Matthew 3:11

3:11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy ¹  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ² 

Matthew 3:14

3:14 But John ³  tried to prevent ⁴  him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?”

Luke 3:16

3:16 John answered them all, ⁵  “I baptize you with water, ⁶  but one more powerful than I am is coming – I am not worthy ⁷  to untie the strap ⁸  of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ⁹ 

Luke 7:6-7

7:6 So ¹⁰  Jesus went with them. When ¹¹  he was not far from the house, the centurion ¹²  sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, ¹³  for I am not worthy ¹⁴  to have you come under my roof. 7:7 That is why ¹⁵  I did not presume ¹⁶  to come to you. Instead, say the word, and my servant must be healed. ¹⁷ 

John 1:27

1:27 who is coming after me. I am not worthy ¹⁸  to untie the strap ¹⁹  of his sandal!”

John 3:28-31

3:28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ ²⁰  but rather, ‘I have been sent before him.’ 3:29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly ²¹  when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete. ²²  3:30 He must become more important while I become less important.” ²³ 

3:31 The one who comes from above is superior to all. ²⁴  The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. ²⁵  The one who comes from heaven ²⁶  is superior to all. ²⁷ 

Acts 13:25

13:25 But while John was completing his mission, ²⁸  he said repeatedly, ²⁹  ‘What do you think I am? I am not he. But look, one is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet!’ ³⁰ 

¹ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

² sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

³ tc ‡ The earliest mss (א* B sa) lack the name of John here (“but he tried to prevent him,” instead of “but John tried to prevent him”). It is, however, clearly implied (and is thus supplied in translation). Although the longer reading has excellent support (Ì⁹⁶ א¹ C D^s L W 0233 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat[t] sy mae bo), it looks to be a motivated and predictable reading: Scribes apparently could not resist adding this clarification.

⁴ tn The imperfect verb has been translated conatively.

⁵ tn Grk “answered them all, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

⁶ tc A few mss (C D 892 1424 pc it ) add εἰς μετάνοιαν (ei" metanoian, “for repentance”). Although two of the mss in support are early and important, it is an obviously motivated reading to add clarification, probably representing a copyist’s attempt to harmonize Luke’s version with Matt 3:11.

⁷ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

⁸ tn The term refers to the leather strap or thong used to bind a sandal. This is often viewed as a collective singular and translated as a plural, “the straps of his sandals,” but it may be more emphatic to retain the singular here.

⁹ sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the resultative action.

¹¹ tn The participle ἀπέχοντος (apeconto") has been taken temporally.

¹² sn See the note on the word centurion in 7:2.

¹³ tn Or “do not be bothered.”

¹⁴ sn Note the humility in the centurion’s statement I am not worthy in light of what others think (as v. 4 notes). See Luke 5:8 for a similar example of humility.

¹⁵ tn Or “roof; therefore.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “I did not consider myself worthy to come to you.” See BDAG 94 s.v. ἀξιόω 1. “Presume” assumes this and expresses the idea in terms of offense.

¹⁷ tc The aorist imperative ἰαθήτω (iaqhtw, “must be healed”) is found in Ì^75vid B L 1241 sa. Most mss (א A C D W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt bo) have instead a future indicative, ἰαθήσεται (iaqhsetai, “will be healed”). This is most likely an assimilation to Matt 8:8, and thus, as a motivated reading, should be considered secondary. The meaning either way is essentially the same.

¹⁸ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

¹⁹ tn The term refers to the leather strap or thong used to bind a sandal. This is often viewed as a collective singular and translated as a plural, “the straps of his sandals,” but it may be more emphatic to retain the singular here.

²⁰ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

²¹ tn Grk “rejoices with joy” (an idiom).

²² tn Grk “Therefore this my joy is fulfilled.”

²³ sn Some interpreters extend the quotation of John the Baptist’s words through v. 36.

²⁴ tn Or “is above all.”

²⁵ tn Grk “speaks from the earth.”

²⁶ sn The one who comes from heaven refers to Christ. As in John 1:1, the Word’s preexistence is indicated here.

²⁷ tc Ì⁷⁵ א* D ˹ 565 as well as several versions and fathers lack the phrase “is superior to all” (ἐπάνω πάντων ἐστίν, epanw pantwn estin). This effectively joins the last sentence of v. 31 with v. 32: “The one who comes from heaven testifies about what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.” On the other side, the phrase may have been deleted because of perceived redundancy, since it duplicates what is said earlier in the verse. The witnesses that include ἐπάνω πάντων ἐστίν in both places are weighty and widespread (Ì^36vid,66 א² A B L W^s Θ Ψ 083 086 ˹³ 33 Ï lat sy^s,p,h bo). On balance, the longer reading should probably be considered authentic.

²⁸ tn Or “task.”

²⁹ tn The verb ἔλεγεν (elegen) has been translated as an iterative imperfect, since John undoubtedly said this or something similar on numerous occasions.

³⁰ tn Literally a relative clause, “of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of his feet.” Because of the awkwardness of this construction in English, a new sentence was begun here.