John 13:4

13:4 he got up from the meal, removed ¹  his outer clothes, ²  took a towel and tied it around himself. ³ 

John 19:17

19:17 and carrying his own cross ⁴  he went out to the place called “The Place of the Skull” ⁵  (called in Aramaic ⁶  Golgotha). ⁷ 

John 21:1

Jesus’ Appearance to the Disciples in Galilee

21:1 After this ⁸  Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. ⁹  Now this is how he did so. ¹⁰ 

[13:4]  ¹ tn Grk “and removed”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.

[13:4]  ² 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.

[13:4]  ³ 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.

[19:17]  ⁴ tn Or “carrying the cross by himself.”

[19:17]  ⁵ sn Jesus was led out to the place called “The Place of the Skull” where he was to be crucified. It is clear from v. 20 that this was outside the city. The Latin word for the Greek κρανίον (kranion) is calvaria. Thus the English word “Calvary” is a transliteration of the Latin rather than a NT place name (cf. Luke 23:33 in the KJV).

[19:17]  ⁶ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

[19:17]  ⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[21:1]  ⁷ tn The time reference indicated by μετὰ ταῦτα (meta tauta) is indefinite, in comparison with the specific “after eight days” (μεθ᾿ ἡμέρας ὀκτώ, meq’ Jhmera" oktw) between the two postresurrection appearances of Jesus in 20:26.

[21:1]  ⁸ sn The Sea of Tiberias is another name for the Sea of Galilee (see 6:1).

[21:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “how he revealed himself.”