John 1:25 BSB — MannaFest

John 1:25

asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And they asked him, and said unto him, Why then baptizest thou, if thou art not the Christ, neither Elijah, neither the prophet?

KJV

And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

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Commentary

2 voices

Origen of Alexandria

Catena Aurea by Aquinas (253)

(in Joan. tom. vi. c. 13) The questions of the priests and Levites being answered, another mission comes from the Pharisees: And they that were sent were of the Pharisees. So far as it is allowable to form a conjecture from the discourse itself here, I should say that it was the third occasion of John's giving his witness. Observe the mildness of the former question, so befitting the priestly and levitical character, Who art thou? There is nothing arrogant or disrespectful, but only what becomes true ministers of God.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

Gregory the Dialogist

Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 7 (604)

But still those who were sent inquire further: "Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" Because this was said not from a desire to learn the truth, but from the malice of pursuing rivalry, the Evangelist silently made known when he added, saying: "And those who had been sent were from the Pharisees." As if he openly said: Those men inquire of John about his actions who do not know how to seek teaching, but only how to envy.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Why baptizest thou then ... - Baptism on receiving a proselyte from “paganism” was common before the time of John, but it was not customary to baptize a “Jew.” John had changed the custom. He baptized “all,” and they were desirous of knowing by what authority he made such a change in the religious customs of the nation. They presumed, from the fact that he introduced that change, that he claimed to be a prophet or the Christ. They supposed that no one would attempt it without “pretending,” at least, authority from heaven.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

20 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
καὶ	kai	And	G2532 →
ἠρώτησαν	ērōtēsan	they asked	G2065 →
αὐτὸν	auton	him	G846 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
εἶπαν	eipan	they said	G2036 →
αὐτῷ·	autō	to him;	G846 →
τί	ti	Why	G5101 →
οὖν	oun	then	G3767 →
βαπτίζεις	baptizeis	baptize you	G907 →
εἰ	ei	if	G1487 →
σὺ	su	you yourself	G4771 →
οὐκ	ouk	not	G3756 →
εἶ	ei	are	G1510 →
ὁ	ho	the	G3588 →
χριστὸς	christos	Christ	G5547 →
οὐδὲ	oude	nor	G3761 →
Ἠλίας	Ēlias	Elijah	G2243 →
οὐδὲ	oude	nor	G3761 →
ὁ	ho	the	G3588 →
προφήτης;	prophētēs	prophet?	G4396 →

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
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.
leads to
- Acts 3:22–23
  For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He tells you.
- Acts 7:37
  This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’
- John 1:45
  Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
- Deuteronomy 18:18–19
  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.
- Hebrews 1:1–2
  On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.
Through
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.
leads to
- John 12:49–50
  I have not spoken on My own, but the Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it.
- John 8:28
  So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father…
- 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.