Paragraph 13:6–11

Peter did not want Jesus to serve him in this way. Jesus told him that he needed to allow Jesus to wash his feet if he wanted to follow Jesus. Peter then asked Jesus to wash his hands and head as well as his feet.

13:6

He came to Simon Peter: Jesus was moving around the circle of his disciples, washing each person’s feet. He reached Simon Peter (who is often just called Peter). See the note about Simon Peter in 1:40a–b and how you translated the name there.

who asked Him: The pronoun who refers to Peter. Peter spoke to Jesus. He asked him a rhetorical question, so in some languages it may be natural to indicate a question. For example:

who/Peter asked him

Lord, are You going to wash my feet?: This is a rhetorical question. It is used to show surprise as well as to give a polite rebuke. The Greek emphasizes the pronouns You and my. Peter was saying that he did not think Jesus should wash his feet. He did not want Jesus to act like a slave and do this humble task.

There are at least two ways to translate this surprise and rebuke:

• Use a rhetorical question. For example:

You, Lord, washing my feet? (Revised English Bible)

• Use a statement. For example:

Lord, you should not be washing my feet.
-or-
Lord, you must not wash my feet!

Translate this surprise and rebuke in the way that is most natural in your language.

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.