◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Exodus 12:1-4 [5-10] 11-14 (The passover of the Lord); Psalm 116:1-2 12-19 (The cup of salvation); 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (Proclaim the Lord’s death); John 13:1-17 31b-35 (The service of Christ: footwashing and meal) (New English Translation)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

Exodus 12:1-4

The Institution of the Passover

12 ^[a] The Lord said^[b] to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,^[c] ²“This month is to be your beginning of months; it will be your first month of the year.^[d] ³Tell the whole community of Israel, ‘On the tenth day of this month they each^[e] must take a lamb^[f] for themselves according to their families^[g]—a lamb for each household.^[h] ⁴If any household is too small^[i] for a lamb,^[j] the man^[k] and his next-door neighbor^[l] are to take^[m] a lamb according to the number of people—you will make your count for the lamb according to how much each one can eat.^[n]

Footnotes

Exodus 12:1 sn Chapter 12 details the culmination of the ten plagues on Egypt and the beginning of the actual deliverance from bondage. Moreover, the celebration of this festival of Passover was to become a central part of the holy calendar of Israel. The contents of this chapter have significance for NT studies as well, since the Passover was a type of the death of Jesus. The structure of this section before the crossing of the sea is as follows: the institution of the Passover (12:1-28), the night of farewell and departure (12:29-42), slaves and strangers (12:43-51), and the laws of the firstborn (13:1-16). In this immediate section there is the institution of the Passover itself (12:1-13), then the Unleavened Bread (12:14-20), and then the report of the response of the people (12:21-28).
Exodus 12:1 tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”
Exodus 12:1 tn Heb “saying.”
Exodus 12:2 sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 294-95) shows that the intent of the passage was not to make this month in the spring the New Year—that was in the autumn. Rather, when counting months this was supposed to be remembered first, for it was the great festival of freedom from Egypt. He observes how some scholars have unnecessarily tried to date one New Year earlier than the other.
Exodus 12:3 tn Heb “and they will take for them a man a lamb.” This is clearly a distributive, or individualizing, use of “man.”
Exodus 12:3 tn The שֶּׂה (seh) is a single head from the flock, or smaller cattle, which would include both sheep and goats.
Exodus 12:3 tn Heb “according to the house of their fathers.” The expression “house of the father” is a common expression for a family. sn The Passover was to be a domestic institution. Each lamb was to be shared by family members.
Exodus 12:3 tn Heb “house” (also at the beginning of the following verse).
Exodus 12:4 sn Later Judaism ruled that “too small” meant fewer than ten (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 88).
Exodus 12:4 tn The clause uses the comparative min (מִן) construction: יִמְעַט הַבַּיִת מִהְיֹת מִשֶּׁה (yimʿat habbayit mih^eyot misseh, “the house is small from being from a lamb,” or “too small for a lamb”). It clearly means that if there were not enough people in the household to have a lamb by themselves, they should join with another family. For the use of the comparative, see GKC 430 §133.c.
Exodus 12:4 tn Heb “he and his neighbor”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Exodus 12:4 tn Heb “who is near to his house.”
Exodus 12:4 tn The construction uses a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive after a conditional clause: “if the household is too small…then he and his neighbor will take.”
Exodus 12:4 tn Heb “[every] man according to his eating.”sn The reference is normally taken to mean whatever each person could eat. B. Jacob (Exodus, 299) suggests, however, that the reference may not be to each individual person’s appetite, but to each family. Each man who is the head of a household was to determine how much his family could eat, and this in turn would determine how many families shared the lamb.

Exodus 12:5-10

⁵Your lamb must be^[a] perfect,^[b] a male, one year old;^[c] you may take^[d] it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶You must care for it^[e] until the fourteenth day of this month, and then the whole community^[f] of Israel will kill it around sundown.^[g] ⁷They will take some of the blood and put it on the two side posts and top of the doorframe of the houses where they will eat it. ⁸They will eat the meat the same night;^[h] they will eat it roasted over the fire with bread made without yeast^[i] and with bitter herbs. ⁹Do not eat it raw^[j] or boiled in water, but roast it over the fire with its head, its legs, and its entrails. ¹⁰You must leave nothing until morning, but you must burn with fire whatever remains of it until morning.

Footnotes

Exodus 12:5 tn The construction has: “[The] lamb…will be to you.” This may be interpreted as a possessive use of the ל (lamed), meaning, “[the] lamb…you have” (your lamb) for the Passover. In the context instructing the people to take an animal for this festival, the idea is that the one they select, their animal, must meet these qualifications.
Exodus 12:5 tn The Hebrew word תָּמִים (tamim) means “perfect” or “whole” or “complete” in the sense of not having blemishes and diseases—no physical defects. The rules for sacrificial animals applied here (see Lev 22:19-21; Deut 17:1).
Exodus 12:5 tn The idiom says “a son of a year” (בֶּן־שָׁנָה, ben shanah), meaning a “yearling” or “one year old” (see GKC 418 §128.v).
Exodus 12:5 tn Because a choice is being given in this last clause, the imperfect tense nuance of permission should be used. They must have a perfect animal, but it may be a sheep or a goat. The verb’s object “it” is supplied from the context.
Exodus 12:6 tn The text has וְהָיָה לָכֶם לְמִשְׁמֶרֶת (v^ehaya lakem l^emishmeret, “and it will be for you for a keeping”). This noun stresses the activity of watching over or caring for something, probably to keep it in its proper condition for its designated use (see 16:23, 32-34).
Exodus 12:6 tn Heb “all the assembly of the community.” This expression is a pleonasm. The verse means that everyone will kill the lamb, i.e., each family unit among the Israelites will kill its animal.
Exodus 12:6 tn Heb “between the two evenings” or “between the two settings” (בֵּין הָעַרְבָּיִם, ben haʿarbayim). This expression has had a good deal of discussion. (1) Tg. Onq. says “between the two suns,” which the Talmud explains as the time between the sunset and the time the stars become visible. More technically, the first “evening” would be the time between sunset and the appearance of the crescent moon, and the second “evening” the next hour, or from the appearance of the crescent moon to full darkness (see Deut 16:6 “at the going down of the sun”). (2) Saadia, Rashi, and Kimchi say the first evening is when the sun begins to decline in the west and cast its shadows, and the second evening is the beginning of night. (3) The view adopted by the Pharisees and the Talmudists (b. Pesahim 61a) is that the first evening is when the heat of the sun begins to decrease, and the second evening begins at sunset, or, roughly from 3-5 p.m. The Mishnah (m. Pesahim 5:1) indicates the lamb was killed about 2:30 p.m.—anything before noon was not valid. S. R. Driver concludes from this survey that the first view is probably the best, although the last view was the traditionally accepted one (Exodus, 89-90). Late afternoon or early evening seems to be intended, the time of twilight perhaps.
Exodus 12:8 tn Heb “this night.”
Exodus 12:8 sn Bread made without yeast could be baked quickly, not requiring time for the use of a leavening ingredient to make the dough rise. In Deut 16:3 the unleavened cakes are called “the bread of affliction,” which alludes to the alarm and haste of the Israelites. In later Judaism and in the writings of Paul, leaven came to be a symbol of evil or corruption, and so “unleavened bread”—bread made without yeast—was interpreted to be a picture of purity or freedom from corruption or defilement (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 90-91).
Exodus 12:9 sn This ruling was to prevent their eating it just softened by the fire or partially roasted as differing customs might prescribe or allow.

Exodus 12:11-14

¹¹This is how you are to eat it—dressed to travel,^[a] your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.^[b]

¹²‘I will pass through^[c] the land of Egypt in the same^[d] night, and I will attack^[e] all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of humans and of animals,^[f] and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.^[g] I am the Lord. ¹³The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see^[h] the blood I will pass over you,^[i] and this plague^[j] will not fall on you to destroy you^[k] when I attack^[l] the land of Egypt.^[m]

¹⁴‘This day will become^[n] a memorial^[o] for you, and you will celebrate it as a festival^[p] to the Lord—you will celebrate it perpetually as a lasting ordinance.^[q]

Footnotes

Exodus 12:11 tn Heb “your loins girded.”
Exodus 12:11 tn The meaning of פֶּסַח (pesakh) is debated. (1) Some have tried to connect it to the Hebrew verb with the same radicals that means “to halt, leap, limp, stumble.” See 1 Kgs 18:26 where the word describes the priests of Baal hopping around the altar; also the crippled child in 2 Sam 4:4. (2) Others connect it to the Akkadian passahu, which means “to appease, make soft, placate”; or (3) an Egyptian word to commemorate the harvest (see J. B. Segal, The Hebrew Passover, 95-100). The verb occurs in Isa 31:5 with the connotation of “to protect”; B. S. Childs suggests that this was already influenced by the exodus tradition (Exodus [OTL], 183, n. 11). Whatever links there may or may not have been that show an etymology, in Exod 12 it is describing Yahweh’s passing over or through.
Exodus 12:12 tn The verb וְעָבַרְתִּי (v^eʿavarti) is a Qal perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, announcing the future action of God in bringing judgment on the land. The word means “pass over, across, through.” This verb provides a contextual motive for the name “Passover.”
Exodus 12:12 tn Heb “this night.”
Exodus 12:12 tn The verb נָכָה (nakhah) means “to strike, smite, attack”; it does not always mean “to kill,” but that is obviously its outcome in this context. This is also its use in 2:12, describing how Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.
Exodus 12:12 tn Heb “from man and to beast.”
Exodus 12:12 tn The phrase אֶעֱשֶׂה שְׁפָטִים (ʾeʿeseh sh^efatim) is “I will do judgments.” The statement clearly includes what had begun in Exod 6:1. But the statement that God would judge the gods of Egypt is appropriately introduced here (see also Num 33:4) because with the judgment on Pharaoh and the deliverance from bondage, Yahweh would truly show himself to be the one true God. Thus, “I am Yahweh” is fitting here (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 312).
Exodus 12:13 tn Both of the verbs for seeing and passing over are perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives: וּפָסַחְתִּי…וְרָאִיתִי (v^eraʾiti…ufasakhti); the first of these parallel verb forms is subordinated to the second as a temporal clause. See Gesenius’s description of perfect consecutives in the protasis and apodosis (GKC 494 §159.g).
Exodus 12:13 tn The meaning of the verb is supplied in part from the near context of seeing the sign and omitting to destroy, as well as the verb at the start of verse 12 “pass through, by, over.” Isa 31:5 says, “Just as birds hover over a nest, so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it; as he passes over he will rescue it.” The word does not occur enough times to enable one to delineate a clear meaning. It is probably not the same word as “to limp” found in 1 Kgs 18:21, 26, unless there is a highly developed category of meaning there.
Exodus 12:13 tn The word “plague” (נֶגֶף, negef) is literally “a blow” or “a striking.” It usually describes a calamity or affliction given to those who have aroused God’s anger, as in Exod 30:12; Num 8:19; 16:46, 47; Josh 22:17 (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 92-93).
Exodus 12:13 tn Heb “for destruction.” The form מַשְׁחִית (mashkhit) is the Hiphil participle of שָׁחַת (shakhat). The word itself is a harsh term; it was used to describe Yahweh’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 13:10).
Exodus 12:13 tn בְּהַכֹּתִי (b^ehakkoti) is the Hiphil infinitive construct from נָכָה (nakhah), with a preposition prefixed and a pronominal suffix added to serve as the subjective genitive—the subject of this temporal clause. It is also used in 12:12.
Exodus 12:13 sn For additional discussions, see W. H. Elder, “The Passover,” RevExp 74 (1977): 511-22; E. Nutz, “The Passover,” BV 12 (1978): 23-28; H. M. Kamsler, “The Blood Covenant in the Bible,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 94-98; A. Rodriguez, Substitution in the Hebrew Cultus; B. Ramm, “The Theology of the Book of Exodus: A Reflection on Exodus 12:12, ” SwJT 20 (1977): 59-68; and M. Gilula, “The Smiting of the First-Born: An Egyptian Myth?” TA 4 (1977): 94-85.
Exodus 12:14 tn Heb “and this day will be.”
Exodus 12:14 tn The expression “will be for a memorial” means “will become a memorial.”sn The instruction for the unleavened bread (vv. 14-20) begins with the introduction of the memorial (זִכָּרוֹן [zikkaron] from זָכַר [zakhar]). The reference is to the fifteenth day of the month, the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. B. Jacob (Exodus, 315) notes that it refers to the death blow on Egypt, but as a remembrance had to be held on the next day, not during the night. He also notes that this was the origin of “the Day of the Lord” (“the Day of Yahweh”), which the prophets predicted as the day of the divine battle. On it the enemy would be wiped out. For further information, see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel (SBT). The point of the word “remember” in Hebrew is not simply a recollection of an event, but a reliving of it, a reactivating of its significance. In covenant rituals “remembrance” or “memorial” is designed to prompt God and worshiper alike to act in accordance with the covenant. Jesus brought the motif forward to the new covenant with “this do in remembrance of me.”
Exodus 12:14 tn The verb וְחַגֹּתֶם (v^ekhaggotem), a perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive to continue the instruction, is followed by the cognate accusative חַג (khag), for emphasis. As the wording implies and the later legislation required, this would involve a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Yahweh.
Exodus 12:14 tn Two expressions show that this celebration was to be kept perpetually: the line has “for your generations, [as] a statute forever.” “Generations” means successive generations (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 94). עוֹלָם (ʿolam) means “ever, forever, perpetual”—no end in sight.

Psalm 116:1-2

Psalm 116^[a]

116 I love the Lord
because he heard my plea for mercy,^[b]
²and listened to me.^[c]
As long as I live, I will call to him when I need help.^[d]

Psalm 116:12-19

¹²How can I repay the Lord
for all his acts of kindness to me?
¹³I will celebrate my deliverance,^[a]
and call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁴I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
before all his people.
¹⁵The Lord values
the lives of his faithful followers.^[b]
¹⁶Yes, Lord! I am indeed your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your female servant.^[c]
You saved me from death.^[d]
¹⁷I will present a thank offering to you,
and call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁸I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
before all his people,
¹⁹in the courts of the Lord’s temple,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

²³For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, ²⁴and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

John 13:1-17

Washing the Disciples’ Feet

13 Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that his time^[a] had come to depart^[b] from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end.^[c] ²The evening meal^[d] was in progress, and the devil had already put into the heart^[e] of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that he should betray^[f] Jesus.^[g] ³Because Jesus^[h] knew that the Father had handed all things over to him,^[i] and that he had come from God and was going back to God, ⁴he got up from the meal, removed^[j] his outer clothes,^[k] took a towel and tied it around himself.^[l] ⁵He poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel he had wrapped around himself.^[m]

⁶Then he came to Simon Peter. Peter^[n] said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash^[o] my feet?” ⁷Jesus replied,^[p] “You do not understand^[q] what I am doing now, but you will understand^[r] after these things.” ⁸Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!”^[s] Jesus replied,^[t] “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”^[u] ⁹Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, wash^[v] not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰Jesus replied,^[w] “The one who has bathed needs only to wash his feet,^[x] but is completely^[y] clean.^[z] And you disciples^[aa] are clean, but not every one of you.” ¹¹(For Jesus^[ab] knew the one who was going to betray him. For this reason he said, “Not every one of you is^[ac] clean.”)^[ad]

¹²So when Jesus^[ae] had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table^[af] again and said to them, “Do you understand^[ag] what I have done for you? ¹³You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly,^[ah] for that is what I am.^[ai] ¹⁴If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵For I have given you an example^[aj]—you should do just as I have done for you. ¹⁶I tell you the solemn truth,^[ak] the slave^[al] is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger^[am] greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷If you understand^[an] these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Footnotes

John 13:1 tn Grk “his hour.”
John 13:1 tn Grk “that he should depart.” The ἵνα (hina) clause in Koine Greek frequently encroached on the simple infinitive (for the sake of greater clarity).
John 13:1 tn Or “he now loved them completely,” or “he now loved them to the uttermost” (see John 19:30). All of John 13:1 is a single sentence in Greek, although in English this would be unacceptably awkward. At the end of the verse the idiom εἰς τέλος (eis telos) was translated literally as “to the end” and the modern equivalents given in the note above, because there is an important lexical link between this passage and John 19:30, τετέλεσται (tetelestai, “It is ended”). sn The full extent of Jesus’ love for his disciples is not merely seen in his humble service to them in washing their feet (the most common interpretation of the passage). The full extent of his love for them is demonstrated in his sacrificial death for them on the cross. The footwashing episode which follows then becomes a prophetic act, or acting out beforehand, of his upcoming death on their behalf. The message for the disciples was that they were to love one another not just in humble, self-effacing service, but were to be willing to die for one another. At least one of them got this message eventually, though none understood it at the time (see 1 John 3:16).
John 13:2 tn Or “Supper.” To avoid possible confusion because of different regional English usage regarding the distinction between “dinner” and “supper” as an evening meal, the translation simply refers to “the evening meal.”
John 13:2 sn At this point the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that he should betray Jesus. C. K. Barrett (St. John, 365) thought this was a reference to the idea entering the devil’s own heart, but this does not seem likely. It is more probable that Judas’ heart is meant, since the use of the Greek article (rather than a possessive pronoun) is a typical idiom when a part of one’s own body is indicated. Judas’ name is withheld until the end of the sentence for dramatic effect (emphasis). This action must be read in light of 13:27, and appears to refer to a preliminary idea or plan.
John 13:2 tn Or “that he should hand over.”
John 13:2 tn Grk “betray him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
John 13:3 tn Grk “Because he knew”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
John 13:3 tn Grk “had given all things into his hands.”
John 13:4 tn Grk “and removed”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.
John 13:4 tn The plural τὰ ἱμάτια (ta himatia) is probably a reference to more than one garment (cf. John 19:23-24). If so, this would indicate that Jesus stripped to a loincloth, like a slave. The translation “outer clothes” is used to indicate that Jesus was not completely naked, since complete nudity would have been extremely offensive to Jewish sensibilities in this historical context.
John 13:4 tn Grk “taking a towel he girded himself.” Jesus would have wrapped the towel (λέντιον, lention) around his waist (διέζωσεν ἑαυτόν, diezōsen heauton) for use in wiping the disciples’ feet. The term λέντιον is a Latin loanword (linteum) which is also found in the rabbinic literature (see BDAG 592 s.v.). It would have been a long piece of linen cloth, long enough for Jesus to have wrapped it about his waist and still used the free end to wipe the disciples’ feet.
John 13:5 tn Grk “with the towel with which he was girded.”
John 13:6 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Peter) is specified in the translation for clarity.
John 13:6 tn Grk “do you wash” or “are you washing.”
John 13:7 tn Grk “answered and said to him.”
John 13:7 tn Grk “You do not know.”
John 13:7 tn Grk “you will know.”
John 13:8 tn Grk “You will never wash my feet forever.” The negation is emphatic in Greek but somewhat awkward in English. Emphasis is conveyed in the translation by the use of an exclamation point.
John 13:8 tn Grk “Jesus answered him.”
John 13:8 tn Or “you have no part in me.”
John 13:9 tn The word “wash” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Here it is supplied to improve the English style by making Peter’s utterance a complete sentence.
John 13:10 tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”
John 13:10 tn Grk “has no need except to wash his feet.”
John 13:10 tn Or “entirely.”
John 13:10 sn The one who has bathed needs only to wash his feet. A common understanding is that the “bath” Jesus referred to is the initial cleansing from sin, which necessitates only “lesser, partial” cleansings from sins after conversion. This makes a fine illustration from a homiletic standpoint, but is it the meaning of the passage? This seems highly doubtful. Jesus stated that the disciples were completely clean except for Judas (vv. 10b, 11). What they needed was to have their feet washed by Jesus. In the broader context of the Fourth Gospel, the significance of the foot-washing seems to point not just to an example of humble service (as most understand it), but something more—Jesus’ self-sacrificial death on the cross. If this is correct, then the foot-washing which they needed to undergo represented their acceptance of this act of self-sacrifice on the part of their master. This makes Peter’s initial abhorrence of the act of humiliation by his master all the more significant in context; it also explains Jesus’ seemingly harsh reply to Peter (above, v. 8; compare Matt 16:21-23 where Jesus says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan”).
John 13:10 tn The word “disciples” is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb. Peter is not the only one Jesus is addressing here.
John 13:11 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
John 13:11 tn Grk “Not all of you are.”
John 13:11 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
John 13:12 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
John 13:12 tn Grk “he reclined at the table.” The phrase reflects the normal 1st century Near Eastern practice of eating a meal in a semi-reclining position.
John 13:12 tn Grk “Do you know.”
John 13:13 tn Or “rightly.”
John 13:13 tn Grk “and I am these things.”
John 13:15 sn I have given you an example. Jesus tells his disciples after he has finished washing their feet that what he has done is to set an example for them. In the previous verse he told them they were to wash one another’s feet. What is the point of the example? If it is simply an act of humble service, as most interpret the significance, then Jesus is really telling his disciples to serve one another in humility rather than seeking preeminence over one another. If, however, the example is one of self-sacrifice up to the point of death, then Jesus is telling them to lay down their lives for one another (cf. 15:13).
John 13:16 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
John 13:16 tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.
John 13:16 tn Or “nor is the apostle” (“apostle” means “one who is sent” in Greek).
John 13:17 tn Grk “If you know.”

John 13:31-35

The Prediction of Peter’s Denial

³¹When^[a] Judas^[b] had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. ³²If God is glorified in him,^[c] God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him right away.^[d] ³³Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me,^[e] and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders,^[f] ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’^[g] now I tell you the same.^[h]

³⁴“I give you a new commandment—to love^[i] one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.^[j] ³⁵Everyone^[k] will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”

Footnotes

John 13:31 tn Grk “Then when.”
John 13:31 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
John 13:32 tc A number of early mss (P⁶⁶ א* B C* D L W al as well as several versional witnesses) do not have the words “If God is glorified in him,” while the majority of mss have the clause (so א² A C² Θ Ψ ƒ¹³ 33 M lat). Although the mss that omit the words are significantly better witnesses, the omission may have occurred because of an error of sight due to homoioteleuton (v. 31 ends in ἐν αὐτῷ [en autō, “in him”], as does this clause). Further, the typical step-parallelism found in John is retained if the clause is kept intact (TCGNT 205-6). At the same time, it is difficult to explain how such a wide variety of witnesses would have accidentally deleted this clause, and arguments for intentional deletion are not particularly convincing. NA²⁸ rightly places the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.
John 13:32 tn Or “immediately.”
John 13:33 tn Or “You will seek me.”
John 13:33 tn Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem in general, or to the Jewish religious leaders in particular, who had sent servants to attempt to arrest Jesus on that occasion (John 7:33-35). The last option is the one adopted in the translation above.
John 13:33 sn See John 7:33-34.
John 13:33 tn The words “the same” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.
John 13:34 tn The ἵνα (hina) clause gives the content of the commandment. This is indicated by a dash in the translation.
John 13:34 sn The idea that love is a commandment is interesting. In the OT the ten commandments have a setting in the covenant between God and Israel at Sinai; they were the stipulations that Israel had to observe if the nation were to be God’s chosen people. In speaking of love as the new commandment for those whom Jesus had chosen as his own (John 13:1; 15:16) and as a mark by which they could be distinguished from others (13:35), John shows that he is thinking of this scene in covenant terminology. But note that the disciples are to love “Just as I have loved you” (13:34). The love Jesus has for his followers cannot be duplicated by them in one sense, because it effects their salvation, since he lays down his life for them: It is an act of love that gives life to people. But in another sense, they can follow his example (recall to the end, 13:1; also 1 John 3:16; 4:16 and the interpretation of Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet). In this way Jesus’ disciples are to love one another: They are to follow his example of sacrificial service to one another, to death if necessary.
John 13:35 tn Grk “All people,” although many modern translations have rendered πάντες (pantes) as “all men” (ASV, RSV, NASB, NIV). While the gender of the pronoun is masculine, it is collective and includes people of both genders.

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Institution of the Passover

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Psalm 116[a]

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Washing the Disciples’ Feet

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The Prediction of Peter’s Denial

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Psalm 116^[a]