Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 1:27
He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
27. He it is ] These words and ‘is preferred before me’ are wanting in authority: the sentence should run, He that cometh after me, whose shoe’s latchet, &c., is standing in the midst of you, and ye know Him not. ‘Ye’ is emphatic; ‘Whom ye who question me know not, but Whom I, the questioned, know.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Whose shoes latchet – See the notes at Mat 3:11. The latchet of sandals was the string or thong by which they were fastened to the feet. To unloose them was the office of a servant, and John means, therefore, that he was unworthy to perform the lowest office for the Messiah. This was remarkable humility. John was well known; he was highly honored; thousands came to hear him. Jesus was at that time unknown; but John says that he was unworthy to perform the humblest office for Jesus. So we all should be willing to lay all that we have at the feet of Christ, and feel that we are unworthy to be his lowest servants.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 27. Is preferred before me] , Who was before me. This clause is wanting in BC*L, four others, the Coptic, AEthiopic, Slavonic, and two copies of the Itala, and in some of the primitive fathers. Griesbach has left it out of the text. It is likely that it was omitted by the above, because it was found in verses 15 and 30. Joh 1:15; Joh 1:30 At the end of this verse, EG, and ten others, with some copies of the Slavonic, add, He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
John the Baptist had before told them, He that cometh after me is preferred before me, See Poole on “Joh 1:15“. He now repeateth those words; and it is observable, that the three other evangelists all put this passage before the history of Christs coming to him to be baptized. So as it is probable that these messengers came to John as he was baptizing; and either immediately before or after Christs baptism, Christ being yet in the crowd, he repeateth to his hearers what he had a little before said of him, that he was to be preferred before him.
Whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to unloose; he here enlargeth upon it with a proverbial speech, which the other evangelists have, with a very little variation: Matthew saith, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; that is, to perform unto him the very meanest service or office. We have such forms of speech in use at this day amongst us; when we would express the great preeminence of some one above another, we say of that other, He is not worthy to tie his shoes; or, to carry his shoes after him. There is a vast difference between Christ and the most excellent of his ministers; which as to baptism lieth here; the ministerial baptism is but with water; Christ baptizeth with the Holy Ghost and with fire, Mat 3:11, or, with the Holy Ghost, as Mar 1:8.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
He it is who coming after me,…. Both into the world, and into the ministry of the word; for John was before Christ, in both these respects, though greatly behind him in others, and therefore he adds,
is preferred before me: being not only of a more excellent nature, the Son of God, and of an higher extract, the Lord from heaven; but in an higher office, and having greater gifts, and the Spirit of God without measure on him; and also being more followed by the people; for John decreased, but he increased: or rather the words may be rendered, who was before me; being the eternal Son of God, whose goings forth were of old, from everlasting; who was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was; the firstborn, or first bringer forth of every creature; and therefore must be before all things, which are created by him;
[See comments on Joh 1:15].
Whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to unloose; which was one of the meanest services done by a servant to his master;
[See comments on Mt 3:11].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Coming after me ( ). No article () in Aleph B. John as the forerunner of the Messiah has preceded him in time, but not in rank as he instantly adds.
The latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose ( ). Literally, “of whom I am not worthy that I unloose the latchet (see Mr 1:7 for ) of his sandal (see Mt 3:11 for , bound under the foot).” Only use of with in John, though used by Paul in this saying of the Baptist (Ac 13:25), in Mt 3:8, but (aorist active infinitive instead of , aorist active subjunctive) in Mr 1:7 (Lu 3:16) and in Mt 3:11.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “He it is, who coming after me,” (ho opiso mou erchomenos) “The one being, coming after me,” to you all, and to the world, John 15. This denotes an immediate or imminent coming or arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, and John’s close association with it, as Jesus was to be baptized by him forthwith, Joh 1:31-33; Mat 3:16-17.
2) “is preferred before me,” (in priority over me is desired) a possible interpolation, but the idea was previously expressed, Joh 1:15; Yet He was, existed, before John, though He was not born before him, Joh 1:30.
3) “Whose shoe’s lachet I am not worthy to unloose.” (hou ouk eimi ego aksios) “Of whom I am not (even) worthy,” (hina luso autou ton himanta tou hupodematos) “In order that I should even release (untie) the thong of the sandal of Him,” Mar 1:7; Luk 3:16. These deputies from the elite of the Christ-rejecting Jews in Jerusalem rejected the council of God, being not baptized of John, Luk 7:30. John counseled them to repent and trust in Christ, but they did not. Mat 3:1-8; Act 19:4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
27. Who coming after me. Here he says two things; first, that Christ was behind him in the order of time; but, secondly, that he was far before him in rank and dignity, because the rather preferred him to all. Soon after he will add a third statement, that Christ was preferred to all others, because he is in reality more exalted than all others.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(27) He it is . . . is preferred before me.Insertions made to harmonise the verse with Joh. 1:15; Joh. 1:30. Omitting them we have, He who cometh after me as the subject of the verb standeth, and the whole sentence, is He who cometh after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose, standeth among you and ye know Him not. This is the authority for baptism, the outer sign of the Messiahs Advent, for He is already standing in their midst. Here is the answer to their question. Johns work is simply ministerial. The baptism of the Spirit is at hand. The coming One has come. (Comp. Notes on Mat. 3:11 and Mar. 1:7.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
Ver. 27. I am not worthy ] Yet Christ held him worthy to lay his hand upon his head in baptism. And there is one that tells us (but who told him?) that for his humility on earth, he is preferred to that place in heaven from which proud Lucifer fell.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Whose shoe’s latchet = the thong of whose sandal.
latchet = a little lace, or thong. O. Fr, lacet, a lace; dim. of lags, from Latin. laqueus.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Joh 1:27. ) Himself.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
who: Joh 1:15, Joh 1:30, Act 19:4
whose: Mat 3:11, Mar 1:7, Luk 3:16
Reciprocal: Deu 25:9 – loose his shoe Mat 8:8 – I am Mat 11:11 – he that Luk 1:76 – thou shalt Joh 1:7 – a witness Joh 3:28 – I said Joh 3:31 – is above Joh 13:6 – Lord Act 13:25 – whom Col 1:18 – in all
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7
See comments at verse 15.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 1:27-34. The Baptists Witness to Himself.The baptism of Jesus has apparently taken place. John points to Him as the greater one of whom he had spoken. His own work of baptism, which has not been described but is assumed to be known, is, he says, preparatory to the manifestation of Messiah to Israel. Like others John had been ignorant, till the sign of the Spirit descending and abiding on Jesus had revealed to him the true Baptizer, who should give men the true baptism of the Spirit. The section ends with Johns witness that such an one is the very Son of God. [In Joh 1:34 there is a variant reading, the Elect of God instead of the Son of God. It has very strong early attestation, and is accepted by Blass, Nestle, and Zahn. In the work already mentioned on Joh 1:13, Harnack has adopted it and sought to show its importance. It is simply a term for the Messiah, but it forms an addition to the contacts of the Fourth Gospel with the Third (Luk 9:35; Luk 23:35), and it illustrates how deeply the Fourth Evangelist is rooted in Jewish theology, a point which deserves emphasis in view of the present tendency to attribute to him an un-Jewish Hellenism.A. S. P.] The full recognition of Jesus as Messiah by John and others at the outset is a well-known difficulty. If it is historical it was the act of men who saw in a remarkable man the fulfilment of their expectations, but thought of Him as one who would satisfy their national Messianism. When they found out that He would do nothing of the sort they changed their minds, till He had taught them what to look for in the true Messiah. [Joh 1:22-24 and Joh 1:25-28 may be parallel narratives; so also Joh 1:29-31 and Joh 1:32-34. See Wellhausen, Das Evangelium Johannis, pp. 9, 11.A. J. G.]
Joh 1:29. The Lamb of God has been interpreted with reference (a) to the Paschal lamb (Exodus 12) with which the writer, like Paul (1Co 5:7), identifies Jesus, but which was not a sin offering (see Joh 1:29); (b) to the lamb of the morning and evening sacrifice; (c) to the lamb of Isa 53:4 ff. where the connexion with sin-bearing is certain. The evangelist has probably interpreted, and perhaps modified, in the light of later Christian thought (cf. also Genesis 22) what originally referred to the destruction, not the bearing, of sin.