jerusalem Bible (1966), John 13:18 Francis Moloney identifies this verse not only with Judas' betrayal of Jesus, but also with Peter's denial of Him ().Moloney, F., A Sacramental Reading of John 13:1-38, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 53, No. 2 (April, 1991), pp. 237-256, accessed 23 June 2016
Verse The evangelist reports Jesus saying, "I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am". Indeed, the whole of John's Gospel is written so that [his readers] "may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing [they] may have life in his name" (). Jesus anticipates being betrayed by one of His friends (), a consideration which He finds deeply troubling. The disciples cannot imagine who Jesus might be referring to, and ask "Lord, who is it?" (). Jesus does not identify His betrayer by name, but provides an answer by sign:
Verse 23 “One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him.” The formal introduction of the Beloved Disciple is a “stunningly apparent” stroke of "narrative genius",James H. Charlesworth, The Beloved Disciple: Whose Witness Validates the Gospel of John? (Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1995), 52. for he is introduced immediately after Jesus demonstrates his love for the disciples in the act of washing the disciples' feet () and immediately before the commandment to “love one another just as I have loved you” (). The framing device places the Beloved Disciple at "center stage",Charlesworth, The Beloved Disciple, 1995, 52. highlighting his importance in the Gospel and his special relationship with Jesus. His position next to Jesus (literally, the one “who is in the bosom of Jesus”, ) describes not only his proximity to Jesus at the supper but also his "closest communion""κόλπος", in Bauer's Lexicon, 556-57 with him.
Verse 26 "It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it." And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.: NKJV The word in (bapsas, "dipped"), appears only once in the New Testament, here. The text refers to "the piece" or "morsel" See New American Standard Bible or "sop" See Jubilee Bible 2000 of bread (, to psómion), and Nicoll states that "some argue from the insertion of the article τὸ that this was the sop made up of a morsel of lamb, a small piece of unleavened bread, and dipped in the bitter sauce, which was given by the head of the house to each guest as a regular part of the Passover; and that therefore John as well as the Synoptists considered this to be the Paschal Supper. But not only is the article doubtful, it is an ordinary Oriental custom for the host to offer such a tid-bit to any favoured guest; and we are rather entitled to see in the act the last appeal to Judas’ better feeling. The very mark Jesus chooses to single him out is one which on ordinary occasions was a mark of distinctive favour".
Verse 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, "What you are about to do, do quickly.": NIV