riseth from supper, and layeth aside his garments; and he took a towel, and girded himself.
4. And layeth aside his garments. The meaning is, that he laid aside his upper garment, not his coat; for we know that the inhabitants of Eastern countries wore long garments
Verse 4. He riseth from supper. Evidently while they were eating. See . Laid aside his garments. His outer garment. . This was his mantle or robe, which is said to have been without seam. It was customary to lay this aside when they worked or ran, or in the heat of summer. Took a towel and girded himself. This was the manner of a servant or slave.
It has generally been taken for granted by commentators that Christ's washing his disciples' feet, and the discourse that followed it, were the same night in which he was betrayed, and at the same sitting wherein he ate the passover and instituted the Lord's supper; but whether before the solemnity began, or after it was all over, or between the eating of the passover and...
Commenting on John 13:1-17