John Chapter 1 verse 26 Holy Bible
John answered them, saying, I baptize in water: in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not,
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John's answer was: I give baptism with water; but there is one among you of whom you have no knowledge;
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John answered them saying, I baptise with water. In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know,
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John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
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read chapter 1 in WBT
John answered them, "I baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you don't know.
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John answered them, saying, `I baptize with water, but in midst of you he hath stood whom ye have not known, this one it is who is coming after me, who hath been before me,
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerses 26, 27. - The answer is not very explicit. John answered them and said, I baptize with water; not as Messiah, or Elijah, or a resuscitated prophet, not as making proselytes to the faith of Abraham's sons, not as an Essene admitting the children of the kingdom to a close spiritual corporation, but because the Messiah has come. Some have laid great emphasis on the limitation which John assigns to his baptism. It is said he thus anticipated the contrast afterwards expressed between it and the Spirit baptism of Jesus. This is. however, reserved for a later utterance. The baptism with water inaugurated the Messianic kingdom, prepared the people to receive the Lord. If, then, Messiah were reasonably expected thus to create a fellowship of those, who, substituted this simple lustration for a cumbrous cycle of ceremonial purifications, John, as the "voice," the "herald," the "crier" in the wilderness, was justified in administering the rite. I baptize with water, seeing that there standeth in the midst of you one (whom you know not) who is coming after me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to loose. This standing in the very crowd before him of the Mightier than John, now being searched out as it were by the glances of the Baptist, and recognized by him as One over whom the heavens had opened, gave ample support to the Baptist in his baptismal functions. The One coming after John, i.e. "after," because of John's chronological precedence in showing himself to Israel, is yet of such lofty rank and mighty power that John is not fit in his own opinion to be his humblest slave. This solemn assurance justifies to the Sanhedrin the preparatory rite. This closes the first great testimony. Before proceeding to the second, the evangelist supplies a geographical hint, which up to the present day has not been satisfactorily interpreted.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(26) I baptize with water.--The passage of Ezekiel is probably present to the mind, with its contrast between water and spirit.
