Lention is the cloth taken up, worn, and used while washing and wiping the disciples’ feet.

The attested use identifies a cloth taken up and tied around the person performing the foot washing, then used in the washing-and-wiping action described in John 13:4 and John 13:5.

1. Cloth used in foot washing · dominant

   In John 13:4, the accusative singular form occurs as the cloth taken up and tied around him; the APB renders the action, “Taking a towel, he tied it around himself.” In John 13:5, the dative singular form occurs in the clause about wiping the disciples’ feet with the cloth with which he was girded; the APB renders “to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.”

   John 13:4John 13:5

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across John 13:4 and John 13:5, the APB presents the term as “towel,” first taken and tied around the person and then used in wiping feet. The verse is read as a whole, but both clauses present the same object in the washing scene.