As he was (oUrws). Inserted by the best texts, and not found in the A. V. Reclining as he was, he leaned back. The general attitude of reclining was maintained. Compare iv. 6: “gat thus (ovrws) on the well.” According to the original in- stitution, the Passover was to be eaten standing (Exod. xii. 11). After the Captivity the custom was changed, and the guests re- clined. The Rabbis insisted that at least a part of the Paschal meal should be eaten in that position, because it was the man- ner of slaves to eat standing, and the recumbent position showed that they had been delivered from bondage into free- dom.
Breast (c779os). From torn, to cause to stand. Hence, that which stands out. In later writings John was known as 0 éruatn Sus, the one on the breast, or the bosom friend.
26. To whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it (6 éyo Barras To Wopulov éridocw). The best texts read db éy@ Bao 76 opiov Kai Secw ate, for whom I shall dip the sop and give wt him.
Sop (Wopiov). Only in this chapter. Diminutive from opos, a morsel, which, in turn, is from do, to rub, or to crumble. Homer, of the Cyclops:
““Then from his mouth came b7ts (wuol) of human flesh Mingled with wine.” ‘ ““Odyssey,” ix., 374.
And Xenophon: “ And on one occasion having seen one of his companions at table tasting many dishes with one bit (wud) of bread” (“ Memorabilia,” iii., 14,15). The kindred verb ro- witw, rendered feed, occurs Rom. xii. 20; 1 Cor. xiii. 3. See also Septuagint, Ps. lxxix. 5; Ixxx. 16. According to its ety- mology, the verb means to feed with morsels; and it was used by the Greeks of a nurse chewing the food and administering it to an infant. So Aristophanes: ‘“ And one laid the child to rest, and another bathed it, and another fed (éomucev) it” (“ Lysistrate,” 19, 20). This sense may possibly color the word as used in Rom. xii. 20: “If thine enemy hunger, feed (Wott)