John 1:23-27
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
23 He said:
as Isaiah the prophet said.” 24 Some Pharisees[b] were also sent. 25 They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?”(B) 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water;[c] but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,(C) 27 the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
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- 1:23 This is a repunctuation and reinterpretation (as in the synoptic gospels and Septuagint) of the Hebrew text of Is 40:3 which reads, “A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord.”
- 1:24 Some Pharisees: other translations, such as “Now they had been sent from the Pharisees,” misunderstand the grammatical construction. This is a different group from that in Jn 1:19; the priests and Levites would have been Sadducees, not Pharisees.
- 1:26 I baptize with water: the synoptics add “but he will baptize you with the holy Spirit” (Mk 1:8) or “…holy Spirit and fire” (Mt 3:11; Lk 3:16). John’s emphasis is on purification and preparation for a better baptism.
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