# John 21.20 **Book:** [John](/codex/john/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 18. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 19. Now this he spake, signifying by what manner of death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. > > **20. Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; who also leaned back on his breast at the supper, and said, Lord, who is he that betrayeth thee?** > > 21. Peter therefore seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? 22. Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. (John 21:18-22, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 18. Most certainly I tell you, when you were young, you dressed yourself, and walked where you wanted to. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you, and carry you where you don’t want to go.” 19. Now he said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. When he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.” > > **20. Then Peter, turning around, saw a disciple following. This was the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who had also leaned on Jesus’ breast at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is going to betray You?”** > > 21. Peter seeing him, said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22. Jesus said to him, “If I desire that he stay until I come, what is that to you? You follow me.” (John 21:18-22, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 18. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 19. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. > > **20. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?** > > 21. Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? 22. Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. (John 21:18-22, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 18. verily, verily, I say to thee, When thou wast younger, thou wast girding thyself and wast walking whither thou didst will, but when thou mayest be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another will gird thee, and shall carry [thee] whither thou dost not will;' 19. and this he said, signifying by what death he shall glorify God; and having said this, he saith to him, 'Be following me.' > > **20. And Peter having turned about doth see the disciple whom Jesus was loving following, (who also reclined in the supper on his breast, and said, 'Sir, who is he who is delivering thee up?')** > > 21. Peter having seen this one, saith to Jesus, 'Lord, and what of this one?' 22. Jesus saith to him, 'If him I will to remain till I come, what, to thee? be thou following me.' This word, therefore, went forth to the brethren that that disciple doth not die, (John 21:18-22, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** _TBD_ - **Audience:** _TBD_ - **Location:** _TBD_ - **Time period:** _TBD_ ## Theological reading _Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._ ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ - None of the words in this verse has its own lexicon entry yet. ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Argument from the Resurrection](/codex/argument-from-the-resurrection/), via [John 21.1-23](/codex/john-21-1-23/) - [Johannine Authorship of the Fourth Gospel](/codex/johannine-authorship-of-the-fourth-gospel/), via [John 21.20-23](/codex/john-21-20-23/) - [The Resurrection Accounts Contradict Objection Defeater](/codex/the-resurrection-accounts-contradict-objection-defeater/), via [John 21.1-23](/codex/john-21-1-23/) **Concepts:** - [Jesus Said](/codex/jesus-said/), via [John 21](/codex/john-21/) **Lexicon:** - [G1994 - epistrepho](/codex/g1994-epistrepho/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.