John 13:26

26 Jesus replied, "It is he to whom I dip the piece of bread and give [it] to him." Then [after] dipping the piece of bread, he gave [it] to Judas [son] of Simon Iscariot.

John 13:26 Meaning and Commentary

John 13:26

Jesus answered, he it is
Jesus replied, by whispering; for had he spoken out, the rest could not have been so ignorant, as they still continued, after the sign was given: Christ, I say, whispered to John, and told him by what sign he might know the person, and that it was he,

to whom,
says he,

I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it.
This was not the passover sop, which was dipped into a sauce made of various things, called by the Jews (towrx) ; for this was not the "paschal" supper, but a common supper at a private house, two days before the feast of the passover; but this sop, or rather crust of bread, which whether dipped into a liquid, or only a piece of dry bread, which Christ dipped his hand into the dish for, and took, as some think, is not very material, was a piece of common bread, which Christ took up, without regard to any custom, or ceremony used at any feasts, and gave it to the betrayer, as a sign by which John might know him:

and when he, had dipped the sop;
either into some sort of broth, or any other liquid, or had dipped his hand into the dish for it:

he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon;
so called, to distinguish him from another apostle, whose name was Judas, and was then present.

John 13:26 In-Context

24 So Simon Peter gestured for this one to inquire who it was about whom he was speaking.
25 He leaned back accordingly against Jesus' chest [and] said to him, "Lord, who is it?"
26 Jesus replied, "It is he to whom I dip the piece of bread and give [it] to him." Then [after] dipping the piece of bread, he gave [it] to Judas [son] of Simon Iscariot.
27 And after the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you are doing, do quickly!"
28 (Now no one of those reclining at table knew for what [reason] he said this to him.

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  • [b]. *Here "[after]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("dipping") which is understood as temporal
  • [c]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  • [d]. Some manuscripts have "after dipping the piece of bread, he took [it] and gave [it]"
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