John 13:4

13:4 he got up from the meal, removed his outer clothes, took a towel and tied it around himself.

John 2:10

2:10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the cheaper wine when the guests are drunk. You have kept the good wine until now!”

John 10:11

10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.


tn Grk “and removed”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.

tn The plural τὰ ἱμάτια (ta Jimatia) 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.

tn Grk “taking a towel he girded himself.” Jesus would have wrapped the towel (λέντιον, lention) around his waist (διέζωσεν ἑαυτόν, diezwsen Jeauton) 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.

tn Grk “every man” (in a generic sense).

tn Or “poorer.”

tn Grk “when they”; the referent (the guests) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

tn Or “model” (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:386, who argues that “model” is a more exact translation of καλός [kalos] here).

tn Or “The good shepherd dies willingly.”