Charles Ellicott Commentary John 13:30

"He then having received the sop went out straightway: and it was night." — John 13:30 (ASV)

He then having received the sop.—Compare Note on John 13:27. The narrative is resumed from that point, John 13:28–29 being an explanatory note added by the writer. Returning to the record of what took place, he dwells again on the moment of receiving the sop as that in which the betrayer took the fatal step which could not be retraced.

And it was night.—These words doubtless state the physical fact that at the time when Judas left the room the darkness of night had already come on. He went out, and went out into the darkness of night. We cannot say that the writer meant them to express more than this, and yet we feel that there is in them a fullness of meaning that cannot have been unintentional.

It was night; and he stepped out from light into darkness; from the presence and guidance of the Light of the World, to be possessed by and guided by the prince of darkness. It was night; and St. John could hardly have written these words without remembering those he had written only a short time before: If a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. (See Note on John 11:10.)

Compare, for the way in which St. John gives emphasis to a tragic fullness of meaning by expressing it in a short detached sentence, John 11:35; John 18:40.