John 1:7-8

1:7 He came as a witness ¹  to testify ²  about the light, so that everyone ³  might believe through him. 1:8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify ⁴  about the light.

John 1:29-34

1:29 On the next day John ⁵  saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God ⁶  who takes away the sin of the world! 1:30 This is the one about whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is greater than I am, ⁷  because he existed before me.’ 1:31 I did not recognize ⁸  him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel.” ⁹ 

1:32 Then ¹⁰  John testified, ¹¹  “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove ¹²  from heaven, ¹³  and it remained on him. ¹⁴  1:33 And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining – this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 1:34 I have both seen and testified that this man is the Chosen One of God.” ¹⁵ 

John 3:26-36

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, ¹⁶  about whom you testified – see, he is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to him!”

3:27 John replied, ¹⁷  “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,’ ¹⁸  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 ¹⁹  when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete. ²⁰  3:30 He must become more important while I become less important.” ²¹ 

3:31 The one who comes from above is superior to all. ²²  The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. ²³  The one who comes from heaven ²⁴  is superior to all. ²⁵  3:32 He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 3:33 The one who has accepted his testimony has confirmed clearly that God is truthful. ²⁶  3:34 For the one whom God has sent ²⁷  speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly. ²⁸  3:35 The Father loves the Son and has placed all things under his authority. ²⁹  3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects ³⁰  the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath ³¹  remains ³²  on him.

John 5:33-36

5:33 You have sent to John, ³³  and he has testified to the truth. 5:34 (I do not accept ³⁴  human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.) 5:35 He was a lamp that was burning and shining, ³⁵  and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time ³⁶  in his light.

5:36 “But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds ³⁷  that the Father has assigned me to complete – the deeds ³⁸  I am now doing – testify about me that the Father has sent me.

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 ³⁹  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ⁴⁰ 

Matthew 3:13-17

The Baptism of Jesus

3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John to be baptized by him in the Jordan River. ⁴¹  3:14 But John ⁴²  tried to prevent ⁴³  him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” 3:15 So Jesus replied ⁴⁴  to him, “Let it happen now, ⁴⁵  for it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John ⁴⁶  yielded ⁴⁷  to him. 3:16 After ⁴⁸  Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the ⁴⁹  heavens ⁵⁰  opened ⁵¹  and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove ⁵²  and coming on him. 3:17 And ⁵³  a voice from heaven said, ⁵⁴  “This is my one dear Son; ⁵⁵  in him ⁵⁶  I take great delight.” ⁵⁷ 

Mark 1:7

1:7 He proclaimed, ⁵⁸  “One more powerful than I am is coming after me; I am not worthy ⁵⁹  to bend down and untie the strap ⁶⁰  of his sandals.

Luke 3:16

3:16 John answered them all, ⁶¹  “I baptize you with water, ⁶²  but one more powerful than I am is coming – I am not worthy ⁶³  to untie the strap ⁶⁴  of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ⁶⁵ 

[1:7]  ¹ tn Grk “came for a testimony.”

[1:7]  ² tn Or “to bear witness.”

[1:7]  ³ tn Grk “all.”

[1:8]  ⁴ tn Or “to bear witness.”

[1:29]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:29]  ⁸ sn Gen 22:8 is an important passage in the background of the title Lamb of God as applied to Jesus. In Jewish thought this was held to be a supremely important sacrifice. G. Vermès stated: “For the Palestinian Jew, all lamb sacrifice, and especially the Passover lamb and the Tamid offering, was a memorial of the Akedah with its effects of deliverance, forgiveness of sin and messianic salvation” (Scripture and Tradition in Judaism [StPB], 225).

[1:30]  ¹⁰ tn Or “has a higher rank than I.”

[1:31]  ¹³ tn Or “know.”

[1:31]  ¹⁴ sn John the Baptist, who has been so reluctant to elaborate his own role, now more than willingly gives his testimony about Jesus. For the author, the emphasis is totally on John the Baptist as a witness to Jesus. No attention is given to the Baptist’s call to national repentance and very little to his baptizing. Everything is focused on what he has to say about Jesus: so that he could be revealed to Israel.

[1:32]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events in the narrative. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[1:32]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “testified, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[1:32]  ¹⁸ sn The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.

[1:32]  ¹⁹ tn Or “from the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.

[1:32]  ²⁰ sn John says the Spirit remained on Jesus. The Greek verb μένω (menw) is a favorite Johannine word, used 40 times in the Gospel and 27 times in the Epistles (67 together) against 118 times total in the NT. The general significance of the verb μένω for John is to express the permanency of relationship between Father and Son and Son and believer. Here the use of the word implies that Jesus permanently possesses the Holy Spirit, and because he does, he will dispense the Holy Spirit to others in baptism. Other notes on the dispensation of the Spirit occur at John 3:5 and following (at least implied by the wordplay), John 3:34, 7:38-39, numerous passages in John 14-16 (the Paraclete passages) and John 20:22. Note also the allusion to Isa 42:1 – “Behold my servant…my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit on him.”

[1:34]  ¹⁹ tc ‡ What did John the Baptist declare about Jesus on this occasion? Did he say, “This is the Son of God” (οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, |outo" estin Jo Juio" tou qeou), or “This is the Chosen One of God” (οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἐκλεκτὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, outo" estin Jo eklekto" tou qeou)? The majority of the witnesses, impressive because of their diversity in age and locales, read “This is the Son of God” (so {Ì^66,75 A B C L Θ Ψ 0233^vid Ë^1,13 33 1241 aur c f l g bo as well as the majority of Byzantine minuscules and many others}). Most scholars take this to be sufficient evidence to regard the issue as settled without much of a need to reflect on internal evidence. On the other hand, one of the earliest mss for this verse, {Ì⁵} (3rd century), evidently read οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἐκλεκτὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. (There is a gap in the ms at the point of the disputed words; it is too large for υἱός especially if written, as it surely would have been, as a nomen sacrum [uMs]. The term ἐκλεκτός was not a nomen sacrum and would have therefore taken up much more space [eklektos]. Given these two variants, there is hardly any question as to what Ì⁵ read.) This papyrus has many affinities with א*, which here also has ὁ ἐκλεκτός. In addition to their combined testimony Ì^106vid b e ff^2* sy^s,c also support this reading. ̹⁰⁶ is particularly impressive, for it is a second third-century papyrus in support of ὁ ἐκλεκτός. A third reading combines these two: “the elect Son” (electus filius in ff^2c sa and a [with slight variation]). Although the evidence for ἐκλεκτός is not as impressive as that for υἱός, the reading is found in early Alexandrian and Western witnesses. Turning to the internal evidence, “the Chosen One” clearly comes out ahead. “Son of God” is a favorite expression of the author (cf. 1:49; 3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4, 27; 19:7; 20:31); further, there are several other references to “his Son,” “the Son,” etc. Scribes would be naturally motivated to change ἐκλεκτός to υἱός since the latter is both a Johannine expression and is, on the surface, richer theologically in 1:34. On the other hand, there is not a sufficient reason for scribes to change υἱός to ἐκλεκτός. The term never occurs in John; even its verbal cognate (ἐκλέγω, eklegw) is never affirmed of Jesus in this Gospel. ἐκλεκτός clearly best explains the rise of υἱός. Further, the third reading (“Chosen Son of God”) is patently a conflation of the other two. It has all the earmarks of adding υἱός to ἐκλεκτός. Thus, ὁ υἱός τοῦ θεοῦ is almost certainly a motivated reading. As R. E. Brown notes (John [AB], 1:57), “On the basis of theological tendency…it is difficult to imagine that Christian scribes would change ‘the Son of God’ to ‘God’s chosen one,’ while a change in the opposite direction would be quite plausible. Harmonization with the Synoptic accounts of the baptism (‘You are [This is] my beloved Son’) would also explain the introduction of ‘the Son of God’ into John; the same phenomenon occurs in vi 69. Despite the weaker textual evidence, therefore, it seems best – with Lagrange, Barrett, Boismard, and others – to accept ‘God’s chosen one’ as original.”

[3:26]  ²² tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

[3:27]  ²⁵ tn Grk “answered and said.”

[3:28]  ²⁸ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[3:29]  ³¹ tn Grk “rejoices with joy” (an idiom).

[3:29]  ³² tn Grk “Therefore this my joy is fulfilled.”

[3:30]  ³⁴ sn Some interpreters extend the quotation of John the Baptist’s words through v. 36.

[3:31]  ³⁷ tn Or “is above all.”

[3:31]  ³⁸ tn Grk “speaks from the earth.”

[3:31]  ³⁹ sn The one who comes from heaven refers to Christ. As in John 1:1, the Word’s preexistence is indicated here.

[3:31]  ⁴⁰ 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.

[3:33]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “is true.”

[3:34]  ⁴³ tn That is, Christ.

[3:34]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “for not by measure does he give the Spirit” (an idiom). Leviticus Rabbah 15:2 states: “The Holy Spirit rested on the prophets by measure.” Jesus is contrasted to this. The Spirit rests upon him without measure.

[3:35]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “has given all things into his hand” (an idiom).

[3:36]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “refuses to believe,” or “disobeys.”

[3:36]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “anger because of evil,” or “punishment.”

[3:36]  ⁵¹ tn Or “resides.”

[5:33]  ⁵² sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[5:34]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “I do not receive.”

[5:35]  ⁵⁸ sn He was a lamp that was burning and shining. Sir 48:1 states that the word of Elijah was “a flame like a torch.” Because of the connection of John the Baptist with Elijah (see John 1:21 and the note on John’s reply, “I am not”), it was natural for Jesus to apply this description to John.

[5:35]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “for an hour.”

[5:36]  ⁶¹ tn Or “works.”

[5:36]  ⁶² tn Grk “complete, which I am now doing”; the referent of the relative pronoun has been specified by repeating “deeds” from the previous clause.

[3:11]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:11]  ⁶⁵ 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.

[3:13]  ⁶⁷ tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

[3:14]  ⁷⁰ 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.

[3:14]  ⁷¹ tn The imperfect verb has been translated conatively.

[3:15]  ⁷³ tn Grk “but Jesus, answering, said.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “replied to him.”

[3:15]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “Permit now.”

[3:15]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:15]  ⁷⁶ tn Or “permitted him.”

[3:16]  ⁷⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[3:16]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “behold the heavens.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[3:16]  ⁷⁸ tn Or “sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ourano") may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The same word is used in v. 17.

[3:16]  ⁷⁹ tc ‡ αὐτῷ (autw, “to/before him”) is found in the majority of witnesses (א¹ C D^s L W 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat), perhaps added as a point of clarification or emphasis. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[3:16]  ⁸⁰ sn The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.

[3:17]  ⁷⁹ tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here.

[3:17]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle λέγουσα (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style.

[3:17]  ⁸¹ tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).

[3:17]  ⁸² tn Grk “in whom.”

[3:17]  ⁸³ tn Or “with whom I am well pleased.”

[1:7]  ⁸² tn Grk “proclaimed, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[1:7]  ⁸³ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[1:7]  ⁸⁴ 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.

[3:16]  ⁸⁵ tn Grk “answered them all, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[3:16]  ⁸⁶ 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.

[3:16]  ⁸⁷ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:16]  ⁸⁸ 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.

[3:16]  ⁸⁹ 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.