John 1:21 BSB — MannaFest

John 1:21

“Then who are you?” they inquired. “Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? And he saith, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No.

KJV

And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

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Commentary

1 voice

Origen of Alexandria

COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.70-71 (253)

[Someone] might say that John is Elijah who is to come, in one sense, but that he responded to the priests and Levites, "I am not," because he knew what they were really asking. For the earlier question to John from the priests and Levites was not intended to ascertain if the same spirit was in both men, but if John were that very Elijah who had been taken up, now appearing without a birth according to the Jewish expectation. For those who had been sent from Jerusalem may have been ignorant of John's birth.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Art thou the prophet - Of whom Moses speaks, Deut. xviii, 15. He said - I am that forerunner of Christ of whom Isaiah speaks. I am the voice - As if he had said, Far from being Christ, or even Elijah, I am nothing but a voice: a sound that so soon as it has expressed the thought of which it is the sign, dies into air, and is known no more.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Elias--in His own proper person. that prophet--announced in De 18:15, &c., about whom they seem not to have been agreed whether he were the same with the Messiah or no.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

19 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
Καὶ	Kai	And	G2532 →
ἠρώτησαν	ērōtēsan	they asked	G2065 →
αὐτόν·	auton	him;	G846 →
τί	ti	What	G5101 →
οὖν;	oun	then?	G3767 →
σὺ	su	You yourself	G4771 →
Ἠλίας	Ēlias	Elijah	G2243 →
εἶ;	ei	are	G1510 →
καὶ	kai	And	G2532 →
λέγει·	legei	he says;	G3004 →
οὐκ	ouk	Not	G3756 →
εἰμί.	eimi	I am.	G1510 →
ὁ	ho	The	G3588 →
προφήτης	prophētēs	prophet	G4396 →
εἶ	ei	are	G1510 →
σύ;	su	you yourself?	G4771 →
καὶ	kai	And	G2532 →
ἀπεκρίθη·	apekrithē	he answered;	G611 →
οὔ.	ou	No.	G3756 →

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
Malachi 4:5
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
leads to
- Luke 1:17
  And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Matthew 17:10–13
  The disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Mark 9:11–13
  And they asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Matthew 11:13–14
  For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
- Malachi 3:1
  “Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He…
Through
Matthew 11:14
And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.
leads to
- Malachi 4:5
  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
Through
John 1:25
asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
leads to
- Deuteronomy 18:18
  I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
- Deuteronomy 18:15
  The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.