John 13:18 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John 13:18
I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.
I · personal pronoun — 1st person nominative singular
know
εἴδωeídō
G1492
used only in certain past tenses
whom
ὅςhós
G3739
the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun
I have chosen
ἐξελεξάμην·exelexamēn
G1586
to select · verb — aorist middle indicative, 1st person singular
but
ἀλλ᾽all᾽
G235
properly · conjunction
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
the scripture
γραφὴgraphē
G1124
a document · noun — nominative singular feminine
may be fulfilled
πληρωθῇ·plērōthēa
G4137
to make replete · verb — aorist passive subjunctive, 3rd person singular
He that
ἡhē
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative singular feminine
eateth
τρώγωνtrōgōn
G5176
or perhaps rather of a base of G5167 (τρυγών) and G5149… · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
bread
ἄρτονarton
G740
bread (as raised) or a loaf · noun — accusative singular masculine
with
μετάmetá
G3326
properly
me
ἐμοῦemoû
G1700
of me
hath lifted up
ἐπῆρενepēren
G1869
to raise up (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
his
αὐτοῦ.¶autou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
heel
πτέρνανpternan
G4418
the heel (figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
against
ἐπ᾽ep᾽
G1909
properly · preposition
me
ἐμέemé
G1691
me
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
Psalms 41:9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
Matthew 26:23 And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of…
Mark 14:20 And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish.
John 13:26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, t…
John 13:10-11 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
John 6:70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefor…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 13:18-30
We have here the discovery of Judas's plot to betray his Master. Christ knew it from the beginning; but now first he discovered it to his disciples, who did not expect Christ should be betrayed, though he had often told them so, much less did they suspect that one of them should do it. Now here,
I. Christ gives them a general intimation of it (Joh 13:18): I speak not of you all, I cannot expect you will all do these things, for I know whom I have chosen, and whom I have passed by; but the scripture will be fulfilled (Psa 41:9), He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. He does not yet speak out, either of the crime or the criminal, but raises their expectations of a fu…
I speak not of you all--the "happy are ye," of Joh 13:17, being on no supposition applicable to Judas.
I know whom I have chosen--in the higher sense.
But that the scripture may be fulfilled--that is, one has been added to your number, by no accident or mistake, who is none of Mine, but just that he might fulfil his predicted destiny.
He that eateth bread with me--"did eat of my bread" (Psa 41:9), as one of My family; admitted to the nearest familiarity of discipleship and of social life.
hath lifted up his heel against me--turned upon Me, adding insult to injury. (Compare Heb 10:29). In the Psalm the immediate reference is to Ahithophel's treachery against David (2Sa. 17:1-23), one…
I speak not of you all - This is a continuation of that discourse which was left off at the tenth verse. The preceding verses may be read in a parenthesis.
I know whom I have chosen - I am not deceived in my choice; I perfectly foresaw every thing that has happened, or can happen. I have chosen Judas, not as a wicked man, nor that he should become such; but I plainly foresaw that he would abuse my bounty, give way to iniquity, deliver me into the hands of my enemies, and bring ruin upon himself.
That the scripture may be fulfilled - Or, thus the scripture is fulfilled. Christ applies to Judas what David had said of his rebellious son Absalom, Psa 41:9, who was one of the most express emblems…
The Church Fathers
Literally, this means, I know who each person is whom I have chosen. Therefore, I also know who Judas is, and he does not escape my notice, although the devil has already put the things against me into his heart.
But having said, "I speak not of you all," in order not to attach fear to more than one, He at last separateth the traitor, speaking thus; "He that eateth bread with Me." For the, "not of you all," doth not direct the words to any single one, therefore He added, "He that eateth bread with Me"; showing to that wretched one that He was not seized in ignorance, but even with full knowledge; a thing which of itself was most of all fitted to restrain him. And He said not, "betrayeth Me," but, "hath lifted up his heel against Me," desiring to represent the deceit, the treachery, the secrecy of the plot.
The hateful Iscariot, heedless, By intent, of the law of friendship, Readied for betrayal the feet Which Christ had washed. And though he ate Your bread, the divine Body, He raised his heel against you, O Christ, And knew not how to cry out: "Praise the Lord, O his works, and exalt him unto all ages." The man without conscience received The Body which redeems from sin And the divine blood poured out For the sake of the world; But he was not ashamed to drink What he sold for a price; He took no offense at his wickedness, And knew not how to cry out: "Praise the Lord, O his works, and exalt him unto all ages."
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
Election of Grace — The Scripture speaks (1) of the election of individuals to office or to honour and privilege, e.g., Abraham, Jacob, Saul, David, Solomon, were all chosen by God for the positions they held; so also…
Election · Of saints, is: By Christ — Of saints, is: By Christ
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).
I speak not of you all. What he had before said on the one hand, "ye are not all clean", John 13:11, for one of them was not; and on the other hand, when he put an "if" upon, or seemed to doubt of their knowing and doing these things, John 13:17; or what he was about to say concerning his being betrayed, this he did not speak of them all:
I know whom I have chosen; not to apostleship, for they were all chosen to that, Judas as well as the rest, but to grace and glory, to everlasting salvation and happiness; of these he was well assured, that they were all clean, pure, and spotless, in the sight of God; were truly regenerated by the Spirit of God, and had an experimental and practical knowle…
John 13:18-20
18. I speak not of you all; I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He who eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. 19. I tell you this now, before it happen, that when it shall have happened, you may believe that I am. [52] 20. Verily, verily, I tell you, if I send any one. he who receiveth him receiveth me; and he who receiveth me receiveth him who sent me.
18. I speak not of you all. He again declares that there is one among the disciples who, in reality, is the very reverse of a disciple; and he does so, partly for the sake of Judas, in order to render him the more inexcusable, and partly for the sake of the others, That they ma…
I am not saying these things to all of you: The subject of Judas’s betrayal enters the story for the third time (13:2, 11). The matter weighed heavily on Jesus (13:21). • I know the ones I have chosen: The statement does not imply that Jesus chose only the eleven and that Judas was an outcast. Jesus chose Judas and gave him every opportunity to believe. He realized that Judas had embraced the darkness rather than the light (6:70). • The one who eats my food has turned against me (literally has lifted his heel against me): Eating together was a cultural symbol of personal intimacy, which made Judas’s betrayal all the more treacherous.
