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Acts 19:3

in Acts 19

“Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And he said, Into what then were ye baptized? And they said, Into John’s baptism.

KJV

And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.

This verse in Acts 19

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
Unto what - Unto what faith or doctrine. What did you profess to believe when you were baptized? Unto John’s baptism - See the notes on Act 18:25.

This site's exposition

Unto what then were ye baptized

on Acts 19:3-4

Paul's follow-up question, unto what then were ye baptized, draws out that they had received John's baptism only, and he explains that John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe on him who should come after, that is, on Christ Jesus. John's own baptism had always pointed forward, a preparation rather than the finished sign Christian baptism became once the one it prepared for had come and been raised. The exchange shows Paul treating an incomplete but sincere devotion with patience, filling in what was missing rather than dismissing what these men already held. The bench reads the moment as a small model of how the fuller gospel completes rather than discards genuine but partial faith.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Acts · Written before 550.

proposed

Knowing only John's baptism. It is worth asking how, if he knew only John's baptism, he nevertheless possessed the Spirit; for the Spirit was not given in that way. And if those who came after him needed the baptism of Christ, much more would he …

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 40 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

"And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him who should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." For that they did not even believe in Christ is plain from his saying, "that they should believe on Him that was to come after him." And he did not say, The baptism of John is nothing, but, It is incomplete. Nor does he add this (in so many words), but he taught them, and many received the Holy Ghost. From the baptism itself he (John) prophesies: and he leads them (to see) that this is the meaning of John's baptism. "That they should believe on Him that was to come:" on what kind (of Person)? "I indeed baptize you with water, but He that cometh after me, shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." (Matt. iii. 11.)

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Acts · Written before 1107.

proposed

These, from among "certain disciples," who did not even know that there is a Holy Spirit, differed greatly from the other disciples, because from the words "that they should believe in Him who was coming after him" it is evident that they did not believe …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And he said unto them, unto what then were ye baptized?....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Paul having passed through the upper coasts--"parts," the interior of Asia Minor, which, with reference to the seacoast, was elevated. came to Ephesus--thus fulfilling his promise (Ac 18:21). finding certain disciples--in the same stage of Christian knowledge as Apollos at first, newly arrived, probably, and having had no communication as yet with the church at Ephesus.

The words behind it

13 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 28:19

    Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

    it leads to

    • Mark 16:15–16

      And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

    • Acts 2:38–39

      Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

    • Acts 1:8

      But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

    • Luke 24:47–48

      and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

    • Acts 19:3–5

      “Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied.

  • Through

    1 Corinthians 12:13

    For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

    it leads to

    • Ephesians 4:5

      one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

    • Colossians 3:11

      Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

    • Galatians 3:28

      There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Ascension, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Ascension, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 40; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.