the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
lord
κυρίουkuriou
G2962
supreme in authority · noun — genitive singular masculine
neither
οὐδὲoude
G3761
not however · conjunction — negative
he that is sent
ἀπόστολοςapostolos
G652
a delegate · noun — nominative singular masculine
greater
μείζωνmeízōn
G3187
larger (literally or figuratively
than he that sent
πέμψαντοςpempsantos
G3992
to dispatch (from the subjective view or point of depar… · verb — aorist active participle, genitive singular masculine
him
αὐτόν.auton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 6:40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;…
Matthew 10:24-25 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 13:1-17
It has generally been taken for granted by commentators that Christ's washing his disciples' feet, and the discourse that followed it, were the same night in which he was betrayed, and at the same sitting wherein he ate the passover and instituted the Lord's supper; but whether before the solemnity began, or after it was all over, or between the eating of the passover and the institution of the Lord's supper, they are not agreed. This evangelist, making it his business to gather up those passages which the others had omitted, industriously omits those which the others had recorded, which occasions some difficulty in putting them together. If it was then, we suppose that Judas went out (Joh 1…
The servant is not greater than his lord, &c.--an oft-repeated saying (Mat 10:24, &c.).
If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them--a hint that even among real Christians the doing of such things would come lamentably short of the knowing.
Adam Clarke on John 13:16
The servant is not greater than his lord - Christ has ennobled the acts of humility by practising them himself. The true glory of a Christian consists in being, in his measure, as humble as his Lord.
Neither he that is sent - Ουδε αποϚολος Nor an apostle. As I think these words were intended for the suppression of all worldly ambition and lordly conduct in the apostles and their successors in the ministry, therefore I think the original word αποϚολος, should be translated apostle, rather than he that is sent, because the former rendering ascertains and determines the meaning better.
John Gill on John 13:16
Verily, verily, I say unto you,.... This is a strong way of asseveration, and is used when anything of moment and importance, and worthy of attention and observation is delivered.
The servant is not greater than his Lord; it is enough that he be as his Lord, which was a common phrase among the Jews; See Gill on Matthew 10:24, Matthew 10:25; and as it is there made use of, to inform the disciples they must expect persecution, and to encourage them to bear it with patience; here it is designed to engage to humility; for if a master condescends to perform such an action, much more may a servant:
neither he that is sent, is greater than he that sent him. This is also a way of speaking in use a…
The Church Fathers
His successor was Ebion, not agreeing with Cerinthus in every point; in that he affirms the world to have been made by God, not by angels; and because it is written, "No disciple above his master, nor servant above his lord, " sets forth likewise the law as binding, of course for the purpose of excluding the gospel and vindicating Judaism.
We have just heard in the holy Gospel the Lord speaking, and saying, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord, nor the apostle greater than he that sent him: if ye know these things, blessed shall ye be if ye do them." He said this, therefore, because He had washed the disciples' feet, as the Master of humility both by word and example. But we shall be able, with His help, to handle what is in need of more elaborate handling, if we linger not at what is perfectly clear.
The Savior, who is Lord, does something that surpasses all other lords, who have no desire to see their servants rise up to their level. He is such a Son of the Father's goodness and love that, although he was Lord, he produced servants who could become like him, their Lord, not having the spirit of bondage, which comes from fear, but the spirit of adoption in which they too cry, "Abba, Father." So then, before becoming like their teacher and lord, they need to have their feet washed because they are still deficient disciples who possess the spirit of bondage to fear. But when they attain the stature of master and lord … then they will be able to imitate their master and wash the disciple's feet as the teacher.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Example · CHRIST, OUR — CHRIST, OUR
Humility · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John 13:12-17
12. After then he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, sitting down again at table, [45] he saith to them, Know ye what I have done to you? 13. You call me Master and Lord; and you say well, for so I am. 14. If I then, who am the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another's feet. 15. For I have given you an example, that, as I have done to you, you should do also. 16. Verily, verily, I tell you, the servant is not greater than his lord, nor the ambassador [46] greater than he who sent him. 17. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.
12. When then he had washed their feet. Christ at length explains what was his inte…
slaves are not greater than their master: This proverb was popular and appears in many places (see also 15:20; Matt 10:24; Luke 6:40). Here, Jesus meant that the sacrifice modeled by the master should be seen in the life of the servant.
