13:8a
Never shall You wash my feet!: In the Greek this is a strong statement. Peter rejected the idea that he would ever let Jesus wash his feet. Here are other ways to translate this statement:
Never at any time will you wash my feet! (Good News Translation)
-or-
I will never let you wash my feet. (Revised English Bible)
-or-
You may/must never wash my feet!
Peter told Him: Here Simon Peter is referred to as just Peter.
13:8b
Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me: This statement here means “If I do not wash you, you will not have fellowship or inheritance with me.” This sentence says that the washing was figuratively a necessary condition for belonging to Jesus or being saved. It refers to the washing that cleanses people of their sins (see 13:10), not to washing his feet. However, you should not make the figurative sense explicit. Here is another way to translate this sentence:
If I don’t wash you, you don’t really belong to me. (Contemporary English Version)
Unless I wash you: This phrase here means “If I do not wash your feet.” Here Jesus referred to literally washing Peter’s feet. You may want to make this explicit. For example:
If I do not wash your feet…. (Good News Translation)
But Jesus also spoke figuratively of cleansing Peter from his sins. It is good to translate this literally but use words that suggest or allow the possibility of the figurative meaning.
you have no part with Me: This clause refers to having no fellowship or communion with Jesus, nothing in common with him. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
you don’t belong to me (God’s Word)
-or-
you are not one of my people (New Century Version)
General Comment on 13:8b
In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of the clauses in 13:8b. For example:
You will not be one of my people unless I wash you.
-or-
You will not belong to me if I do not wash you.
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