John 3:25-30

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.’ 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 ⁶  when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete. ⁷  3:30 He must become more important while I become less important.” ⁸ 

[3:25]  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 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]  ² tn Or “ceremonial cleansing,” or “purification.”

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

[3:27]  ⁵ tn Grk “answered and said.”

[3:28]  ⁷ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[3:29]  ⁹ tn Grk “rejoices with joy” (an idiom).

[3:29]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Therefore this my joy is fulfilled.”

[3:30]  ¹¹ sn Some interpreters extend the quotation of John the Baptist’s words through v. 36.