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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - John 13:26 - 13:26
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
To whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it (ᾦ ἐγὼ βάψας τὸ ψωμίον ἐπιδώσω)
The best texts read ᾦ ἐγὼ βάψω τὸ ψωμίον καὶ δώσω αὐτῷ, for whom I shall dip the sop and give it him.
Sop (ψωμίον)
Only in this chapter. Diminutive from ψωμός, a morsel, which, in turn, is from ψάω, to rub, or to crumble. Homer, of the Cyclops:
“Then from his mouth came bits (ψωμοί) of human flesh
Mingled with wine.”
“Odyssey,” ix., 374.
And Xenophon: “And on one occasion having seen one of his companions at table tasting many dishes with one bit (ψωμῷ) of bread” (“Memorabilia,” iii., 14, 15). The kindred verb ψωμίζω, rendered feed, occurs Rom 12:20; 1Co 13:3. See also Septuagint, Psa 79:5; Psa 80:16. According to its etymology, the verb means to feed with morsels; and it was used by the Greeks of a nurse chewing the food and administering it to an infant. So Aristophanes: “And one laid the child to rest, and another bathed it, and another fed (ἐψώμισεν) it” (“Lysistrate,” 19, 20). This sense may possibly color the word as used in Rom 12:20 : “If thine enemy hunger, feed (ψώμιζε) him;” with tender care. In 1Co 13:3, the original sense appears to be emphasized: “Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor (ψωμίσω).” This idea is that of doling away in morsels. Dean Stanley says: “Who that has witnessed the almsgiving in a Catholic monastery, or the court of a Spanish or Sicilian bishop's or archbishop's palace, where immense revenues are syringed away in farthings to herds of beggars, but must feel the force of the Apostle's half satirical ψωμίσω?”
Dipped the sop
Compare Mat 26:23; Mar 14:20. The regular sop of the Paschal supper consisted of the following things wrapped together: flesh of the Paschal lamb, a piece of unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. The sauce into which it was dipped does not belong to the original institution, but had been introduced before the days of Christ. According to one authority it consisted of only vinegar and water (compare Rth 2:14); others describe it as a mixture of vinegar, figs, dates, almonds, and spice. The flour which was used to thicken the sauce on ordinary occasions was forbidden at the Passover by the Rabbins, lest it might occasion a slight fermentation. According to some, the sauce was beaten up to the consistence of mortar, in order to commemorate the toils of the Israelites in laying bricks in Egypt.
To Judas Iscariot the son of Simon (Ἱούδᾳ Σίμωνος Ἱσκαριώτῃ).
The best texts read Ἱσκαριώτου. “Judas the son of Simon Iscariot.” So Joh 6:71. The act was a mark of forbearance and goodwill toward the traitor, and a tacit appeal to his conscience against the contemplated treachery.