John 1:15 BSB — MannaFest

John 1:15

John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

John beareth witness of him, and crieth, saying, This was he of whom I said, He that cometh after me is become before me: for he was before me.

KJV

John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.

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Commentary

3 voices

Cyril of Alexandria

Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 1 (444)

This was He of Whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred [has become] before me, for He was before me. Having named the witness same-minded and same-named with himself, and having shown that he used a great voice for the service of his preaching, he profitably adds the mode too of his testimony: for it is in this in particular that the whole question lies. What then do we find the great John crying regarding the Only-Begotten? He that cometh after me has become before me for He was before me.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

John cried - With joy and confidence; This is he of whom I said - John had said this before our Lord's baptism, although he then knew him not in person: he knew him first at his baptism, and afterward cried, This is he of whom I said. &c. He is preferred before me - in his office: for he was before me - in his nature.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

(Anything lower than this His words cannot mean); that is, "My Successor is my Superior, for He was my Predecessor." This enigmatic play upon the different senses of the words "before" and "after" was doubtless employed by the Baptist to arrest attention, and rivet the thought; and the Evangelist introduces it just to clinch his own statements.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

22 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
Ἰωάννης	Iōannēs	John	G2491 →
μαρτυρεῖ	marturei	witnesses	G3140 →
περὶ	peri	concerning	G4012 →
αὐτοῦ	autou	Him	G846 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
κέκραγεν	kekragen	he has cried out	G2896 →
λέγων·	legōn	saying;	G3004 →
οὗτος	houtos	This	G3778 →
ἦν	ēn	was He	G1510 →
ὃν	hon	of whom	G3739 →
εἶπον·	eipon	I was saying;	G2036 →
ὁ	ho	The [One]	G3588 →
ὀπίσω	opisō	after	G3694 →
μου	mou	me	G3165 →
ἐρχόμενος	erchomenos	coming	G2064 →
ἔμπροσθέν	emprosthen	precedence	G1715 →
μου	mou	over me	G3165 →
γέγονεν,	gegonen	has,	G1096 →
ὅτι	hoti	because	G3754 →
πρῶτός	prōtos	before	G4413 →
μου	mou	me	G3165 →
ἦν.	ēn	He was.’	G1510 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Colossians 1:17
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
leads to
- Hebrews 1:3
  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the…
- 1 Corinthians 8:6
  yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and…
- John 1:1–3
  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- Acts 17:28
  ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’
- John 8:58
  “Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
Through
Matthew 3:11
I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and…
leads to
- Acts 1:5
  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Isaiah 4:4
  when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.
- Luke 3:16
  John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with…