Bible Strands
John 13:4
So He got up from the supper, laid aside His outer garments, and wrapped a towel around His waist.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus acts at the final meal, rising from the table in the presence of His disciples to perform a servant’s task. The words — ἐγείρεται (egeiretai) means He rises, and τίθησιν (tithēsin) means He lays aside, describing the physical removal of His outer garments. The thread — This physical descent parallels the voluntary poverty described in 2 Corinthians 8:9 and the servant-over-lord reversal in Luke 22:27 and Luke 12:37. Why it lands — The text records a deliberate physical act of undressing to serve, demanding that readers acknowledge authority expressed through service rather than status.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
- Luke 22:27 For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines? But I am among you as one who serves.
- Luke 12:37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them.
- Philippians 2:6 Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
- Luke 17:7 Which of you whose servant comes in from plowing or shepherding in the field will say to him, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?