21They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.”
22They said therefore to him, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
24The ones who had been sent were from the Pharisees.25They asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Was John the Baptist Elijah?In Matthew 11:14 Jesus says of John the Baptist: "this is Elijah, which was for to come," and Matthew 17:12-13 makes the identification explicit — the disciple…
Isaiah 40:3-5(v23)The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God. Every valley…
Mark 1:3(v23)the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight!’ ”
Matthew 3:3(v23)For this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make the way of the Lord ready!…
Luke 1:16-17(v23)He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the…
Luke 1:76-79(v23)And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give…
Show all 34 cross-references
Luke 3:4-6(v23)As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the…
John 3:28(v23)You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before him.’
Deuteronomy 18:18(v25)I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I…
Malachi 4:5(v21)Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
Deuteronomy 18:15-18(v21)Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him. This is according to all…
Deuteronomy 18:15(v25)Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him.
Matthew 11:14(v21)If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, who is to come.
John 1:25(v21)They asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”
Matthew 16:14(v21)They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
Matthew 17:10-12(v21)His disciples asked him, saying, “Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus answered them, “Elijah indeed comes…
Luke 1:17(v21)He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the…
John 1:20-22(v25)He declared, and didn’t deny, but he declared, “I am not the Christ.” They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.”…
Matthew 11:9-11(v21)But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I…
Matthew 23:13-15(v24)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will…
Luke 11:39-44(v24)The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and…
Luke 11:53(v24)As he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him;
John 7:40(v21)Many of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, said, “This is truly the prophet.”
Matthew 21:23(v25)When he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what…
Luke 7:30(v24)But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God, not being baptized by him themselves.
Luke 16:14(v24)The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him.
John 3:1-2(v24)Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know…
Acts 5:28(v25)saying, “Didn’t we strictly command you not to teach in this name? Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to…
Matthew 23:26(v24)You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also.
John 7:47-49(v24)The Pharisees therefore answered them, “You aren’t also led astray, are you? Have any of the rulers believed in him, or of the Pharisees?…
Acts 4:5-7(v25)In the morning, their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, with Caiaphas,…
Acts 23:8(v24)For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess all of these.
Acts 26:5(v24)having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
Philippians 3:5-6(v24)circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;…
Daniel 9:24-26(v25)“Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (20 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv21, 23, 24, 2521. Art thou Elijah? Why do they name Elijah…
21. Art thou Elijah? Why do they name Elijah rather than Moses? It was because they learned from the prediction of Malachi 4:2, 5, that when the Messiah, the Sun of Righteousness, should arise, Elijah would be the morning star to announce his approach. But the question is founded on a false opinion which they had long held; for, holding the opinion that the soul of a man departs out of one body into another, when the Prophet Malachi announced that Elijah would be sent, they imagined that the same Elijah, who lived under the reign of king Ahab, (1 Kings 17:1,) was to come. It is therefore a just and true reply which John makes, that he is not Elijah; for he speaks according to the opinion which they attached to the words; but Christ, giving the true interpretation of the Prophet, affirms that John is Elijah, (Matthew 11:14; Mark 9:13.)
Art thou a Prophet? Erasmus gives an inaccurate explanation of these words by limiting them to Christ; for the addition of the article (ὁ προφήτης, the prophet) carries no emphasis in this passage; and the messengers afterwards declare plainly enough, that they meant a different prophet from Christ; for they sum up the whole: by saying, (verse 25,) if thou art neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor a Prophet. Thus we see that they intended to point out different persons. Others think that they inquired if he was one of the ancient prophets; but neither do I approve of that exposition. Rather do they by this term point out the office of John, and ask if God had appointed him to be a prophet. When he replies, I am not, he does not for the sake of modesty tell a lie, but honestly and sincerely detaches himself from the company of the prophets. And yet this reply is not inconsistent with the honorable attestation which Christ gives him. Christ bestows on John the designation of prophet, and even adds that he is more than a prophet, (Matthew 11:9;) but by these words he does nothing more than demand credit and authority for his doctrine, and at the same time describes, in lofty terms, the excellence of the office which had been conferred on him. But in this passage John has a different object in view, which is, to show that he has no special message, as was usually the case with the prophets, but that he was merely appointed to be the herald of Christ.
Read full note →
This will be made still more clear by a comparison. All ambassadors — even those who are not sent on matters of great importance — obtain the name and authority of ambassadors, because they hold special commissions. Such were all the Prophets who, having been enjoined to deliver certain predictions, discharged the prophetic office. But if some weighty matter come to be transacted, and if two ambassadors are sent, one of whom announces the speedy arrival of another who possesses full power to transact the whole matter, and if this latter has received injunctions to bring it to a conclusion, will not the former embassy be reckoned a part and appendage of the latter, which is the principal? Such was the case with John the Baptist, to whom God had given no other injunction than to prepare the Jews for listening to Christ, and becoming his disciples. That this is the meaning, will still more fully appear from the context; for we must investigate the opposite clause, which immediately follows. I am not a prophet, says he, but a voice crying in the wilderness. The distinction lies in this, that the voice crying, that a way may be prepared for the Lord, is not a prophet, but merely a subordinate minister, so to speak; and his doctrine is only a sort of preparation for listening to another Teacher. In this way John, though he is more excellent than all the prophets, still is not a prophet
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv21, 24, 25The Jews thought that Elijah should come again before…
The Jews thought that Elijah should come again before the days of Messiah, and they took the ground of that their opinion out of Mal. 4:5, which place is to be understood of John, Matt. 11:14. And yet John denieth that he is Elijah, answering them indeed according as they meant.
They inquire of some great Prophet, and not of Christ, for John denied before, that he is Christ, for they thought that some great Prophet should be sent like unto Moses, wresting to that purpose that place of Deut. 18:15, which is to be understood of all the company of the Prophets and ministers, which have been and shall be to the end, and especially of Christ, who is the head of all Prophets.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv21–2521 And they asked him, What then? Art thou…
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
Ver. 21. Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not] sc. That Elias that you imagine, Elias the Tishbite, by a transanimation (μετεμψυχωσις Pythagorica). As neither was he an angel, as some in Chrysostom’s time would gather out of Mal 3:1. They that wrest the Scriptures are blinded, as Papists, and other brain sick heretics.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv21–25John was at Bethabara when these messengers came to…
John was at Bethabara when these messengers came to him, Joh 1:28. They asked him if he were Elias. The Jews had not only an expectation of the Messias, but of Elias to come as a messenger before him, according to the prophecy, Mal 4:5; as appeareth, Mat 17:10; Mar 9:11; of which they had a gross conception here, that Elias should come out of heaven personally, or at least that his soul should come into another body, according to the Pythagorean opinion. Now the meaning of the prophecy was, that one should come like Elias; and this was fulfilled in John, Luk 1:17, as our Saviour tells us, Mat 17:12; Mar 9:13; but they asked the question according to that notion they had of Elias. To which John answereth, that he was not; neither that Elias that ascended in a fiery chariot to heaven; nor any body informed with Elias’s soul: and thus the words of our Saviour, Mat 17:12; Mar 9:12, are easily reconciled to this text. They go on, and ask him if he were
that prophet, or a prophet. Some think that they meant the Prophet promised, Deu 18:18; but that was no other than Christ himself, which he had before denied himself to be; nor doth it appear from any text of Scripture that the Jews had any expectation of any other particular prophet; but it is plain from Luk 9:8, that they had a notion that it was possible one of the old prophets might rise again from the dead, for so they guessed there concerning Christ. But others think that the article in the Greek here is not emphatical, and they only asked him if he were a prophet; for the Jews had a general notion, that the spirit of prophecy had left them ever since the times of Zechariah and Malachi; which they hoped was returned in John the Baptist, and about this they question him if he were a prophet. To which he answereth, No; neither that Prophet promised, Deu 18:18, nor yet any of the old prophets risen from the dead; nor yet one like the prophets of the Old Testament, who only prophesied of a Christ to come; but, as Christ calls him, Mat 11:9, more than a prophet, one who showed and declared to them a Christ already come; for the law and the prophets prophesied but until John; the law in its types foreshowing, the prophets in their sermons foretelling, a Messiah to come; John did more. His father indeed, Luk 1:76, called him the prophet of the Highest; but there prophet is to be understood not in a strict, but in a large sense, as the term prophecy is taken, Rom 12:6. And the term prophet often signifieth one that revealeth the will of God to men; in which large sense John was a prophet, and yet more than a prophet in the stricter notion of the term; and in that sense no prophet, that is, no mere prophet: so, Num 11:19, Moses tells the people they should not eat flesh one, or two, or five, or ten, or twenty days, because they should eat it a whole month together.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv21–24And they asked him, what then? art thou Elias?....…
And they asked him, what then? art thou Elias?.... Elijah, the prophet; the Tishbite, as Nonnus in his paraphrase expresses it; who was translated, soul and body, to heaven: the Jews had a notion that that prophet would come in person a little before the coming of the Messiah; See Gill on Mat 17:10 wherefore these messengers inquire, that since he had so fully satisfied them that he was not the Messiah, that he would as ingenuously answer to this question, if he was Elias, or not:
and he saith, I am not; that is, he was not Elijah the prophet that lived in Ahab's time, and was called the Tishbite; for John's answer is to the intention of their question, and their own meaning in it, and is no contradiction to what Christ says of him, Mat 11:14 that he was the Elias that was to come; for he was the person meant by him in Mal 4:5 though not in the sense the Jews understood it; nor is it any contradiction to what the angel said to Zacharias, Luk 1:17 for he does not say that John should come in the body, but in the power and spirit of Elias; See Gill on Mat 11:14.
Read full note →
Art thou that prophet? Jeremiah, whom some of the Jews (t) have thought to be the prophet Moses spoke of, in Deu 18:15 and expected that he would appear about the times of the Messiah; see Mat 16:14 or any one of the ancient prophets risen from the dead, which they also had a notion of, Luk 9:8 or, as it may be rendered, "art thou a prophet?" for prophecy had long ceased with them:
and he answered, no; he was not Jeremiah, nor any one of the old prophets risen from the dead, nor a prophet in the sense they meant: he was not like one of the prophets of the Old Testament; he was a prophet, and more than a prophet, as Christ says, Mat 11:9 yet not such a prophet as they were; his prophesying lay not so much in predicting future events, as in pointing out Christ, and preaching the doctrine of the remission of sins by him,
(t) Baal Hatturim in Deut. xviii. 15. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 127. 4. & 143. 4. Siphre in Jarchi in Jer. i. 5.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv21, 23, 24, 25Art thou Elijah? - He was not that Elijah…
Art thou Elijah? - He was not that Elijah (the Tishbite) of whom they spoke. Art thou the prophet - Of whom Moses speaks, Deut. xviii, 15.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv21, 22, 23, 25Verse 21. Art thou Elias?] The scribes themselves had…
Verse 21. Art thou Elias?] The scribes themselves had taught that Elijah was to come before the Messiah. See Mt 17:10; and this belief of theirs they supported by a literal construction of Mal 4:5.
Art thou that prophet?] the prophet spoken of by Moses, De 18:15, De 18:18. This text they had also misunderstood: for the prophet or teacher promised by Moses was no other than the Messiah himself. See Ac 3:22. But the Jews had a tradition that Jeremiah was to return to life, and restore the pot of manna, the ark of the covenant, c., which he had hidden that the Babylonians might not get them. Besides this, they had a general expectation that all the prophets should come to life in the days of the Messiah.
Read full note →
I am not.] I am not the prophet which you expect, nor Elijah: though he was the Elijah that was to come for in the spirit and power of that eminent prophet he came, proclaiming the necessity of reformation in Israel. See Mat 11:14; Mat 17:10-13.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn v24Joh 1:24-28. They which were sent were of the…
Joh 1:24-28. They which were sent were of the Pharisees — Who were peculiarly tenacious of old customs, and jealous of any innovations, (except those brought in by their own scribes,) unless the innovator had unquestionable proofs of divine authority. Add to this, the decisions of the Pharisees were held by the common people as infallible. And, as their sect had declared that only proselytes were to be baptized, on this account also they found fault with John for baptizing; saying, Why baptizest thou then — Without any commission from the sanhedrim; and not only heathen, (who were always baptized before they were admitted to circumcision,) but Jews also? if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, &c. — The Jews, it seems, had conceived an opinion that they were all to be baptized when the Messiah came, either by himself, or by some of his retinue, because it was said, (Zec 13:1,) In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, &c., for sin and for uncleanness. They thought that John’s altering, in this manner, their institutions, was an exercise of authority which, by his own confession, did not belong to him. John answered, I baptize you with water — To prepare you for the Messiah; I call you to repentance and amendment of life, and admit the penitent to my baptism, to represent to you that reformation of conduct and purity of heart which are requisite, in order to the reception of him. Hereby also John showed, that Jews as well as Gentiles must be proselytes to Christ; and that the former, as well as the latter, stood in need of being washed from their sins. I baptize you: but observe, it is with water only, which cannot cleanse you from your sins, as the washing predicted by Zechariah will do. But there standeth one among you, &c. — That more efficacious baptism will be dispensed unto you by the Messiah, who is at present among you, though you do not know him, because he has not manifested himself. He coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes, &c. — Besides, in dignity the Messiah is infinitely my superior, for I am not worthy to be his servant, or to do him the meanest offices. These things were done in Bethabara, where John was baptizing — Consequently, in the presence of a great multitude of people. The word, Bethabara, signifies, the house of passage. It lay near that part of the river which was miraculously dried up, that the Israelites, under the command of Joshua, might pass over into Canaan. See Jos 3:6, and Jdg 12:6.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv21, 23, 24, 25Art thou Elias? - This is the Greek way…
Art thou Elias? - This is the Greek way of writing Elijah. The Jews expected that Elijah would appear before the Messiah came. See the notes at Mat 11:14. They supposed that it would be the real Elijah returned from heaven. In this sense John denied that he was Elijah; but he did not deny that he was the Elias or Elijah which the prophet intended Mat 3:3, for he immediately proceeds to state Joh 1:23 that he was sent, as it was predicted that Elijah would be, to prepare the way of the Lord; so that, while he corrected their false notions about Elijah, he so clearly stated to them his true character that they might understand that he was really the one predicted as Elijah.
That prophet - It is possible that the Jews supposed that not only “Elijah” would reappear before the coming of the Messiah, but also “Jeremiah.” See the notes at Mat 16:14. Some have supposed, however, that this question has reference to the prediction of Moses in Deu 18:15.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn v23The voice of one crying in the wilderness. See…
The voice of one crying in the wilderness. See Matthew iii. 3.; Mark i. 3.; Luke iii. 4.; and Isaias xl. 3. by all which John was his immediate precursor. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv21, 25Elias--in His own proper person.
Elias--in His own proper person.
that prophet--announced in Deu 18:15, &c., about whom they seem not to have been agreed whether he were the same with the Messiah or no.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv21, 23, 2421. Art thou Elias?—John may have quoted the prophecy…
21. Art thou Elias?—John may have quoted the prophecy of Malachi as applicable to himself; and the Jews may have reported that he claimed to be the literal Elijah, risen from the dead. To this supposition, embraced in their question, he gives a prompt negative.
That Prophet—The prophet foretold by Moses as like unto himself; (Deu_18:15,) and which some Jews identified as being Jeremiah. There is perhaps here a descending scale of names, the Messiah, Elijah, Jeremiah. After exhausting all special names, they press John to a full self-description, that they may give answer to those who sent them.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv21–2521. What then?] ‘What then are we to think?’…
21. What then?] ‘What then are we to think?’ or, ‘What then art thou?’
Art thou Elias?] The Scribes taught that Elijah would come again before the coming of the Messiah (Mat_17:10), and this belief is repeatedly alluded to in the Talmud. Comp. Mal_4:5.
Read full note →
I am not] A forger would scarcely have ventured on this in the face of Mat_11:14, where Christ says that John is Elijah. But Christ is there speaking figuratively (comp. Luk_1:17); John is here speaking literally. He says he is not Elijah returned to the earth again.
that prophet] Rather, the Prophet, the well-known Prophet of Deu_18:15, who some thought would be a second Moses, others a second Elijah, others the Messiah. From Joh_7:40-41 we see that some distinguished ‘the Prophet’ from the Messiah; and from Mat_16:14 it appears that Jeremiah or other prophets were expected to return. Comp. 2Es_2:18; 1Ma_14:41. This verse alone is almost enough to prove that the writer is a Jew. Who but a Jew would know of these expectations? Or if a Gentile chanced to know them, would he not explain them to his readers? In Joh_1:25, Joh_6:14; Joh_6:48; Joh_6:69 our translators have repeated the error of translating the definite article by ‘that’ instead of ‘the.’
No] The Baptist knows that ‘the Prophet’ is the Messiah. His replies grow more and more abrupt; ‘I am not the Christ,’ ‘I am not,’ ‘No.’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv21–25(21) What then?—Not “What art thou then?” but expressing…
(21) What then?—Not “What art thou then?” but expressing surprise at the answer, and passing on with impatience to the alternative, “Art thou Elias?” (Comp. on this and the following question, Deu_18:15; Deu_18:18; Isaiah 40 ff.; Mal_4:5; 2Ma_2:1-8; and Note on Mat_16:14). The angel had announced that “he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias.” The Lord declared “Elias is come already” (Mat_18:12-13), and yet the Forerunner can assert that, in the literal sense in which they ask the question and would understand the answer, he is not Elias, still less “the prophet,” by which, whether thinking of the words of Moses or the fuller vision of Isaiah from which he immediately quotes, he would understand the Messiah himself,
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv21–25And they asked him, What then? What is the…
And they asked him, What then? What is the state of the case? The very repudiation of Messiahship in this form seems to imply some association with the Messianic period of which they had so many conflicting ideas. Malachi (Mal_4:5) had predicted the coming again from heaven of Elijah the prophet, and the LXX, by translating the passage "Elijah the Tishbite," had strengthened the common mistake of a metempsychosis, or such an abnormal manifestation before the coming of Messiah. Schottgen ("De Messia," H.H., vol. 2, pp 226, 490, 533-537) quotes a variety of proofs of this anticipation, and that Elijah was expected three days before Messiah; that he would come in the mountains of Israel, weeping over the people, saying, "O land of Israel, how long will you remain arid and desolate! (cf. my "John the Baptist," 3. There was a true sense in which (as our Lord informed his disciples) John was the fulfilment of Malachi"s prediction and of the language of the angel to Zacharias, (Luk_1:17 Mat_11:14 Mat_17:12) and that John came veritably in the spirit and power of Elijah. In that sense "Elijah had come already," just as Christ their David had come, in fulfilment of Ezekiel"s vision, (Eze_37:24; cf. Jer_30:9 Hos_3:5) to rule over them. In the physical, superstitious sense, John the son of Zacharias was not the reincarnation of the Prophet Elijah, and so he boldly answered the inquiry, Art thou Elijah? with a categorical negative: I am not. They press their question once more. Art thou the Prophet? It is doubtful whether they here take up another popular expectation of the physical return of one of the old prophets, or whether, with an exegesis afterwards modified by the apostles, they point to Deu_18:15, and reveal the fact that they had not identified the prediction of "the prophet like unto Moses" with their Messiah. If they had identified these representations, they would not, of course, have pressed him with an identical question. It is highly probable that that prophecy had, with the predictions of Malachi and Isaiah, led to numerous expectations more or less identified with the Messianic cycle of coming events. In Joh_6:14 Joh_7:40 Mat_16:14, we see the prevalence of the expectation of a longing for an old prophet. They yearned for no upstart, but for one of the mighty brotherhood of departed men, in veritable flesh and blood. Now John and now Jesus was crudely suspected by some to be such a resuscitation. The Baptist, like the Samaritan woman, and subsequently St. Peter when full of the Holy Ghost, had sharply identified "the Prophet like unto Moses" with the Messiah himself; and therefore, on either hypothesis, he gives a curt reply to this inquiry, and he answered, No.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv22, 24What sayest thou of thyself?
Joh_1:22-23
What sayest thou of thyself?
Read full note →
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MADE THE MAN. John was the transition point between the old and the new. The old religion was breaking up as was evident in the multiplication of sects, like the multiplication of the sects before the Reformation showed that it was near. Four divisions of society:
1. The Pharisees. The formalists of their day they endeavoured to keep religion alive by retaining the past. It is an evidence of something gone when antiquarians collect and prize relics. Pharisaism is the religion of habit.
2. The Sadducees: Rationalists, cold of heart and clear in intellect. Sadduceeism is a reaction against Phariseeism in every age. Rationalism is a dry, critical, negative spirit which protests against all that cannot be proved. The religion of the intellect merely.
3. The Essenes: They could bear neither formalism nor scepticism. Mystics who went out into the wilderness to find God in contemplation. Their creed God must be felt, their religion one of feeling.
4. The Herodians: A political party who turned aside from religious questions to those which concerned mans social and political existence.
II. THE MAN JOHN.
1. It was impossible for John to join the Pharisees. How, with his impatience of all that was unreal and his iron earnestness, could he belong to those whose life was droned away in litanies and genuflexions?
2. Nor can we conceive him resting in mere Sadducaic negations; satisfied with their cold intellectualisms and protests against superstition?
3. Nor could that iron man dream life away with the Essenes.
4. As for the Herodians--surely for one whose life was so real, a patriots life offered what was wanted. But John yearned not for civil liberty, but a kingdom of God. He loved humanity more than men, and could find no career in mere politics. It is only in the consideration of such circumstances that Johns peculiar life becomes intelligible.
III. His MISSION.
1. The preparation. Thirty years preparation for one years work.
(1) Consider the testimony of such a life to the existence of another world;
(2) In the wilderness he measured the worth of society, with its conventionalities and parties, as one sees how the battle goes while he is in it; no one ever understood the world except by getting out of it;
(3) The Spirit of God passed into life and action in Him, and made Him intensely real. Only real men can deal witch real questions, and the real questions of to-day are not the frivolous ones discussed in religious journals, but what is God and where. What is human life? Whither are we tending?
2. The mode in which John prepared the way for Christ.
(1) He calls himself a voice: an articulate expression. Four centuries had passed and no one could speak the word Repent, if the kingdom of God is to come. Regenerated society comes not from regenerated institutions; but regenerated hearts produce both. But none till John had found the tongue to express this. He spoke out what the world wanted. Distinguish between eloquence and fluency. Fluency John had not: short, sharp, decisive words were his. No ornament or trick of oratory there. Let us not covet fluency but eloquence, the gift of speaking the right thing, at the right time, in the right way.
2. He was a voice crying Prepare, etc. He was s leveller.
(1) The mountain of caste stood in the Kings way. John said, I tell you God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham, and the mountain fell.
(2) The mountain of religious sectarianism, O generation of Vipers, levelled that.
(3) The mountain which gave impunity to wrong doing. Johns rebuke of Herod brought that down. Notice the wondrous way in which all fell together at that mighty voice. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
The answer of the Baptist
He had come
I. TO ANNOUNCE THAT GOD WAS ABOUT TO COME AS HE NEVER CAME BEFORE.
1. This was Isaiahs belief, and when John accentuated it he knew that the Divine visitation was near. Had the prophet suspected the delay he would have wondered, and knowing it, doubtless John wondered. Do we? Let us then remember that God always takes His time. If He wants to make a weed, that does not take Him long: if He wants to make an oak, that is more tedious business; if He wants to save a world it takes Him longer still.
2. The Baptist did not imply that God was absent, but that He was about to be manifested. Hitherto it had been winter; the Sun of righteousness had been comparatively hidden. Now He was to arise with healing in His wings.
3. Christ came for
(1) The worlds enlightenment;
(2) The subjugation of men;
(3) The saving of the world.
II. TO BID MEN GET READY FOR HIM. Make straight the way. That was mans work. If God had compelled men to prepare that would have ensured the frustration of His purposes. Gods will is that men should do His will willingly. Three great barriers.
1. Thoughtlessness: It was troublesome to think about Christ sufficiently to see the validity of His claims; so now.
2. Pride: The Jews could not bring themselves to confess their need of a Saviour.
3. Worldliness. (H. W. Burgoyne, M. A.)
The voice crying in the wilderness
I. WHERE THE VOICE CRIED. In the wilderness.
1. Locally:
(1) Generally, the wilderness of Judaea (Mat_3:1);
(2) Particularly, Bethany beyond Jordan.
2. Metaphorically: in the moral desert of Judaea Israel was a wilderness, and Zion a desolation. The Hope of Israel survived only in the breasts of a Luk_1:25). The deepest corruption and the basest hypocrisy reigned among the priesthood (Mat_23:13; Mat_23:39). The people were sunk in social and moral degradation (Mat_3:8; Luk_7:7-14). The intellectual classes were ostentatiously sceptical (Mat_22:23; Act_23:8).
II. THE PROPHETIC VOICE IS SUITABLE FOR AND DEMANDED BY THE SPIRITUAL WASTES OF SOCIETY. There the prophet should cry aloud and spare not (Isa_58:1).
III. THE QUALITY OF THE VOICE.
1. Lonely.
2. Authoritative.
3. Directive.
4. Arrestive. (T. Whitelaw, M. A.)
Only a voice
Christ was a surprise to the world. God prepared the world for this by the ministry of the Baptist. The world has now become accustomed to the story of redemption. But the proclamation of the coming of the King in His glory is still a surprise. It runs counter to all human plans of development, is contradictory to the pride and self-confidence of men, and stands in the same relation to our ministry as did the coming of Christ as a Redeemer to that of the Baptist. That we may rightly fulfil this most responsible office, let us look at the outline of his work. These parallel and coincident offices are
I. AN ORDINANCE, NOT AN OUTGROWTH. Its origin is traced to mystery. It is not in harmony with the other voices of the world, but introduces a discord with other utterance, as students of history criticise the record. Heaven, not earth, is its source. It came by Divine ordinance, not through human development. The law of its appointment was such in John the Baptist, and is to be such in our living.
1. The motive of its fulfilment is of God.
2. The reward of fidelity is equally of Divine ordinance--does not come by natural outgrowth. The heralds work will have little accumulation of visible results. The reward is beyond. Soon shall we forget the ingratitude of earth.
II. IT IS THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF ANOTHERS INDIVIDUALITY. As if he had said, I am the mouthpiece of one proclaiming.
1. The breath of God is the power by which our work is accomplished. Said Paul, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
2. The words are of God, though ours be the voice. And may I add to this thought, the very tone of such a voice is of God.
III. Finally, ALL THIS IS COMBINED IN TESTIMONY. There was the simplicity of sincerity in this man. Christian workers, make it true in your own experience that ye are for Christ without qualification; and let man be helped by the testimony that springs from this deep sincerity.
1. Self-forgetful living is the first element in such testimony.
2. In such testimony there must be detaching influence. John the Baptist did not attach disciples to himself. He pointed to the Lamb of God, and his disciples left him and followed Jesus.
3. There must be plainest teaching. John the Baptist preached a single sermon, twice the same day; but while he had that sermon he needed no new one. Behold the Lamb of God, etc. It was blessed to his hearers because it was emphasized by sincerity and consecration. Peter and Andrew knew his meaning, and comprehended that there was more in his utterance than even the words had phrased. Let us enter into this harmony of service, so that our speech shall be sustained by our silence; our conscious influence be in harmony with that which is unconscious and undesigned among our fellow-men.
Conclusion: I speak to
1. Christians that they may bear their testimony to the manifested and coming King.
2. Those who are not Christians. The voice of Christ speaks to you to-day. What answer will you give? (S. H. Tyng, D. D.)
Self out of sight in the preacher
Rev. Dr. Andrew A. Bonar in Christian Growth, an address to Christians at Glasgow, said: Some years ago, a zealous and devoted eider, now gone to glory, was pushing his way one evening to be in time for a workers meeting. Taking his place in the meeting, he noticed how the conversation was going on, and rose to give a word. He said, In coming along I saw a crowd at a shop door in Argyle Street. I pressed in among the crowd to see what was attracting the attention. There was a large picture in the hands of the auctioneer; and he, with great skill, was holding it up to view; and, standing behind his picture so as to be completely hid, was inviting the attention of the company to every remarkable point in the painting. All the while I never got a glimpse of the man himself. That is the way to preach Christ. Self, out of sight--Christ held forth.
An uncouth messenger, but a glorious message
A lady, who was in Richmond at the time of the siege, tells of the delight with which she received a note torn from a soldiers pocketbook, and grimed all over with gunpowder; but which assured of the safety of the town. The medium was nothing; the message was everything. (H. O. MacKey.)
A ministers work
My barque is but a little fishing boat, whose business it is to fish for the souls of men; my gifts fit me only to be such a coasting vessel as may carry corn from port to port to feed those who hunger for satisfying bread. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Baptist and the Bible
I. JOHN HAD LEARNED TO READ HIS BIBLE. It is a good thing to be able to quote from Scripture. To buy a Bible and treasure it as an ornament is good as far as it goes; but the book must be read so as to be remembered if it is to be of service. It is just possible that had we been in the Baptists place we should have had some difficulty in making our memory of Scripture serve us. The Bible is crowded out by the multiplication of books, the very best of which is not to be named beside it.
II. JOHN BELIEVED IN PROPHECY. The question arose, doubtless, as to whether the New Teacher was orthodox. His testimony, however otherwise disagreeable, showed that he was loyal to the traditions of his religion and country. It is a great trouble to some people to believe in the Jewish prophets.
III. John believing in prophecy REGARDED HIMSELF AS THE FULFILMENT OF IT. It is not every man who, being asked who and what he is, can turn to the Scripture and find the answer there. The remembrance that God was working according to a great plan, and that he was part of that plan, must have given him a noble self-consciousness. In this the Baptist was not wholly singular. Although our names may not be in the Bible, we are as much a part of Gods plan as John was. Believe, then, that as truly as God sent the Baptist He sent you. (H. W. Burgoyne, B. A.)
John in the wilderness
Losing the solaces of an earthly home, he found in God an everlasting portion. Like a single trunk of an Alpine tree rising solitary from between the interstices of some lonely rock and throwing its branches over the cataract. You look for soil, there is scarcely any to be seen; and yet that gnarled root has fastened its tenacious grasp on the bare stone, and tossed its green branches in the air, as if it needed nothing but the breath of heaven for its support. So this soul flourished where less hardy spirits would have starved, and breathed freely the atmosphere of heaven while yet upon earth. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Make the paths straight
This is what the sun says. He comes to us every morning, and stays with us all day long, but if it were not for the preparation and reception in the way of opening shutters and raising blinds, we should lose very much of his blessing. All the world over, before a blessing can be enjoyed there must be a fitness to receive it. If you take a blind man into a picture-gallery, what good do you do? The beauty of the pictures is there, but the man is unaffected by it; its way into the mans soul has not been made straight. You may play all manner of beautiful music, but if your audience is deaf, you play only for yourself; the way of the music is not made straight except into your heart. And the result will be just the same if the blindness and deafness are not natural but assumed. If the man in the picture-gallery is only covering his eyes with his hands, he is as good as blind; and if the people in the concert-room are only putting their fingers into their ears, they are as good as deaf. So it was, alas! so it is, with the people and Jesus. (H.W. Burgoyne.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson1891 · Public DomainOn vv24–2524. Were of the Pharisees. See notes on Matt.…
24. Were of the Pharisees. See notes on Matt. 3:7.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v24The question concerning John’s baptism:
The question concerning John’s baptism:
v. 24. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
Read full note →
v. 25. And they asked him and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
v. 26. John answered them, saying, I baptize with water; but there standeth One among you whom ye know not;
v. 27. He it is, who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
v. 28. These things were done in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The sect of the Pharisees was very strict in the observance of all rules and regulations concerning worship and the proprieties of service. The testimony of John relating to his specific work did not interest them, but the authority for his baptizing was a matter of much concern to them. The Jewish leaders of Jerusalem knew nothing of this man’s work; he had not asked their sanction. And so the delegates challenge his right to baptize, since by his own confession he is neither Christ, nor Elijah, nor that prophet. Since the answer to the question of the Pharisees was included in the passage from Isaiah, John was content with the opportunity of pointing to Jesus, and thus fulfilling his work. He puts himself and his baptism into deliberate contrast with Christ, and the baptism which Christ would employ in due time. John baptized with water. Through the water of baptism he confirmed and sealed his preaching unto repentance. He admonished the people of Israel that they were in need of a cleansing from sins. Those that were baptized by John confessed their sins. But still the baptism of John, though a means of grace, was of a preparatory nature; it pointed forward to the fulfillment of the redemption in Christ. And the Messiah was even then in the world, He was living in the midst of the Jewish people, though as yet unknown to them. He was the one that was after John in point of time, but in reality, and by virtue of His person and office, He surpassed His herald. And well John knew this, for he did not consider himself worthy of unlacing the straps of His sandals, and thus of performing the work of a slave for the Master. There was an unbridgeable abyss between divinity and humanity, between God and man. These things took place on the eastern side of the river Jordan, in a village or valley called Bethabara, at a ford which enabled travelers to cross over into Batanea. Note: John’s example in confessing Christ before the enemies of true salvation should encourage the Christians of all times to stand up courageously for Christ.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv22, 24Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
John continues to speak with the priests and Levites.
Read full note →
they said to him
"the priests and Levites said to John"
we ... us
the priests and Levites, not John (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")
He said
"John said"
I am a voice, crying in the wilderness
John is saying that Isaiah's prophecy is about himself. The word "voice" here refers to the person who is crying out in the wilderness. AT: "I am the one calling out in the wilderness" (See: Metonymy)
Make the way of the Lord straight
Here the word "way" is used as a metaphor. AT: "Prepare yourselves for the Lord's arrival the same way that people prepare the road for an important person to use" (See: Metaphor)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv21, 22, 24, 251:21 Elijah was to be the Messiah’s forerunner (Mal…
1:21 Elijah was to be the Messiah’s forerunner (Mal 4:5). John the Baptist fulfilled the forerunner’s role, though he denied being the prophet Elijah (see Matt 11:14; Luke 1:17). • Are you the Prophet we are expecting? Cp. John 6:14; 7:40-41.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv21, 23, 24, 25 21. Art thou Elijah? Why do they name Elijah…
21. Art thou Elijah? Why do they name Elijah rather than Moses? It was because they learned from the prediction of Malachi 4:2, 5, that when the Messiah, the Sun of Righteousness, should arise, Elijah would be the morning star to announce his approach. But the question is founded on a false opinion which they had long held; for, holding the opinion that the soul of a man departs out of one body into another, when the Prophet Malachi announced that Elijah would be sent, they imagined that the same Elijah, who lived under the reign of king Ahab, (1 Kings 17:1,) was to come. It is therefore a just and true reply which John makes, that he is not Elijah; for he speaks according to the opinion which they attached to the words; but Christ, giving the true interpretation of the Prophet, affirms that John is Elijah, (Matthew 11:14; Mark 9:13.)
Art thou a Prophet? Erasmus gives an inaccurate explanation of these words by limiting them to Christ; for the addition of the article (ὁ προφήτης, the prophet) carries no emphasis in this passage; and the messengers afterwards declare plainly enough, that they meant a different prophet from Christ; for they sum up the whole: by saying, (verse 25,) if thou art neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor a Prophet. Thus we see that they intended to point out different persons. Others think that they inquired if he was one of the ancient prophets; but neither do I approve of that exposition. Rather do they by this term point out the office of John, and ask if God had appointed him to be a prophet. When he replies, I am not, he does not for the sake of modesty tell a lie, but honestly and sincerely detaches himself from the company of the prophets. And yet this reply is not inconsistent with the honorable attestation which Christ gives him. Christ bestows on John the designation of prophet, and even adds that he is more than a prophet, (Matthew 11:9;) but by these words he does nothing more than demand credit and authority for his doctrine, and at the same time describes, in lofty terms, the excellence of the office which had been conferred on him. But in this passage John has a different object in view, which is, to show that he has no special message, as was usually the case with the prophets, but that he was merely appointed to be the herald of Christ.
Read full note →
This will be made still more clear by a comparison. All ambassadors — even those who are not sent on matters of great importance — obtain the name and authority of ambassadors, because they hold special commissions. Such were all the Prophets who, having been enjoined to deliver certain predictions, discharged the prophetic office. But if some weighty matter come to be transacted, and if two ambassadors are sent, one of whom announces the speedy arrival of another who possesses full power to transact the whole matter, and if this latter has received injunctions to bring it to a conclusion, will not the former embassy be reckoned a part and appendage of the latter, which is the principal? Such was the case with John the Baptist, to whom God had given no other injunction than to prepare the Jews for listening to Christ, and becoming his disciples. That this is the meaning, will still more fully appear from the context; for we must investigate the opposite clause, which immediately follows. I am not a prophet, says he, but a voice crying in the wilderness. The distinction lies in this, that the voice crying, that a way may be prepared for the Lord, is not a prophet, but merely a subordinate minister, so to speak; and his doctrine is only a sort of preparation for listening to another Teacher. In this way John, though he is more excellent than all the prophets, still is not a prophet
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv21, 24, 25 The Jews thought that Elijah should come again before…
The Jews thought that Elijah should come again before the days of Messiah, and they took the ground of that their opinion out of Mal. 4:5, which place is to be understood of John, Matt. 11:14. And yet John denieth that he is Elijah, answering them indeed according as they meant.
They inquire of some great Prophet, and not of Christ, for John denied before, that he is Christ, for they thought that some great Prophet should be sent like unto Moses, wresting to that purpose that place of Deut. 18:15, which is to be understood of all the company of the Prophets and ministers, which have been and shall be to the end, and especially of Christ, who is the head of all Prophets.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv21–25 21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou…
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
Ver. 21. Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not] sc. That Elias that you imagine, Elias the Tishbite, by a transanimation (μετεμψυχωσις Pythagorica). As neither was he an angel, as some in Chrysostom’s time would gather out of Mal 3:1. They that wrest the Scriptures are blinded, as Papists, and other brain sick heretics.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv21–25 John was at Bethabara when these messengers came to…
John was at Bethabara when these messengers came to him, Joh 1:28. They asked him if he were Elias. The Jews had not only an expectation of the Messias, but of Elias to come as a messenger before him, according to the prophecy, Mal 4:5; as appeareth, Mat 17:10; Mar 9:11; of which they had a gross conception here, that Elias should come out of heaven personally, or at least that his soul should come into another body, according to the Pythagorean opinion. Now the meaning of the prophecy was, that one should come like Elias; and this was fulfilled in John, Luk 1:17, as our Saviour tells us, Mat 17:12; Mar 9:13; but they asked the question according to that notion they had of Elias. To which John answereth, that he was not; neither that Elias that ascended in a fiery chariot to heaven; nor any body informed with Elias’s soul: and thus the words of our Saviour, Mat 17:12; Mar 9:12, are easily reconciled to this text. They go on, and ask him if he were
that prophet, or a prophet. Some think that they meant the Prophet promised, Deu 18:18; but that was no other than Christ himself, which he had before denied himself to be; nor doth it appear from any text of Scripture that the Jews had any expectation of any other particular prophet; but it is plain from Luk 9:8, that they had a notion that it was possible one of the old prophets might rise again from the dead, for so they guessed there concerning Christ. But others think that the article in the Greek here is not emphatical, and they only asked him if he were a prophet; for the Jews had a general notion, that the spirit of prophecy had left them ever since the times of Zechariah and Malachi; which they hoped was returned in John the Baptist, and about this they question him if he were a prophet. To which he answereth, No; neither that Prophet promised, Deu 18:18, nor yet any of the old prophets risen from the dead; nor yet one like the prophets of the Old Testament, who only prophesied of a Christ to come; but, as Christ calls him, Mat 11:9, more than a prophet, one who showed and declared to them a Christ already come; for the law and the prophets prophesied but until John; the law in its types foreshowing, the prophets in their sermons foretelling, a Messiah to come; John did more. His father indeed, Luk 1:76, called him the prophet of the Highest; but there prophet is to be understood not in a strict, but in a large sense, as the term prophecy is taken, Rom 12:6. And the term prophet often signifieth one that revealeth the will of God to men; in which large sense John was a prophet, and yet more than a prophet in the stricter notion of the term; and in that sense no prophet, that is, no mere prophet: so, Num 11:19, Moses tells the people they should not eat flesh one, or two, or five, or ten, or twenty days, because they should eat it a whole month together.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv21–24 And they asked him, what then? art thou Elias?....…
And they asked him, what then? art thou Elias?.... Elijah, the prophet; the Tishbite, as Nonnus in his paraphrase expresses it; who was translated, soul and body, to heaven: the Jews had a notion that that prophet would come in person a little before the coming of the Messiah; See Gill on Mat 17:10 wherefore these messengers inquire, that since he had so fully satisfied them that he was not the Messiah, that he would as ingenuously answer to this question, if he was Elias, or not:
and he saith, I am not; that is, he was not Elijah the prophet that lived in Ahab's time, and was called the Tishbite; for John's answer is to the intention of their question, and their own meaning in it, and is no contradiction to what Christ says of him, Mat 11:14 that he was the Elias that was to come; for he was the person meant by him in Mal 4:5 though not in the sense the Jews understood it; nor is it any contradiction to what the angel said to Zacharias, Luk 1:17 for he does not say that John should come in the body, but in the power and spirit of Elias; See Gill on Mat 11:14.
Read full note →
Art thou that prophet? Jeremiah, whom some of the Jews (t) have thought to be the prophet Moses spoke of, in Deu 18:15 and expected that he would appear about the times of the Messiah; see Mat 16:14 or any one of the ancient prophets risen from the dead, which they also had a notion of, Luk 9:8 or, as it may be rendered, "art thou a prophet?" for prophecy had long ceased with them:
and he answered, no; he was not Jeremiah, nor any one of the old prophets risen from the dead, nor a prophet in the sense they meant: he was not like one of the prophets of the Old Testament; he was a prophet, and more than a prophet, as Christ says, Mat 11:9 yet not such a prophet as they were; his prophesying lay not so much in predicting future events, as in pointing out Christ, and preaching the doctrine of the remission of sins by him,
(t) Baal Hatturim in Deut. xviii. 15. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 127. 4. & 143. 4. Siphre in Jarchi in Jer. i. 5.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv21, 23, 24, 25 Art thou Elijah? - He was not that Elijah…
Art thou Elijah? - He was not that Elijah (the Tishbite) of whom they spoke. Art thou the prophet - Of whom Moses speaks, Deut. xviii, 15.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv21, 22, 23, 25 Verse 21. Art thou Elias?] The scribes themselves had…
Verse 21. Art thou Elias?] The scribes themselves had taught that Elijah was to come before the Messiah. See Mt 17:10; and this belief of theirs they supported by a literal construction of Mal 4:5.
Art thou that prophet?] the prophet spoken of by Moses, De 18:15, De 18:18. This text they had also misunderstood: for the prophet or teacher promised by Moses was no other than the Messiah himself. See Ac 3:22. But the Jews had a tradition that Jeremiah was to return to life, and restore the pot of manna, the ark of the covenant, c., which he had hidden that the Babylonians might not get them. Besides this, they had a general expectation that all the prophets should come to life in the days of the Messiah.
Read full note →
I am not.] I am not the prophet which you expect, nor Elijah: though he was the Elijah that was to come for in the spirit and power of that eminent prophet he came, proclaiming the necessity of reformation in Israel. See Mat 11:14; Mat 17:10-13.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v24 Joh 1:24-28. They which were sent were of the…
Joh 1:24-28. They which were sent were of the Pharisees — Who were peculiarly tenacious of old customs, and jealous of any innovations, (except those brought in by their own scribes,) unless the innovator had unquestionable proofs of divine authority. Add to this, the decisions of the Pharisees were held by the common people as infallible. And, as their sect had declared that only proselytes were to be baptized, on this account also they found fault with John for baptizing; saying, Why baptizest thou then — Without any commission from the sanhedrim; and not only heathen, (who were always baptized before they were admitted to circumcision,) but Jews also? if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, &c. — The Jews, it seems, had conceived an opinion that they were all to be baptized when the Messiah came, either by himself, or by some of his retinue, because it was said, (Zec 13:1,) In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, &c., for sin and for uncleanness. They thought that John’s altering, in this manner, their institutions, was an exercise of authority which, by his own confession, did not belong to him. John answered, I baptize you with water — To prepare you for the Messiah; I call you to repentance and amendment of life, and admit the penitent to my baptism, to represent to you that reformation of conduct and purity of heart which are requisite, in order to the reception of him. Hereby also John showed, that Jews as well as Gentiles must be proselytes to Christ; and that the former, as well as the latter, stood in need of being washed from their sins. I baptize you: but observe, it is with water only, which cannot cleanse you from your sins, as the washing predicted by Zechariah will do. But there standeth one among you, &c. — That more efficacious baptism will be dispensed unto you by the Messiah, who is at present among you, though you do not know him, because he has not manifested himself. He coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes, &c. — Besides, in dignity the Messiah is infinitely my superior, for I am not worthy to be his servant, or to do him the meanest offices. These things were done in Bethabara, where John was baptizing — Consequently, in the presence of a great multitude of people. The word, Bethabara, signifies, the house of passage. It lay near that part of the river which was miraculously dried up, that the Israelites, under the command of Joshua, might pass over into Canaan. See Jos 3:6, and Jdg 12:6.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv21, 23, 24, 25 Art thou Elias? - This is the Greek way…
Art thou Elias? - This is the Greek way of writing Elijah. The Jews expected that Elijah would appear before the Messiah came. See the notes at Mat 11:14. They supposed that it would be the real Elijah returned from heaven. In this sense John denied that he was Elijah; but he did not deny that he was the Elias or Elijah which the prophet intended Mat 3:3, for he immediately proceeds to state Joh 1:23 that he was sent, as it was predicted that Elijah would be, to prepare the way of the Lord; so that, while he corrected their false notions about Elijah, he so clearly stated to them his true character that they might understand that he was really the one predicted as Elijah.
That prophet - It is possible that the Jews supposed that not only “Elijah” would reappear before the coming of the Messiah, but also “Jeremiah.” See the notes at Mat 16:14. Some have supposed, however, that this question has reference to the prediction of Moses in Deu 18:15.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v23 The voice of one crying in the wilderness. See…
The voice of one crying in the wilderness. See Matthew iii. 3.; Mark i. 3.; Luke iii. 4.; and Isaias xl. 3. by all which John was his immediate precursor. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv21, 25 Elias--in His own proper person.
Elias--in His own proper person.
that prophet--announced in Deu 18:15, &c., about whom they seem not to have been agreed whether he were the same with the Messiah or no.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv21, 23, 24 21. Art thou Elias?—John may have quoted the prophecy…
21. Art thou Elias?—John may have quoted the prophecy of Malachi as applicable to himself; and the Jews may have reported that he claimed to be the literal Elijah, risen from the dead. To this supposition, embraced in their question, he gives a prompt negative.
That Prophet—The prophet foretold by Moses as like unto himself; (Deu_18:15,) and which some Jews identified as being Jeremiah. There is perhaps here a descending scale of names, the Messiah, Elijah, Jeremiah. After exhausting all special names, they press John to a full self-description, that they may give answer to those who sent them.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv21–25 21. What then?] ‘What then are we to think?’…
21. What then?] ‘What then are we to think?’ or, ‘What then art thou?’
Art thou Elias?] The Scribes taught that Elijah would come again before the coming of the Messiah (Mat_17:10), and this belief is repeatedly alluded to in the Talmud. Comp. Mal_4:5.
Read full note →
I am not] A forger would scarcely have ventured on this in the face of Mat_11:14, where Christ says that John is Elijah. But Christ is there speaking figuratively (comp. Luk_1:17); John is here speaking literally. He says he is not Elijah returned to the earth again.
that prophet] Rather, the Prophet, the well-known Prophet of Deu_18:15, who some thought would be a second Moses, others a second Elijah, others the Messiah. From Joh_7:40-41 we see that some distinguished ‘the Prophet’ from the Messiah; and from Mat_16:14 it appears that Jeremiah or other prophets were expected to return. Comp. 2Es_2:18; 1Ma_14:41. This verse alone is almost enough to prove that the writer is a Jew. Who but a Jew would know of these expectations? Or if a Gentile chanced to know them, would he not explain them to his readers? In Joh_1:25, Joh_6:14; Joh_6:48; Joh_6:69 our translators have repeated the error of translating the definite article by ‘that’ instead of ‘the.’
No] The Baptist knows that ‘the Prophet’ is the Messiah. His replies grow more and more abrupt; ‘I am not the Christ,’ ‘I am not,’ ‘No.’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv21–25 (21) What then?—Not “What art thou then?” but expressing…
(21) What then?—Not “What art thou then?” but expressing surprise at the answer, and passing on with impatience to the alternative, “Art thou Elias?” (Comp. on this and the following question, Deu_18:15; Deu_18:18; Isaiah 40 ff.; Mal_4:5; 2Ma_2:1-8; and Note on Mat_16:14). The angel had announced that “he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias.” The Lord declared “Elias is come already” (Mat_18:12-13), and yet the Forerunner can assert that, in the literal sense in which they ask the question and would understand the answer, he is not Elias, still less “the prophet,” by which, whether thinking of the words of Moses or the fuller vision of Isaiah from which he immediately quotes, he would understand the Messiah himself,
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv21–25 And they asked him, What then? What is the…
And they asked him, What then? What is the state of the case? The very repudiation of Messiahship in this form seems to imply some association with the Messianic period of which they had so many conflicting ideas. Malachi (Mal_4:5) had predicted the coming again from heaven of Elijah the prophet, and the LXX, by translating the passage "Elijah the Tishbite," had strengthened the common mistake of a metempsychosis, or such an abnormal manifestation before the coming of Messiah. Schottgen ("De Messia," H.H., vol. 2, pp 226, 490, 533-537) quotes a variety of proofs of this anticipation, and that Elijah was expected three days before Messiah; that he would come in the mountains of Israel, weeping over the people, saying, "O land of Israel, how long will you remain arid and desolate! (cf. my "John the Baptist," 3. There was a true sense in which (as our Lord informed his disciples) John was the fulfilment of Malachi"s prediction and of the language of the angel to Zacharias, (Luk_1:17 Mat_11:14 Mat_17:12) and that John came veritably in the spirit and power of Elijah. In that sense "Elijah had come already," just as Christ their David had come, in fulfilment of Ezekiel"s vision, (Eze_37:24; cf. Jer_30:9 Hos_3:5) to rule over them. In the physical, superstitious sense, John the son of Zacharias was not the reincarnation of the Prophet Elijah, and so he boldly answered the inquiry, Art thou Elijah? with a categorical negative: I am not. They press their question once more. Art thou the Prophet? It is doubtful whether they here take up another popular expectation of the physical return of one of the old prophets, or whether, with an exegesis afterwards modified by the apostles, they point to Deu_18:15, and reveal the fact that they had not identified the prediction of "the prophet like unto Moses" with their Messiah. If they had identified these representations, they would not, of course, have pressed him with an identical question. It is highly probable that that prophecy had, with the predictions of Malachi and Isaiah, led to numerous expectations more or less identified with the Messianic cycle of coming events. In Joh_6:14 Joh_7:40 Mat_16:14, we see the prevalence of the expectation of a longing for an old prophet. They yearned for no upstart, but for one of the mighty brotherhood of departed men, in veritable flesh and blood. Now John and now Jesus was crudely suspected by some to be such a resuscitation. The Baptist, like the Samaritan woman, and subsequently St. Peter when full of the Holy Ghost, had sharply identified "the Prophet like unto Moses" with the Messiah himself; and therefore, on either hypothesis, he gives a curt reply to this inquiry, and he answered, No.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv22, 24 What sayest thou of thyself?
Joh_1:22-23
What sayest thou of thyself?
Read full note →
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MADE THE MAN. John was the transition point between the old and the new. The old religion was breaking up as was evident in the multiplication of sects, like the multiplication of the sects before the Reformation showed that it was near. Four divisions of society:
1. The Pharisees. The formalists of their day they endeavoured to keep religion alive by retaining the past. It is an evidence of something gone when antiquarians collect and prize relics. Pharisaism is the religion of habit.
2. The Sadducees: Rationalists, cold of heart and clear in intellect. Sadduceeism is a reaction against Phariseeism in every age. Rationalism is a dry, critical, negative spirit which protests against all that cannot be proved. The religion of the intellect merely.
3. The Essenes: They could bear neither formalism nor scepticism. Mystics who went out into the wilderness to find God in contemplation. Their creed God must be felt, their religion one of feeling.
4. The Herodians: A political party who turned aside from religious questions to those which concerned mans social and political existence.
II. THE MAN JOHN.
1. It was impossible for John to join the Pharisees. How, with his impatience of all that was unreal and his iron earnestness, could he belong to those whose life was droned away in litanies and genuflexions?
2. Nor can we conceive him resting in mere Sadducaic negations; satisfied with their cold intellectualisms and protests against superstition?
3. Nor could that iron man dream life away with the Essenes.
4. As for the Herodians--surely for one whose life was so real, a patriots life offered what was wanted. But John yearned not for civil liberty, but a kingdom of God. He loved humanity more than men, and could find no career in mere politics. It is only in the consideration of such circumstances that Johns peculiar life becomes intelligible.
III. His MISSION.
1. The preparation. Thirty years preparation for one years work.
(1) Consider the testimony of such a life to the existence of another world;
(2) In the wilderness he measured the worth of society, with its conventionalities and parties, as one sees how the battle goes while he is in it; no one ever understood the world except by getting out of it;
(3) The Spirit of God passed into life and action in Him, and made Him intensely real. Only real men can deal witch real questions, and the real questions of to-day are not the frivolous ones discussed in religious journals, but what is God and where. What is human life? Whither are we tending?
2. The mode in which John prepared the way for Christ.
(1) He calls himself a voice: an articulate expression. Four centuries had passed and no one could speak the word Repent, if the kingdom of God is to come. Regenerated society comes not from regenerated institutions; but regenerated hearts produce both. But none till John had found the tongue to express this. He spoke out what the world wanted. Distinguish between eloquence and fluency. Fluency John had not: short, sharp, decisive words were his. No ornament or trick of oratory there. Let us not covet fluency but eloquence, the gift of speaking the right thing, at the right time, in the right way.
2. He was a voice crying Prepare, etc. He was s leveller.
(1) The mountain of caste stood in the Kings way. John said, I tell you God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham, and the mountain fell.
(2) The mountain of religious sectarianism, O generation of Vipers, levelled that.
(3) The mountain which gave impunity to wrong doing. Johns rebuke of Herod brought that down. Notice the wondrous way in which all fell together at that mighty voice. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
The answer of the Baptist
He had come
I. TO ANNOUNCE THAT GOD WAS ABOUT TO COME AS HE NEVER CAME BEFORE.
1. This was Isaiahs belief, and when John accentuated it he knew that the Divine visitation was near. Had the prophet suspected the delay he would have wondered, and knowing it, doubtless John wondered. Do we? Let us then remember that God always takes His time. If He wants to make a weed, that does not take Him long: if He wants to make an oak, that is more tedious business; if He wants to save a world it takes Him longer still.
2. The Baptist did not imply that God was absent, but that He was about to be manifested. Hitherto it had been winter; the Sun of righteousness had been comparatively hidden. Now He was to arise with healing in His wings.
3. Christ came for
(1) The worlds enlightenment;
(2) The subjugation of men;
(3) The saving of the world.
II. TO BID MEN GET READY FOR HIM. Make straight the way. That was mans work. If God had compelled men to prepare that would have ensured the frustration of His purposes. Gods will is that men should do His will willingly. Three great barriers.
1. Thoughtlessness: It was troublesome to think about Christ sufficiently to see the validity of His claims; so now.
2. Pride: The Jews could not bring themselves to confess their need of a Saviour.
3. Worldliness. (H. W. Burgoyne, M. A.)
The voice crying in the wilderness
I. WHERE THE VOICE CRIED. In the wilderness.
1. Locally:
(1) Generally, the wilderness of Judaea (Mat_3:1);
(2) Particularly, Bethany beyond Jordan.
2. Metaphorically: in the moral desert of Judaea Israel was a wilderness, and Zion a desolation. The Hope of Israel survived only in the breasts of a Luk_1:25). The deepest corruption and the basest hypocrisy reigned among the priesthood (Mat_23:13; Mat_23:39). The people were sunk in social and moral degradation (Mat_3:8; Luk_7:7-14). The intellectual classes were ostentatiously sceptical (Mat_22:23; Act_23:8).
II. THE PROPHETIC VOICE IS SUITABLE FOR AND DEMANDED BY THE SPIRITUAL WASTES OF SOCIETY. There the prophet should cry aloud and spare not (Isa_58:1).
III. THE QUALITY OF THE VOICE.
1. Lonely.
2. Authoritative.
3. Directive.
4. Arrestive. (T. Whitelaw, M. A.)
Only a voice
Christ was a surprise to the world. God prepared the world for this by the ministry of the Baptist. The world has now become accustomed to the story of redemption. But the proclamation of the coming of the King in His glory is still a surprise. It runs counter to all human plans of development, is contradictory to the pride and self-confidence of men, and stands in the same relation to our ministry as did the coming of Christ as a Redeemer to that of the Baptist. That we may rightly fulfil this most responsible office, let us look at the outline of his work. These parallel and coincident offices are
I. AN ORDINANCE, NOT AN OUTGROWTH. Its origin is traced to mystery. It is not in harmony with the other voices of the world, but introduces a discord with other utterance, as students of history criticise the record. Heaven, not earth, is its source. It came by Divine ordinance, not through human development. The law of its appointment was such in John the Baptist, and is to be such in our living.
1. The motive of its fulfilment is of God.
2. The reward of fidelity is equally of Divine ordinance--does not come by natural outgrowth. The heralds work will have little accumulation of visible results. The reward is beyond. Soon shall we forget the ingratitude of earth.
II. IT IS THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF ANOTHERS INDIVIDUALITY. As if he had said, I am the mouthpiece of one proclaiming.
1. The breath of God is the power by which our work is accomplished. Said Paul, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
2. The words are of God, though ours be the voice. And may I add to this thought, the very tone of such a voice is of God.
III. Finally, ALL THIS IS COMBINED IN TESTIMONY. There was the simplicity of sincerity in this man. Christian workers, make it true in your own experience that ye are for Christ without qualification; and let man be helped by the testimony that springs from this deep sincerity.
1. Self-forgetful living is the first element in such testimony.
2. In such testimony there must be detaching influence. John the Baptist did not attach disciples to himself. He pointed to the Lamb of God, and his disciples left him and followed Jesus.
3. There must be plainest teaching. John the Baptist preached a single sermon, twice the same day; but while he had that sermon he needed no new one. Behold the Lamb of God, etc. It was blessed to his hearers because it was emphasized by sincerity and consecration. Peter and Andrew knew his meaning, and comprehended that there was more in his utterance than even the words had phrased. Let us enter into this harmony of service, so that our speech shall be sustained by our silence; our conscious influence be in harmony with that which is unconscious and undesigned among our fellow-men.
Conclusion: I speak to
1. Christians that they may bear their testimony to the manifested and coming King.
2. Those who are not Christians. The voice of Christ speaks to you to-day. What answer will you give? (S. H. Tyng, D. D.)
Self out of sight in the preacher
Rev. Dr. Andrew A. Bonar in Christian Growth, an address to Christians at Glasgow, said: Some years ago, a zealous and devoted eider, now gone to glory, was pushing his way one evening to be in time for a workers meeting. Taking his place in the meeting, he noticed how the conversation was going on, and rose to give a word. He said, In coming along I saw a crowd at a shop door in Argyle Street. I pressed in among the crowd to see what was attracting the attention. There was a large picture in the hands of the auctioneer; and he, with great skill, was holding it up to view; and, standing behind his picture so as to be completely hid, was inviting the attention of the company to every remarkable point in the painting. All the while I never got a glimpse of the man himself. That is the way to preach Christ. Self, out of sight--Christ held forth.
An uncouth messenger, but a glorious message
A lady, who was in Richmond at the time of the siege, tells of the delight with which she received a note torn from a soldiers pocketbook, and grimed all over with gunpowder; but which assured of the safety of the town. The medium was nothing; the message was everything. (H. O. MacKey.)
A ministers work
My barque is but a little fishing boat, whose business it is to fish for the souls of men; my gifts fit me only to be such a coasting vessel as may carry corn from port to port to feed those who hunger for satisfying bread. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Baptist and the Bible
I. JOHN HAD LEARNED TO READ HIS BIBLE. It is a good thing to be able to quote from Scripture. To buy a Bible and treasure it as an ornament is good as far as it goes; but the book must be read so as to be remembered if it is to be of service. It is just possible that had we been in the Baptists place we should have had some difficulty in making our memory of Scripture serve us. The Bible is crowded out by the multiplication of books, the very best of which is not to be named beside it.
II. JOHN BELIEVED IN PROPHECY. The question arose, doubtless, as to whether the New Teacher was orthodox. His testimony, however otherwise disagreeable, showed that he was loyal to the traditions of his religion and country. It is a great trouble to some people to believe in the Jewish prophets.
III. John believing in prophecy REGARDED HIMSELF AS THE FULFILMENT OF IT. It is not every man who, being asked who and what he is, can turn to the Scripture and find the answer there. The remembrance that God was working according to a great plan, and that he was part of that plan, must have given him a noble self-consciousness. In this the Baptist was not wholly singular. Although our names may not be in the Bible, we are as much a part of Gods plan as John was. Believe, then, that as truly as God sent the Baptist He sent you. (H. W. Burgoyne, B. A.)
John in the wilderness
Losing the solaces of an earthly home, he found in God an everlasting portion. Like a single trunk of an Alpine tree rising solitary from between the interstices of some lonely rock and throwing its branches over the cataract. You look for soil, there is scarcely any to be seen; and yet that gnarled root has fastened its tenacious grasp on the bare stone, and tossed its green branches in the air, as if it needed nothing but the breath of heaven for its support. So this soul flourished where less hardy spirits would have starved, and breathed freely the atmosphere of heaven while yet upon earth. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Make the paths straight
This is what the sun says. He comes to us every morning, and stays with us all day long, but if it were not for the preparation and reception in the way of opening shutters and raising blinds, we should lose very much of his blessing. All the world over, before a blessing can be enjoyed there must be a fitness to receive it. If you take a blind man into a picture-gallery, what good do you do? The beauty of the pictures is there, but the man is unaffected by it; its way into the mans soul has not been made straight. You may play all manner of beautiful music, but if your audience is deaf, you play only for yourself; the way of the music is not made straight except into your heart. And the result will be just the same if the blindness and deafness are not natural but assumed. If the man in the picture-gallery is only covering his eyes with his hands, he is as good as blind; and if the people in the concert-room are only putting their fingers into their ears, they are as good as deaf. So it was, alas! so it is, with the people and Jesus. (H.W. Burgoyne.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv24–25 24. Were of the Pharisees. See notes on Matt.…
24. Were of the Pharisees. See notes on Matt. 3:7.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v24 The question concerning John’s baptism:
The question concerning John’s baptism:
v. 24. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
Read full note →
v. 25. And they asked him and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
v. 26. John answered them, saying, I baptize with water; but there standeth One among you whom ye know not;
v. 27. He it is, who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
v. 28. These things were done in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The sect of the Pharisees was very strict in the observance of all rules and regulations concerning worship and the proprieties of service. The testimony of John relating to his specific work did not interest them, but the authority for his baptizing was a matter of much concern to them. The Jewish leaders of Jerusalem knew nothing of this man’s work; he had not asked their sanction. And so the delegates challenge his right to baptize, since by his own confession he is neither Christ, nor Elijah, nor that prophet. Since the answer to the question of the Pharisees was included in the passage from Isaiah, John was content with the opportunity of pointing to Jesus, and thus fulfilling his work. He puts himself and his baptism into deliberate contrast with Christ, and the baptism which Christ would employ in due time. John baptized with water. Through the water of baptism he confirmed and sealed his preaching unto repentance. He admonished the people of Israel that they were in need of a cleansing from sins. Those that were baptized by John confessed their sins. But still the baptism of John, though a means of grace, was of a preparatory nature; it pointed forward to the fulfillment of the redemption in Christ. And the Messiah was even then in the world, He was living in the midst of the Jewish people, though as yet unknown to them. He was the one that was after John in point of time, but in reality, and by virtue of His person and office, He surpassed His herald. And well John knew this, for he did not consider himself worthy of unlacing the straps of His sandals, and thus of performing the work of a slave for the Master. There was an unbridgeable abyss between divinity and humanity, between God and man. These things took place on the eastern side of the river Jordan, in a village or valley called Bethabara, at a ford which enabled travelers to cross over into Batanea. Note: John’s example in confessing Christ before the enemies of true salvation should encourage the Christians of all times to stand up courageously for Christ.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv22, 24 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
John continues to speak with the priests and Levites.
Read full note →
they said to him
"the priests and Levites said to John"
we ... us
the priests and Levites, not John (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")
He said
"John said"
I am a voice, crying in the wilderness
John is saying that Isaiah's prophecy is about himself. The word "voice" here refers to the person who is crying out in the wilderness. AT: "I am the one calling out in the wilderness" (See: Metonymy)
Make the way of the Lord straight
Here the word "way" is used as a metaphor. AT: "Prepare yourselves for the Lord's arrival the same way that people prepare the road for an important person to use" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
lord
Isaiah
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv21, 22, 24, 25 1:21 Elijah was to be the Messiah’s forerunner (Mal…
1:21 Elijah was to be the Messiah’s forerunner (Mal 4:5). John the Baptist fulfilled the forerunner’s role, though he denied being the prophet Elijah (see Matt 11:14; Luke 1:17). • Are you the Prophet we are expecting? Cp. John 6:14; 7:40-41.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.