Translation commentary on John 13:16

I am telling you the truth is used a number of times in John’s Gospel. For its first occurrence see 1.51.

No slave is greater than … no messenger is greater than is literally “a slave is not greater than … a messenger is not greater than….” The word translated messenger appears only here in John’s Gospel: it is the normal word for “apostle,” but all translators recognize that it does not have that technical sense here. This verse is similar to Matthew 10.24: No pupil is greater than his teacher; no slave is greater than his master. The meaning is obvious: the disciple is not to feel too important to perform the acts of service that his Lord performed, nor is he to expect better treatment from the world than his Lord received.

In this context greater may be understood in the sense of “more important,” for example, “No slave is more important than his master.” Comparison may be expressed in some languages as involving a surpassing quality, for example, “No slave surpasses his master in being great.” For other languages a positive-negative contrast may be helpful, for example, “No slave is great while his master is not great.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on John 13:16

13:16a

Truly, truly, I tell you: This clause introduces an important statement and means “pay attention to what I will now say.” See how you translated this phrase in 5:19 and 10:1. For example:

I tell you the truth (New International Version)

13:16b

no servant is greater than his master: This is a general truth. Jesus used this obvious truth to say “you should be willing to do what I did.” If their master could be humble and serve others, then they (his servants) should be willing to do the same.

Although the Greek and Berean Standard Bible use a singular subject, in some languages it may be more natural to use a plural subject. For example:

servants are not greater than their master (New Revised Standard Version)

In some languages it is more natural to express this negative idea with a positive. For example:

a servant’s master is more important than the servant

servant…master: The word that the Berean Standard Bible has translated as servant refers to low level workers, including slaves. For example:

Slaves…owners (God’s Word)
-or-
worker…boss

13:16c

nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him: This clause is another general truth meaning the same thing as “no servant is greater than his master.” It indicates that Jesus’ disciples should be willing to serve others as he did. They were not greater that he was.

The Greek again uses a singular subject like the Berean Standard Bible.

Use either a singular or a plural subject, whichever is more natural in your language to express a general truth.

In some languages it is more natural to express this negative clause in a positive way. For example:

The person who sends a messenger is more important than the messenger himself is.

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