Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 1:23
He said, I [am] the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.
23. I am the voice, &c.] Or, I am a voice. The Synoptists use these words of the Baptist as fulfilling prophecy. From this verse it would seem as if they were first so used by himself. The quotation is almost exact from the LXX. John was a Voice making known the Word, meaningless without the Word. There is an almost certain reference to this passage (19 23) in Justin Martyr, Trypho, lxxxviii., which is evidence that this Gospel was known before a.d. 150.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I am the voice … – See the notes at Mat 3:3.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 23. I am the voice of one crying] See Clarke on Mt 3:3; and Mar 1:4, Mar 1:5.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We had the same, See Poole on “Mat 3:3“, See Poole on “Mar 1:3“. Chemnitius thinks, that John chose rather to preach and fulfil his ministry in the wilderness, than in the temple; to make an illustrious difference between himself, who was but the Lords messenger, and whose office was but to prepare the Lords way, and his Lord himself, of whom it was prophesied, Mal 3:1, The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his holy temple; upon which account Haggai prophesied. Hag 2:9, that the glory of that latter house (built by Ezra, and Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah) should be greater than of the former.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,…. These words are cited by the other evangelists, and applied to John the Baptist; but then they are only to be considered as their citation, and as an application of them to him by them: but here they are used by John himself, who both expresses them, and interprets them of himself; and in which he was undoubtedly under the infallible direction of the blessed Spirit; and which confirms the sense of the evangelists, who apply the words to him. The Jews give a different interpretation of the words; though one of their celebrated commentators u owns, that the comforts spoken of in the preceding verses are what will be in the days of the King Messiah: one of them w interprets, “the voice”, of the Holy Ghost; and so far it may be true, as John was filled with the Holy Ghost, and he spake by him in his ministry: and another x, of the resurrection of the dead, or the voice that will be heard then, which will be the voice of the archangel: though another of y them better explains it by, , “they are they that bring glad tidings”, or good news; such are Gospel preachers; only it should have been in the singular number: for the text speaks but of one voice; of one person crying; and of John the Baptist, who brought the good news, and glad tidings, that the Messiah was coming, yea, that he was already come, and that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. The Hebrew writers generally understand the passage, of the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, and of removing all obstructions in their way to Jerusalem; to which sense the Targum on the place inclines, which paraphrases it thus;
“the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare the way before the people of the Lord, make in the plain, paths before the congregation of our God:”
but not the people of the Lord, but the Lord himself, and not the congregation of God, but God himself is intended; whose ways were to be prepared, and made plain, even the King Messiah; which was to be done, and was done by his forerunner John the Baptist, who, with great modesty, expresses himself in the language of this Scripture, as being a prophecy of him: he was a “voice”, but not a mere voice; nor was his ministry a mere voice of words, as the law was, but it was the sweet voice of the Gospel, proclaiming the coming of the Messiah; encouraging men to believe in him; calling them to evangelical repentance, and publishing remission of sins in the name of Christ, and pointing him out as the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world: this voice was “crying”; it was not a still small voice, it was a very loud one; John lifted up his voice like a trumpet; he delivered himself with great zeal and fervency; and it was “in the wilderness” where this voice was heard, in the wilderness of Judea, as in Mt 3:1 where Jesus came preaching; the Ethiopic version renders the words, “I am the voice of one that goes about in the wilderness”; that is, in the several towns and villages which were in the wilderness, to whom John went and preached the Gospel: the Persic version reads, “I am the voice and cry which cometh out of the wilderness”; referring to the place where he was before he entered on his public ministry, and from whence he came; for he was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel, Lu 1:80. The words this voice cried were,
make straight the way of the Lord; he called upon persons to reform their ways, and walk in the way of the Lord, to repent of their sins, believe in Christ, and submit to the ordinance of baptism: the Ethiopic version reads, “the way of God”; and such was the person he came to prepare the way for, even the Son of God, and who is truly and properly God,
as said the prophet Esaias, in Isa 40:3.
u Kimchi in Isa. xl. 1. w Jarchi in Isa xl. 3. x Zohar in Gen. fol. 70. 4. y Aben Ezra in Isa. ib.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He said (). Common imperfect active (or second aorist active) of , to say, old defective verb.
I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness ( ). For his answer John quotes Isa 40:3. The Synoptics (Mark 1:3; Matt 3:3; Luke 3:4) quote this language from Isaiah as descriptive of John, but do not say that he also applied it to himself. There is no reason to think that he did not do so. John also refers to Isaiah as the author of the words and also of the message, “ Make straight the way of the Lord ” ( ). By this language ( in N.T. only here and Jas 3:4, first aorist active imperative here) John identifies himself to the committee as the forerunner of the Messiah. The early writers note the differences between the use of (Word) for the Messiah and (Voice) for John.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,” (epe ego phone boontos en te eremo) “He responded, I am a voice (not the logos) loudly crying (calling out a people) in the wilderness, desert, or uninhabited areas,” not in the populated areas, as political persons and popular religionists do, Isa 40:3; Mal 3:1.
2) “Make straight the way of the Lord,” (euthunate ten hodon kuriou) “You all make straight the way of (the) Lord,” or get ready for the coming of the Master, or the Lord Superior, Mar 1:3; Luk 3:4-6.
3) “As said the prophet Esaias.” (kathos eipen Isaias ho prophetes) “Just as the prophet Esias said,” prophesied, Isa 40:3; This was a call for men to prepare for the Old Testament promised Jehovah, who was the Christ, the great “I am” self-existing one, (the Logos, the phos, and the Zoe) Exo 18:5-6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
23. The voice of him who crieth. As he would have been chargeable with rashness in undertaking the office of teaching, if he had not received a commission, he shows what was the duty which he had to perform, and proves it by a quotation from the Prophet Isa 60:3. Hence it follows that he does nothing but what God commanded him to do. Isaiah does not, indeed, speak there of John alone, but, promising the restoration of the Church, he predicts that there will yet be heard joyful voices, commanding to prepare the way for the Lord. Though he points out the coming of God, when he brought back the people from their captivity in Babylon, yet the true accomplishment was the manifestation of Christ in flesh. Among the heralds who announced that the Lord was at hand, John held the chief place.
To enter into ingenious inquiries, as some have done, into the meaning of the word Voice, would be frivolous. John is called a Voice, because he was enjoined to cry. It is in a figurative sense, undoubtedly, that Isaiah gives the name wilderness to the miserable desolation of the Church, which seemed to preclude the return of the people; as if he had said, that a passage would indeed be opened up for the captive people, but that the Lord would find a road through regions in which there was no road. But that visible wilderness, in which John preached, was a figure or image of the awful desolation which took away all hope of deliverance. If this comparison be considered, it will be easily seen that no torture has been given to the words of the prophet in this application of them; for God arranged everything in such a manner, as to place before the eyes of his people, who were overwhelmed with their calamities, a mirror of this prediction.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
JOHNS ANSWER
Text 1:23-28
23
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet.
24
And they had been sent from the Pharisees.
25
And they asked him, and said unto him, Why then baptizest thou, if thou are not the Christ, neither Elijah, neither the prophet?
26
John answered them, saying, I baptize in water: in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not,
27
even he that cometh after me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose.
28
These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Queries
a.
What would the prophecy which John applies to himself mean to his questioners?
b.
Why do the Pharisees ask him about the fact that he is baptizing people?
c.
Why does John emphasize that he baptizes in waterdoes he imply that the one coming after him will not baptize in water?
Paraphrase
John answered his questioners by saying, I am a voice of one crying loud and forcefully in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, just as the prophet Isaiah has prophesied. Those who had been sent to question John were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, Why then are you immersing if you are neither the Christ nor Elijah nor the Prophet? John answered them, saying, I am immersing in water: in your midst is standing One Whom you have not recognized, the One coming after me, Whose sandal thongs I am not worthy to untie. These things came to pass in Bethany which is on the eastern side of the Jordan river where John was immersing.
Summary
Johns answer to the Jews question is: I am the prophesied way-preparer for the Lord. Then John intimates that the Christ they seek stands unrecognized in their midst.
Comment
John takes Isaiahs prophecy (Isa. 40:3-5) and applies it to himself. The prophecy is given more fully in Luk. 3:4-6; in Mat. 3:3, John the Baptist shows that the prophecy definitely foretold his ministry (cf. also Mar. 1:3). This committee undoubtedly interpreted Isa. 40:3-5 as Messianic, but they would hardly accept such a religious fanatic as John for the forerunner of their ideal Messiah. Their Messianic fancy was that of a king of military, political and economic grandeur. The custom of the country at that time sheds light upon the prophecy. When a conqueror was about to travel through his province, the roads were leveled and made straight and put in order for his journey. A delegated subordinate always preceded the monarch to take care of this preliminary preparation. Thus, John the Baptist was the appointed road preparer for King Jesus. But the Jewish rulers hardly looked for either a spiritual king or a spiritual way preparer.
It is interesting to note the word used by John for one crying, It is the Greek word boao, an onomatopoeic word (a word formed by imitating the sound associated with the thing described, i.e., the name Whippoorwill to describe the bird), which came to describe the bellowing of oxen, In Johns case it indicates that he was in the wilderness crying out with a strong, forceful and arresting voice, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
John was literally in the wilderness of Judea doing his preaching. But there seems to be a spiritual application to the phrase a voice of one crying in the wilderness. Especially is this true considering its prophetic background. This herald of God was also crying in a wilderness of wasted souls. The wilderness (a pathless, fruitless waste) fitly describes the spiritual condition of Jehovahs people. John sought to prepare the way by preaching, Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance (Mat. 3:8; Luk. 3:8).
It is still true today! All the preaching and teaching in the church must be done toward this end; that is, toward preparing the way for the Lords entry into the heart of individuals. Genuine conviction of sin, a need for the Saviour, and a submissive will is preparing the way for the King of kings. That is what John the Baptist preached, and that is what the world needs preached today!
Joh. 1:24 seems to be furnishing the reader the reason why the next question (Joh. 1:25) was asked of John. It would be within the realm of the Pharisees to ask such a question. Further, it is doubtful that the Sadducees would be the least bit interested in why John was baptizing.
Most critics hold that John merely adapted the Jewish proselyte baptism to his ministry. Ecclesiastical history, however, gives no clear-cut evidence that the Jews practiced proselyte baptism. To the contrary, ancient records seem to indicate that the Jews appropriated baptism to the ceremonies of making proselytes from the practice begun by John, and later from Christian baptism (cf. Ungers Bible Dictionary, pp. 985). It lends more force to the question of the Jews to John if we assume John is doing something foreign to religious custom and practice of that day.
Here was this desert hermit attracting the whole countryside to his preaching. And he brazenly set aside all the present customs and traditions of the ecclesiastical heads and commanded, Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins (cf. Mar. 1:14; Luk. 3:3). Only as important a personage as the Messiah, Elijah or the Prophet would dare assume such authority as to introduce a new religious doctrine.
Furthermore, the Jews expected a general purification at the coming of the Messiah. At least they were inclined to interpret some of the Old Testament prophecies in this vein (cf. Zec. 13:1; Eze. 36:25). If John were not the Messiah, why then did he demand purity of life and practice baptism?
In studying Joh. 1:26-27, one must also consider parallel passages such as Mat. 3:10-12;.Mar. 1:7-8; Luk. 3:15-17; and the next few verses of John (Joh. 1:29-34). John the Baptist emphasizes that he will baptize only in water because the One coming after him will have authority and power to baptize whom He will in the Holy Spirit and unquenchable fire. The Baptist does not imply that Christ will disregard water baptism. The New Testament plainly records that Jesus Himself was baptized in water, that He and his disciples taught water baptism, and that Christ commanded baptism for all subsequent believers (Mat. 3:13-17; Mar. 1:9-11; Luk. 3:21-22; Mat. 28:18-20; Joh. 4:1-2; Act. 2:38).
It would be well to pause here and define the word baptize. Every Greek Lexicon of any repute defines baptizo as having a primary meaning of dip, plunge, immerse, submerge. In the Greek language (the original language of the New Testament) this word baptizo can never mean sprinkle or pour. It is to be feared that the translators of our English versions of the Bible have allowed religious prejudices to guide their translating. It is interesting to note how these translators contradict themselves. In 2Ki. 5:14 our English translators have rendered the verse thusly: Then went he down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan . . . (speaking of Naaman and his cure of leprosy). The amazing fact is that they interpreted the word baptizo, here used in the Septuagint, to mean dipped. When these scholars came to the New Testament they merely transliterated (change of characters of one alphabet to corresponding characters of another alphabet) the word baptizo. Consistency, thou art a gem!
When John baptized, he immersed men and women in the Jordan River, When men and women were told by the apostles that they must repent and be baptized, the apostles meant that they must repent and be immersed in water, (Cf. Act. 2:38; Act. 2:41; Act. 8:34-38; Act. 9:18; Act. 10:47-48; Act. 16:15; Act. 15:33; Act. 18:8; Act. 22:16, etc.) No man or group of men has ever had nor will ever have authority to alter the scriptural plan of salvation (cf. Gal. 1:6-10). No latter day prophet, no earthly vicar, no, not even an angel from heaven is permitted to preach a revised gospel, Everyone who names the name of Christ as Lord is committed to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all time delivered unto the saints (Jud. 1:3).
John the Baptist said, I immerse in water: but in your midst is standing One whom you do not recognize. In Joh. 1:28 John humbly explains that the multitudes are recognizing and acclaiming the wrong person. The One they are not recognizing is so far above John that John is not even fit to perform the lowliest servants task for Him. The Eastern custom of taking the sandals from a guests feet and bathing his feet was delegated to the lowest of the servants.
No man is a fit messenger of the Lord until he is able humbly to recognize his unworthiness. Let us remember the words of the Master, Even so ye also, when ye shall have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do (Luk. 17:10).
The next matter for consideration is one of geography. Joh. 1:28 speaks of Bethany beyond the Jordan as the location for these momentous events. Almost all the ancient manuscripts have Bethany beyond the Jordan here in place of the King James translation Bethabara. One of the early Christian writers (Origen) could find no place in Palestine named Bethany when he visited there, but was directed to a village called Bethabara east of the Jordan. Origen is accused of taking the liberty of changing the original text. It is impossible, this far removed, to determine the definite geographical location. The attendant circumstances, however, point to a place on the east side of the Jordan, immediately north of the Dead Sea, in the vicinity of Jericho. There is a ford in the Jordan there, presumably the one used by Joshua and the children of Israel in their crossing (Jos. 3:16), For a more detailed presentation of this matter see Andrews, The Life of Our Lord, pages 146151; McGarvey, Lands of the Bible pages 341343.
Quiz
1.
What does the prophecy in Isa. 40:3-5 indicate of the nature of John the Baptists ministry, i.e., how John could prepare the way for the Lord?
2.
Why does John mention that it was the Pharisees that had been sent (Joh. 1:24)?
3.
Was Johns baptism an adaptation of Jewish proselyte baptism?
4.
How must the Greek word baptizo be translated?
5.
Must all who believe in Jesus be baptized? Give 3 Scripture references.
6.
How do we know the Scriptures cannot be changed?
7.
Where is the most probable location of Bethany beyond the Jordan?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(23) But he still gives the No. They think of his person and his work. He thinks of neither. His eye is fixed on the coming One. In this presence his own personality has no existence. He is as a voice, not to be inquired about but heard. They are acting as men who ask questions about the messenger of a great king who is coming to them and is at hand, instead of hastening with every effort to make ready for him. (Comp. Note on Mat. 3:3.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. I am the voice John’s answer, while it evades all their malice, invests him with the dignity of being foretold by ancient prophecy. He humbly yet sublimely pronounces himself to be not the WORD, but a voice; yet what a voice! the heraldic voice of a divine warning to prepare the way for the great King.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 1:23. I am the voice, &c. It is to be feared that Clemens of Alexandria, and Archbishop Fenelon, lay too great a stress on the word , voice, when the former of these excellent men says, “Does not John call men to salvation, and is he not entirely an exhortatory voice?”And then the latter endeavours to illustrate the humility of John the Baptist’s reply, as if he had said, “Far from being the Messiah, or Elias, or one of the old prophets, I am nothing but a voice, a sound, which as soon as it has expressed the thought, of which it is the sign, dies into air, and is known no more.” Had the Baptist said only, I am a voice crying in the wilderness, there might have been more room for such a supposition: but since he calls himself the voice of one crying in the wilderness, the words are plainly to be understood with very great latitude; for they would else imply that he was not the very person that so cried; and designedly referring his hearers to the words of Isaiah, who cannot be imagined to have intended a diminution of this saint’s character, they are an instance of that remarkable liberty of expression which the Hebrew language, wherein they were spoken, admits. It is as if he had said, “I am the person of whom Isaiah speaks, when he says, the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness.” By a like liberty, the kingdom of heaven is said, Mat 13:24 to be likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field, that is, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the words, “The kingdom of heaven, or the Gospel dispensation, may be compared to that which happened to a man who had sown good seed in his ground.” Several very considerable Greek writers express themselves in much the same manner.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
Ver. 23. I am the voice of one crying ] Christ spake not a word to Herod, saith one; because Herod had taken away this voice of his in beheading the Baptist. See Trapp on “ Mar 1:3 “ The Reverend Sam. Crook was wont to say to his friends rejoicing with him, and blessing God for him, “I am nothing but a voice.”
In the wilderness ] Not in the temple; to show that the legal shadows were now to vanish. Chrysologus calls John Baptist, fibulam legis et gratiae.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
23. ] These words, which by the other Evangelists are spoken of John as the fulfilment of the prophecy, appear from this place to have been first so used by himself . They introduce the great closing section of the prophecy of Isaiah (ch. 40 66) so full of the rich promises and revelations of the Messiah and His kingdom.
is used as compendiously expressing .
By implication, the Baptist, quoting this opening prophecy of himself, announces the approaching fulfilment of the whole section.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
I am, &c. Quoting from Isa 40:3. See App-107.
the = a.
the LORD. App-98.
Esaias = Isaiah. The first of four occurances of his name in John; and this from the latter part of Isaiah, which modern critics say Isaiah did not write. But see the Structure in the Isaiah book comments, and App-79.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
23.] These words, which by the other Evangelists are spoken of John as the fulfilment of the prophecy, appear from this place to have been first so used by himself. They introduce the great closing section of the prophecy of Isaiah (ch. 40-66) so full of the rich promises and revelations of the Messiah and His kingdom.
is used as compendiously expressing .
By implication, the Baptist, quoting this opening prophecy of himself, announces the approaching fulfilment of the whole section.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 1:23. , I the Voice) An abbreviated mode of expression; I am that person, of whom it has been said; the Voice of one crying. John was also himself crying.-) – , Luk 3:4, notes.- , Isaiah the prophet) Formerly, saith he, there were prophets: now the kingdom of God is nearer at hand.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 1:23
Joh 1:23
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet.-He answered that he came in the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah (Isa 40:3), of the one who should come before and prepare the way for the prophet. His work was that of preparation for the Lord.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I am: Joh 3:28, Mat 3:3, Mar 1:3, Luk 1:16, Luk 1:17, Luk 1:76-79, Luk 3:4-6
as said: Isa 40:3-5
Reciprocal: Ezr 1:1 – made a proclamation Mat 11:10 – General Luk 3:2 – in Luk 7:24 – wilderness Luk 7:27 – Behold Joh 7:37 – and cried Act 13:10 – the right Act 18:25 – instructed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A MESSAGE FOR TO-DAY
Make straight the way of the Lord.
Joh 1:23
An old message; yet one for our own day. Lacking now, indeed, the dramatic surroundings of its first delivery: the man from the desert, with the frame of an ascetic, the eye of a seer, the garb of a prophet, with a reputation for sanctity, heightened by his sudden change from solitude of the wild country to nearer approach to men. The interest excited is natural. The inquiry of the Pharisees pardonable. The disclaimer of John leads up to delivery of his own messageMake straight prepare.
How is this a message for to-day? Because
I. There is still a work to be done in many of our hearts.The way of the Lord to be prepared there, by repentance, by its fruits in a change of life.
II. There is a work to be done in the community, where there is still so much of open defiance of Gods laws, sullen apathy as to them, careless disregard of them. God not honoured in social habits, standards of right and wrong, any more than in the hearts and lives of the individual.
III. Especially is there a work to be done in the non-Christian world.People hear in a vague way about non-Christian faiths or about Paganism; but do not realise their forces. Can they be content to leave unevangelised millions without a knowledge of God?
IV. John the Baptist was conscious of a mission.Has not God also commissioned the Church of this day? Has He not made our duty plain? If that duty be neglected, is it not at our peril?
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
3
John’s answer must have been a surprise to these men, for he had nothing to say about himself personally. The voice of one, etc., was to direct their attention to what he was saying to the people in the wilderness, and not to anything pertaining to him as an individual. He verified that “voice” by referring to a prediction of Esaias (Isaiah), chapter 40:3, 4, of that prophet’s book.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 1:23. He said, I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. The words are from Isa 40:3, and, though slightly modified in form, they completely express the sense of the original passage. To captive Israel, whose warfare is now accomplished, whose iniquity is pardoned, the glorious approach of her Deliverer is proclaimed. He conies to lead back his people through the desert to their own land. The heralds voice sounds in the desert, announcing the coming of the King, commanding that all obstacles be removed from the course of His triumphal march, and that through the wilderness there be made a highway for the Deliverer and for the people whom He has set free. The Baptist takes the words in their true application to the Messianic deliverance and kingdom. He speaks of himself as the herald, or rather as the heralds voice; as in Joh 1:8, his personality, so to speak, is swallowed up in the message which he came to bring.