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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - John 13:8 - 13:8
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Thou shalt never wash my feet (ou mē nipsēis mou tous podas eis ton aiōna). Strong double negative ou mē with first aorist active subjunctive of niptō with eis ton aiōna (for ever) added and mou (my) made emphatic by position. Peter’s sudden humility should settle the issue, he felt.
If I wash thee not (ean mē nipsō se). Third-class condition with ean mē (negative). Jesus picks up the challenge of Peter whose act amounted to irreverence and want of confidence. “The first condition of discipleship is self-surrender” (Westcott). So “Jesus, waiting with the basin” (Dods), concludes.
Thou hast no part with me (ouk echeis meros met' emou). Not simply here at the supper with its fellowship, but in the deeper sense of mystic fellowship as Peter was quick to see. Jesus does not make foot-washing essential to spiritual fellowship, but simply tests Peter’s real pride and mock-humility by this symbol of fellowship.