Discovery BoxJohn 3:28-36
Context3:28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ 1 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 2 when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete. 3 3:30 He must become more important while I become less important.” 4
3:31 The one who comes from above is superior to all. 5 The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. 6 The one who comes from heaven 7 is superior to all. 8 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. 9 3:34 For the one whom God has sent 10 speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly. 11 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has placed all things under his authority. 12 3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects 13 the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath 14 remains 15 on him.
Matthew 3:11-12
Context3:11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy 16 to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 3:12 His winnowing fork 18 is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, 19 but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.” 20
Mark 1:7-8
Context1:7 He proclaimed, 21 “One more powerful than I am is coming after me; I am not worthy 22 to bend down and untie the strap 23 of his sandals. 1:8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Luke 3:15-17
Context3:15 While the people were filled with anticipation 24 and they all wondered 25 whether perhaps John 26 could be the Christ, 27 3:16 John answered them all, 28 “I baptize you with water, 29 but one more powerful than I am is coming – I am not worthy 30 to untie the strap 31 of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 32 3:17 His winnowing fork 33 is in his hand to clean out his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, 34 but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.” 35
[3:28] 1 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).
[3:29] 2 tn Grk “rejoices with joy” (an idiom).
[3:29] 3 tn Grk “Therefore this my joy is fulfilled.”
[3:30] 4 sn Some interpreters extend the quotation of John the Baptist’s words through v. 36.
[3:31] 5 tn Or “is above all.”
[3:31] 6 tn Grk “speaks from the earth.”
[3:31] 7 sn The one who comes from heaven refers to Christ. As in John 1:1, the Word’s preexistence is indicated here.
[3:31] 8 tc Ì75 א* D Ë1 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 (Ì36vid,66 א2 A B L Ws Θ Ψ 083 086 Ë13 33 Ï lat sys,p,h bo). On balance, the longer reading should probably be considered authentic.
[3:34] 11 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] 12 tn Grk “has given all things into his hand” (an idiom).
[3:36] 13 tn Or “refuses to believe,” or “disobeys.”
[3:36] 14 tn Or “anger because of evil,” or “punishment.”
[3:11] 16 tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”
[3:11] 17 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.
[3:12] 18 sn A winnowing fork was a pitchfork-like tool used to toss threshed grain in the air so that the wind blew away the chaff, leaving the grain to fall to the ground. The note of purging is highlighted by the use of imagery involving sifting though threshed grain for the useful kernels.
[3:12] 19 tn Or “granary,” “barn” (referring to a building used to store a farm’s produce rather than a building to house livestock).
[3:12] 20 sn The image of fire that cannot be extinguished is from the OT: Job 20:26; Isa 34:8-10; 66:24.
[1:7] 21 tn Grk “proclaimed, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
[1:7] 22 tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”
[1:7] 23 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.
[3:15] 24 tn Or “with expectation.” The participle προσδοκῶντος (prosdokwnto") is taken temporally.
[3:15] 25 tn Grk “pondered in their hearts.”
[3:15] 26 tn Grk “in their hearts concerning John, (whether) perhaps he might be the Christ.” The translation simplifies the style here.
[3:15] 27 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
[3:16] 28 tn Grk “answered them all, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.
[3:16] 29 tc A few
[3:16] 30 tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”
[3:16] 31 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] 32 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.
[3:17] 33 sn A winnowing fork is a pitchfork-like tool used to toss threshed grain in the air so that the wind blows away the chaff, leaving the grain to fall to the ground. The note of purging is highlighted by the use of imagery involving sifting though threshed grain for the useful kernels.
[3:17] 34 tn Or “granary,” “barn” (referring to a building used to store a farm’s produce rather than a building for housing livestock).
[3:17] 35 sn The image of fire that cannot be extinguished is from the OT: Job 20:26; Isa 34:8-10; 66:24.
