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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Yhn C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21
Yhn 13 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33 V34 V35 V36 V37 V38
OET (OET-LV) And one out_of the apprentices/followers whom the Yaʸsous was_loving was reclining in the bosom of_him of_ the _Yaʸsous.
OET (OET-RV) One of them that Yeshua especially liked,[fn] was leaning against him at the table.
13:23 This apprentice, unnamed here, is assumed to be the author of this account (being shy or modest).
In this section Jesus told his disciples that one of them would betray him. The disciples wondered who he meant. Jesus showed them by giving a piece of bread to Judas. Judas then left the room.
Here are some other possible section headings:
Jesus predicted that one of his disciples would betray him
Jesus knew one of his disciples would oppose him
The Jewish custom at meals was to have several couches arranged in a U-shape around the table. The guests reclined (leaned) on the couches around the table, leaning on their left elbow. Jesus was probably in the center, and John was on Jesus’ right. In this paragraph Peter told John to ask Jesus who would betray him. Jesus said that the person to whom he gave bread would be the one who would betray him. He gave the bread to Judas.
One of His disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at His side.
The disciple whom Jesus loved was reclining/sitting at the table closest to Jesus,
One disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, was at the table next to Jesus.
One of His disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at His side: At formal meals Jewish people reclined (leaned) on couches around the table. They leaned on their left elbow and used their right hand to eat the food. (See the note and picture at 12:2b.) The disciple John was next to Jesus. He was apparently on Jesus’ right side, a place of honor. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table. (NLT)
One disciple, the one Jesus loved, was there at the table next to Jesus.
The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table. (NLT)
the one whom Jesus loved: It is usually agreed that this phrase refers to John the author. You should not make this explicit here, but you may want to mention this in a footnote. For example:
The “disciple Jesus loved” was probably John. (NLT footnote)
The phrase indicates that John knew that Jesus loved him very much. See the notes on loved at 11:5, 36. The phrase does not indicate that the other disciples were not loved, and you should avoid implying this.
was reclining at His side: The word reclining here refers to a half-lying position, leaning on one’s elbow. This was the usual way to eat at special meals. John was next to Jesus with his back to Jesus. This way he could lean back and talk privately to Jesus. See how you translated this same word in 12:2b. Here is another way to translate this phrase:
was sitting next to Jesus (GNT)
at His side: The Greek expression that the BSB translates as at His side indicates that John was close to Jesus, at his side or chest. Because guests leaned on their left elbow, he must have been at Jesus’ right side. The position at the right of the chief guest was honored, and you may want to make this explicit:
to the right of Jesus in a place of honor (NET)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
εἷς ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ & ὃν ἠγάπα ὁ Ἰησοῦς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἦν Δέ ἀνακείμενος εἱς ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὅν ἠγάπα ὁ Ἰησοῦς)
This phrase refers to the apostle John, who wrote this Gospel. See the discussion of this phrase in Part 1 of the Introduction to the Gospel of John and the discussion in the General Notes for this chapter. If this phrase would be confusing to your readers, you could express the meaning explicitly. Alternate translation: [I, one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved] or [John, one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved]
Note 2 topic: translate-unknown
ἀνακείμενος
reclining
During Jesus’ time, people would often eat meals while lying on their sides on low couches next to a table. If your readers would not be familiar with this meal practice, you could use a general expression for sitting to have a meal. Alternate translation: [seated at the table]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ
in the bosom ¬the ˱of˲_Jesus
In Jesus’ culture, lying with one’s head against the side of another person when having a meal was considered to be a sign that the two people had a very close friendship. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [closely beside Jesus as a close friend]
13:23 The disciple Jesus loved appears at the cross (19:26-27), at the tomb (20:2-9), and at the resurrection (21:1, 20-23). He is the author of this Gospel (21:24-25). Some scholars believe that Lazarus was in fact the disciple whom Jesus loved (see 11:3, 5, 36), but the person referred to here was among the twelve apostles and is usually identified as the apostle John.
• was sitting next to Jesus at the table: Literally was reclining on Jesus’ bosom. They were probably reclining at a triclinium, a U-shaped table with couches. Guests reclined on the couches, while the center provided access to servers. The diners supported their bodies by their left elbows while using their right hands for eating. Feet were extended away from the table (cp. Luke 7:38).
OET (OET-LV) And one out_of the apprentices/followers whom the Yaʸsous was_loving was reclining in the bosom of_him of_ the _Yaʸsous.
OET (OET-RV) One of them that Yeshua especially liked,[fn] was leaning against him at the table.
13:23 This apprentice, unnamed here, is assumed to be the author of this account (being shy or modest).
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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