Bible Strands
John 21:20
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. He was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper to ask, “Lord, who is going to betray You?”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus has just told Peter to follow Him after revealing the nature of his future death, and Peter immediately looks back to see the beloved disciple trailing behind the group.
The words — The text records Ἐπιστραφεὶς (Epistrapheis) = Having turned and βλέπει (blepei) = sees, describing Peter’s physical pivot and visual focus on the following disciple.
The thread — This figure appears in John 21:7 when he identifies the Lord to Peter, in John 20:2 when Mary runs to both Peter and him to report the empty tomb, and in John 21:24 as the one who testifies to and records these events.
Why it lands — The passage records Peter’s immediate comparison of his own path to another’s, demanding a reader examine whether curiosity about others distracts from the command to follow.
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
Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
Cross-references
- John 21:7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it) and jumped into the sea.
- John 20:2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she said, “and we do not know where they have put Him!”
- John 21:24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who has written them down. And we know that his testimony is true.
- John 13:23 One of His disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at His side.