Misinterpretation in KJV (XI)

John 13:2 (King James Version)

And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;

John 13:2 (New International Version)

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

•

The

evening

meal

was

in

progress

,

and

the

devil

had

already

καὶ1

→

δείπνου2

←

→

→

γινομένου3

←

τοῦ4

διαβόλου5

►7

ἤδη6

prompted

Judas

,

the

son

of

Simon

Iscariot

,

to

βεβληκότος7 εἰς8 τὴν9 καρδίαν10

Ἰούδας14

•

•

→

Σίμωνος15

Ἰσκαριώτου16

ἵνα11

betray		Jesus	.
παραδοῖ12		αὐτὸν13

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Jn 13:2.

John 13:2 exemplifies a critical grammatical error in the KJV that creates narrative impossibility. The KJV renders the passage as “supper being ended,” suggesting the meal had already concluded, yet the immediate context demonstrates that the meal was actively occurring—a temporal contradiction that fundamentally distorts the passage’s meaning.

The Grammatical Mistake

The Greek verb form in John 13:2 is a genitive absolute construction (genitive participle with its own subject), which describes an action happening simultaneously or contemporaneously with the main clause. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. The KJV’s rendering of “supper being ended” misinterprets the participle’s aspect—treating it as completed action when it actually denotes ongoing action. The correct sense is “while the supper was taking place” or “with the supper in progress,” not “after the supper had finished.”

The Narrative Contradiction

The error becomes immediately apparent in the verses that follow. Jesus got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:4–5) These actions occur during the meal itself. Furthermore, Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. (John 13:26–30) The bread-dipping episode clearly takes place while eating is occurring. If supper had already ended, these events would be temporally impossible.

The Theological Significance

This mistranslation obscures the intimacy and poignancy of Jesus’s final hours. By placing the meal’s conclusion before the foot-washing and betrayal announcement, the KJV severs the connection between Jesus’s act of humility and his knowledge of Judas’s impending treachery. The theological force lies in Jesus performing this menial service while fully aware of the betrayal unfolding around him—an act of sacrificial love despite imminent betrayal. The KJV’s temporal confusion diminishes this profound juxtaposition of servant love and tragic betrayal occurring within the same sacred moment.