John 13:23-24

Now one of the disciples, he whom Jesus loved, was reclining on his bosom; 24 Simon Peter beckoned to him to ask who this one might be. ”

Among the ancients, persons reclined rather than sat at table, each guest having the left arm supported on a cushion, so as to support the head, and the right arm free, for eating; the feet were extended behind. Each guest thus had his head near the breast of the one whose place was at his left hand; this was John's place as related to Jesus, at this last meal.

The unanimous tradition of the primitive Church designates John as the disciple to whom John 13:23 applies. Our Gospel itself allows no doubt of this; as we have shown in the Introduction (Vol. I., p. 32f.). This appears from John 21:2, compared with John 13:7; John 13:20-23 of the same chapter. Among the seven disciples who are named in John 13:2, Peter, Thomas, and Nathanael are of course excluded, since the disciple whom Jesus loved is nowhere designated by his name in the Gospel, while these three are thus designated several times. The last two disciples, who are not named, do not seem to have belonged to the circle of the apostles; there remain, therefore, only the two sons of Zebedee. As James is excluded by the fact of his early death (comp. what is said of the disciple whom Jesus loved, John 13:22: “ If I will that he tarry till I come, what is it to thee? ”), John only remains.

The Synoptic narrative leads to the same result: The disciple whom Jesus loved being necessarily one of the three privileged apostles, and Peter and James being excluded for the reasons indicated, John alone remains. If he designates himself by this periphrase, it is certainly not through vanity as has been asserted it is precisely from humility that he avoids declaring his name, but with the feeling of the infinite condescension of Him who had deigned to treat him, during His earthly existence, as His friend. The reading of the T. R., agreeing with 14 MSS., among which are the Alexandrian and Cambridge MSS., and with the Peschito, is very simple: “Simon Peter beckons to him to ask who it is of whom he speaks.” But the Alexandrian authorities, the Vatican and Ephrem MSS., etc., and the Itala read: “Simon Peter beckons to him and says to him: Tell who it is of whom he speaks.” The Sinaitic MS. unites the two readings and puts them in juxtaposition, a fact which, in any case, proves the high antiquity of both. Against the first is alleged its great clearness and simplicity; this can be a reason for rejecting it only if the second presents a really admissible meaning. Otherwise the latter must be regarded as the result of an accidental error or of a faulty correction.

The attempt has been made to give it two meanings. Ewald: “He makes a sign and says: Tell (to Jesus) who is the one of whom he speaks.” But, in this case, either: of whom thou speakest, or: ask him, instead of tell would be necessary. The majority (Weiss, Keil, Luthardt) think that Peter, supposing that John already knows from Jesus who is the traitor, simply says to John: “Tell me who it is of whom he (Jesus) speaks.” But the: he beckons, implies that Peter and John were not seated near one another, while the: he says to him, would imply proximity. To solve this contradiction, these last words must, in this case, be explained: “he says to him by a sign ” (νεύων λέγει). Is this use of λέγειν natural? But, above all, how could Peter have supposed so positively and mistakenly (John 13:25) that John already knew this secret? For myself, I persist in believing that in this case, as in so many others, it is an error to bind oneself to the Alexandrian text. The reading of this text seems to me to result from a gloss, sometimes added to (Sinait.), sometimes substituted for (Vatican), the primitive text which has been preserved in the other documents. It follows from John 13:24 that Peter was not seated at Jesus' side; otherwise he might have himself put the question to Him.