3:25 Now a dispute came about between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew 1 concerning ceremonial washing. 2 3:26 So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River, 3 about whom you testified – see, he is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to him!”
3:27 John replied, 4 “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. 3:28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ 5 but rather, ‘I have been sent before him.’
1 tc Was this dispute between the Baptist’s disciples and an individual Judean (᾿Ιουδαίου, Ioudaiou) or representatives of the Jewish authorities (᾿Ιουδαίων, Ioudaiwn)? There is good external support for the plural ᾿Ιουδαίων (Ì66 א* Θ Ë1,13 565 al latt), but the external evidence for the singular ᾿Ιουδαίου is slightly stronger ({Ì75 א2 A B L Ψ 33 1241 the majority of Byzantine minuscules and others}).
2 tn Or “ceremonial cleansing,” or “purification.”
3 tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.
4 tn Grk “answered and said.”
5 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).