John 13:31-38

The Prediction of Peter’s Denial

13:31 When ¹  Judas ²  had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. 13:32 If God is glorified in him, ³  God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him right away. ⁴  13:33 Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, ⁵  and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, ⁶  ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ ⁷  now I tell you the same. ⁸ 

13:34 “I give you a new commandment – to love ⁹  one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ¹⁰  13:35 Everyone ¹¹  will know by this that you are my disciples – if you have love for one another.”

13:36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, ¹²  “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.” 13:37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!” ¹³  13:38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? ¹⁴  I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁵  the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times!

[13:31]  ¹ tn Grk “Then when.”

[13:31]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:32]  ³ tc A number of early mss (Ì⁶⁶ 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 Ë¹³ 33 Ï 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 autw, “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. NA²⁷ rightly places the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

[13:32]  ⁴ tn Or “immediately.”

[13:33]  ⁵ tn Or “You will seek me.”

[13:33]  ⁶ 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.

[13:33]  ⁷ sn See John 7:33-34.

[13:33]  ⁸ 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.

[13:34]  ⁹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause gives the content of the commandment. This is indicated by a dash in the translation.

[13:34]  ¹⁰ 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.

[13:35]  ¹¹ 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.

[13:36]  ¹² tn Grk “Jesus answered him.”

[13:37]  ¹³ tn Or “I will die willingly for you.”

[13:38]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Will you die willingly for me?”

[13:38]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”