Jesus said to him, “Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    Jesus said to him, “Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”

  • TYNDALE Tyndale New Testament (1534)

    Iesus sayde to him: he that is wesshed nedeth not save to wesshe his fete and is clene every whit. And ye are clene: but not all.

  • GNV Geneva Bible (1599)

    Iesus sayd to him, He that is washed, needeth not, saue to wash his feete, but is cleane euery whit: and ye are cleane, but not all.

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Cross-references (17)

Passages linked to John 13:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • John 15:3 You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
  • 2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
  • Numbers 19:19-21 The clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day. On the seventh day, he shall purify him. He shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at evening. But the man who shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of Yahweh. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him. He is unclean. It shall be a perpetual statute to them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.
  • Ephesians 5:26-27 that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without defect.
  • Leviticus 17:15-16 “ ‘Every person that eats what dies of itself, or that which is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. Then he shall be clean. But if he doesn’t wash them, or bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.’ ”
  • Numbers 19:12-13 He shall purify himself with water on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he doesn’t purify himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and doesn’t purify himself, defiles Yahweh’s tabernacle; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is yet on him.
  • Leviticus 16:26 “He who lets the goat go as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
  • Leviticus 16:28 He who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
  • Numbers 19:7-8 Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening. He who burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening.
  • Romans 7:20-23 But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the law that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present. For I delight in God’s law after the inward man, but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.
  • 2 Corinthians 5:21 For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
  • Ephesians 4:22-24 that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Hebrews 9:10 being only (with meats and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation.
  • James 3:2 For we all stumble in many things. Anyone who doesn’t stumble in word is a perfect person, able to bridle the whole body also.
  • 1 John 1:7-10 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (17 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 10. He who is washed needeth not to wash…

10. He who is washed needeth not to wash more than his feet, but is altogether clean. First, he says that believers are altogether clean; not that they are in every respect pure, so that there no longer remains in them any stain, but because they are cleansed in their chief part; that is, when sin is deprived of its kingly power, so that the righteousness of God holds the superiority; just as if we were to say, that a body was altogether healthy, Because it was not infected with any universal disease. It is by newness of life, therefore, that we must testify ourselves to be the disciples of Christ, for he declares that he is the Author of purity in all his followers.

Again, the other comparison was also applied to the case in hand, that Peter might not set aside the washing of the feet as foolish; for, as Christ washes from the head to the feet, those whom he receives as his disciples, so, in those whom he has cleansed, the lower part remains to be daily cleansed. The children of God are not altogether regenerated on the first day, so as to aim at nothing but the heavenly life; but, on the contrary, the remains of the flesh continue to dwell in them, with which they maintain a continued struggle throughout their whole life. The term feet, therefore, is metaphorically applied to all the passions and cares by which we are brought into contact with the world; for, if the Holy Spirit occupied every part of us, we would no longer have anything to do with the pollutions of the world; but now, by that part in which we are carnal, we creep on the ground, or at least fix our feet in the clay, and, therefor are to some extent unclean. Thus Christ always finds in us something to cleanse. What is here spoken of is not the forgiveness of sins, but the renewal, by which Christ, by gradual and uninterrupted succession, delivers his followers entirely from the sinful desires of the flesh.

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And you are clean. This proposition may be said to be the minor in the syllogism, and hence it follows that the washing of the feet applies to them with strict propriety.

But not all. This exception is added, that every one may examine himself, if Judas may perhaps be moved by a feeling of repentance; though he intended by it to take an early opportunity of fortifying the rest of the disciples, that they might not be perplexed by the atrocity of the crime, which was soon afterwards to be made known. Yet he purposely abstains from naming him, that he may not shut against him the gate of repentance. As that hardened hypocrite was utterly desperate, the warning served only to aggravate his guilt; but it was of great advantage to the other disciples, for by means of it the Divinity of Christ was more fully made known to them, and they likewise perceived that purity is no ordinary gift of the Holy Spirit.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Look as it is with persons that have been…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Jesus saith to him, he that is washed,.... Not…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And so ye, having been already cleansed, need only…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. He that is washed] That is, he…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He that is washed - This is a difficult…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain He that is washed, &c. The feet are always…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain He that is washed--in this thorough sense, to express…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 10. Needeth not save… his feet—For in this act…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. He that is washed] Rather, He that is…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) He that is washed needeth not save to…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Jesus saith to him. Christ"s answer here undoubtedly shows…
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 10. He that is washed needeth not save to…
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain The underlying imagery is of an oriental returning from…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 13:10 Jesus referred to an ultimate cleansing through his…

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