What Does John 13:6 Mean in the King James?
Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Peter calls him Lord while the Greek verb pins the scene to the body: this authority comes close enough to wash feet.
THE MEANING
You can call Jesus Lord and still feel disoriented when that lordship comes close enough to meet an ordinary bodily need. Peter’s question holds reverence and the difficulty of receiving care together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It unsettles the belief that authority must keep its distance: here, the Lord approaches Peter at his feet.
THE ROOT
νίπτεις
nípteis
GROWS FROM
νιπτ- (from νίπτω, níptō)
To wash, especially a part of the body.
“wash” in this verse is nípteis. This verb names washing a body part, such as hands, face, or feet. Peter is not asking about an abstract cleansing; the question is about the Lord approaching an intimate, concrete need.
ALSO GROWS
nípsai: wash your face
νίψαι
The same root reaches the face, showing that it names ordinary, physical washing.
nípsōntai: wash their hands
νίψωνται
The same root also names washing hands, linking Peter’s feet to another familiar, specific bodily need.
THE PATTERN
Authority is disclosed through care that stoops to meet another person’s bodily needs.
Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.THE THREAD
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.Jesus distinguishes being bathed from having feet washed, using νίπτω (níptō, “to wash a body part”) for the feet. That distinction sharpens Peter’s question: the Lord’s care meets a particular, bodily need.
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