John 21:20 — ExegesisTAB

The verse opens with the circumstantial participle epistrapheis {Ἐπιστραφεὶς | Epistrapheís} ‘having turned’, which sets the temporal background before the main historical present blepei {βλέπει | blépei} ‘sees’. That present tense gives the scene immediacy while the aorist participle keeps Peter’s movement subordinate to the main action. The object ton matheten {τὸν μαθητὴν | tón mathētēn} ‘the disciple’ is then identified by the relative clause hon ēgapa ho Iesous {ὃν ἠγάπα ὁ Ἰησοῦς | hon ēgápa ho Iēsoûs} ‘whom Jesus loved’; the imperfect ēgapa suggests an ongoing pattern of love rather than a single moment. The participle akolouthounta {ἀκολουθοῦντα | akolouthoûnta} ‘following’ continues the description of the disciple as Peter notices him. A second relative clause, hos kai anepesen {ὃς καὶ ἀνέπεσεν | hos kai anépesen} ‘who also reclined’, reaches back to the supper scene and is expanded by the prepositional phrases en tō deipnō {ἐν τῷ δείπνῳ | en tō deípnō} ‘at the supper’ and epi to stēthos autou {ἐπὶ τὸ στῆθος αὐτοῦ | epí tó stêthos autoû} ‘upon His chest’, which together evoke both table fellowship and intimate proximity. The coordinated kai eipen {καὶ εἶπεν | kaí eîpen} introduces the remembered question, and the substantival participle ho paradidous {ὁ παραδιδούς | ho paradidoús} ‘the betraying one’ compresses the betrayer into a role-description rather than a simple verb. In English, the participles are naturally expanded into finite clauses so the sequence of seeing, recalling, and questioning remains clear while preserving the Greek narrative flow.