John 3:22-30

Further Testimony About Jesus by John the Baptist

3:22 After this, ¹  Jesus and his disciples came into Judean territory, and there he spent time with them and was baptizing. 3:23 John ²  was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, ³  because water was plentiful there, and people were coming ⁴  to him ⁵  and being baptized. 3:24 (For John had not yet been thrown into prison.) ⁶ 

3:25 Now a dispute came about between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew ⁷  concerning ceremonial washing. ⁸  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, ⁹  about whom you testified – see, he is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to him!”

3:27 John replied, ¹⁰  “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,’ ¹¹  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 ¹²  when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete. ¹³  3:30 He must become more important while I become less important.” ¹⁴ 

[3:22]  ¹ tn This section is related loosely to the preceding by μετὰ ταῦτα (meta tauta). This constitutes an indefinite temporal reference; the intervening time is not specified.

[3:23]  ² sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[3:23]  ³ tn The precise locations of Αἰνών (Ainwn) and Σαλείμ (Saleim) are unknown. Three possibilities are suggested: (1) In Perea, which is in Transjordan (cf. 1:28). Perea is just across the river from Judea. (2) In the northern Jordan Valley, on the west bank some 8 miles [13 km] south of Scythopolis. But with the Jordan River so close, the reference to abundant water (3:23) seems superfluous. (3) Thus Samaria has been suggested. 4 miles (6.6 km) east of Shechem is a town called Salim, and 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Salim lies modern Ainun. In the general vicinity are many springs. Because of the meanings of the names (Αἰνών = “springs” in Aramaic and Σαλείμ = Salem, “peace”) some have attempted to allegorize here that John the Baptist is near salvation. Obviously there is no need for this. It is far more probable that the author has in mind real places, even if their locations cannot be determined with certainty.

[3:23]  ⁴ tn Or “people were continually coming.”

[3:23]  ⁵ tn The words “to him” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[3:24]  ⁶ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[3:25]  ⁷ 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 Ë^1,13 565 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}).

[3:25]  ⁸ tn Or “ceremonial cleansing,” or “purification.”

[3:26]  ⁹ tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

[3:27]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “answered and said.”

[3:28]  ¹¹ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[3:29]  ¹² tn Grk “rejoices with joy” (an idiom).

[3:29]  ¹³ tn Grk “Therefore this my joy is fulfilled.”

[3:30]  ¹⁴ sn Some interpreters extend the quotation of John the Baptist’s words through v. 36.