Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 3:5
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan,
Jerusalem – The people of Jerusalem.
All Judea – Many people from Judea. It does not mean that literally all the people went, but that great multitudes went. It was general. Jerusalem was in the part of the country called Judea. Judea was situated on the west side of the Jordan. See the notes at Mat 2:22.
Region about Jordan – On the east and west side of the river. Near to Jordan.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 3:5
All the region round about Jordan.
This would include the whole length of the river valley, and would therefore take in parts of the Peraea, Samaria, Galilee, and Gaulonitis. (Revelation E. H. Plumtre, D. D.)
The Jordan Valley
is not only the most remarkable feature of Palestine, but one of the most curious places in the world. It has no counterpart elsewhere, and the extraordinary phenomenon of clouds sweeping as a thick mist 500 feet below the level of the sea is one which few European eyes have seen, but which we witnessed in the early storms of the spring of 1874. The Jordan rises as a full-grown river, issuing from the cave at Banihs, about 1,000 feet above the level of the Mediterranean In twenty-six and half miles, there is a fall of 1,682 feet, or more than sixty feet to the mile The Jordan Valley was now one blaze of beautiful flowers, growing in a profusion not often to be found, even in more fertile lands. The ground was literally covered with blossoms; the great red anemone, like a poppy, grew in long tracts on the stony soil; on the soft marls, patches of delicate lavender colour were made by the wild stocks; the retem, or white broom (the juniper of Scripture), was in full blossom, and the rich purple nettles contrasted with fields of kutufy, or yellow St. Johns wort. There were also quantities of orange-coloured marigolds, long fields of white and purple clover, tall spires of asphodel and clubs of snap-dragon, purple salvias and white garlic, pink geraniums and cistus, tall white umbelliferous plants, and large camomile daisies, all set in a border of deep green herbage which reached the shoulders of the horses. Jordans banks were covered with flowers, while brown turfali or tamarisks and canebrake line the rushing stream, and the white marl banks stood out in striking contrast. (Lieut. Conder, R. E.)
But certainly, of multitudes that will run to the word, and, possibly, particularly flock after the ministry of some for a time, there may be many, as doubtless were then, that are but light stuff, carried with the stream as corks and straws are. Men should examine well even such things as seem to speak some love of religion in them, whether they be real or not. (R. Leighton, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. Jordan] Many of the best MSS. and versions, with Mr 1:5, add , the river Jordan; but the definitive article, with which the word is generally accompanied, both in the Hebrew and the Greek, is, sufficient; and our article the, which should ever be used in the translation, expresses the force of the other.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The preacher being described, the evangelist proceedeth to tell us what auditors he had. The term all here twice repeated, is enough to let us know, that it is often in Scripture significative no further then many, for it cannot be imagined that every individual person in Jerusalem and the region about Jordan went to hear John the Baptist, but a great many did. It is not to be wondered that there went out such a concourse of people to hear John the Baptist,
1. If it be true, that from Ezras time till now no prophet had appeared. Our Saviour speaking of John, What went ye out for to see? A prophet? Seems to hint that a prophet was a great rarity amongst them.
2. If we consider the severity of his life. Our Saviour saith he came neither eating nor drinking, that is, as other men.
3. If we consider the new doctrine he brought, and his fervency in the pressing it: he came to preach the Messias, whom the Jews had long expected; to tell them his kingdom was at hand.
4. Especially if we consider the new rite of baptizing, which he brought in. For admit their washing of proselytes in use before, yet he baptized Jews. He was sent to baptize with water, Joh 1:33. So as from this time the institution of the sacrament of baptism must be dated, and he did baptize many.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. Then went out to him Jerusalem,and all Judea, and all the region round about JordanFrom themetropolitan center to the extremities of the Judean province the cryof this great preacher of repentance and herald of the approachingMessiah brought trooping penitents and eager expectants.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then went out to him Jerusalem,…. The uncommon appearance of this person, the oddness of his dress, the austerity of his life, together with the awfulness and importance of his doctrine, and the novelty of the ordinance of baptism he administered, and the Jews having had no prophet for some hundreds of years, and imagining he might be the Messiah, quickly drew large numbers of people to him. Some copies read “all Jerusalem”: that is, the inhabitants of that city, a very large number of them; and “all Judea”, a great number of people from all parts of that country. “All” is here put for “many”. And
all the region round about Jordan; multitudes from thence, which seems to be the same country with that which is called “beyond Jordan”, Mt 4:25 and is distinguished from Judea as here. The Septuagint in 2Ch 4:17 use the same phrase the Evangelist does here, and likewise in Ge 13:10.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea,” (tote eksporeueto pros auton lerosoluma kai pasa he loudaia) “Then (at that point) went out to (hear) him Jerusalem and all Judea;” The masses from these areas flocked out into the open countryside called the desert or wilderness to hear his heaven-mandated message, Mr 1:5; Luk 3:7. This is the prophet with the message foretold Mal 4:5-6.
2) “And all the region round about Jordan,” (kai pasa he perichomos tou lordanou) “And from all the neighborhood of the Jordan area;” This refers to both the Jordan River and the Valley through which it flows. The Valley extends sixty (60) miles in length from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. The masses followed -John, some to receive his message from the Lord and obey it and some out of curiosity, Mat 11:7-14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(5) All the region round about Jordan.This would include the whole length of the river-valley, and would therefore take in parts of Pera, Samaria, Galilee, and Gaulonitis.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Went out Left their homes and went to the desert. Jerusalem, and all Judea Never was preacher, for the time, more successful than John. At his voice from the wilderness the heart of the whole nation was stirred. When they beheld his stern form their spirits were awed. When he announced the kingdom of heaven their expectations were roused. At no time perhaps did the preaching of Jesus himself produce so great a movement. Nor did the common people ever lose their reverence for the Baptist; the rulers never dared deny that he was a prophet, lest they should be stoned by the people. So prominent did he become, that Josephus, who, perhaps, never referred to Christ, did, as we shall remark in our notes upon the twelfth chapter, mention John the Baptist. Nor at this day are there wanting skeptics who affirm that John was the superior of Jesus. Yet the excitement of John’s preaching was but temporary; but for Jesus his name would be almost unknown; while the seed quietly sowed by Jesus, growing in secret, hath become the great tree which fills, and shall fill the earth. The whole social mass was moved. All about Jordan On both sides. There could have scarce been less than millions. There was once three millions of Jews at one passover. This was a movement of another kind, but no less numerous.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan, and they were baptised of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.’
The impact of John’s ministry is made clear, covering Jerusalem, Judaea and the Region Round Jordan. Jerusalem had always seen itself as distinctive from Judaea. It was the city of David. Judaea was the southern part of the ancient Israel, south of Samaria. Round Jordan were the towns and cities in the Jordan valley and on the surrounding slopes, including in Peraea. ‘All’ is not of course to be taken literally. It simply indicates a great number, so much so that it seemed that all were there. And they came to be baptised and to admit their sins before God. It was a great revival movement. This too was the work of the Holy Spirit, for without the Spirit of God no such work could have taken place. The point about the later coming of the Spirit was that it would have a wider scope and a wider outreach, and reach out more extensively, not that it would be the first time that the Spirit was at work.
We should note how abbreviated this description of John’s ministry is. They would in fact first go out to hear him preach. Then moved with conviction of sin, they came to openly admit their sins to God (to ‘confess’, to say along with God, ‘this is sin’). The purpose of such confession was in order to receive forgiveness, but that is not mentioned either, probably because of the brief nature of the description. Yet it would be assumed. For Isaiah had made quite clear that if men turned from their evil ways their sins would be forgiven (Isa 1:16-18; Isa 43:25; Isa 44:22 compare Exo 34:7; Psa 25:18; Psa 32:1).
Once this was accomplished they would be baptised. By this prophetic acting out they were indicating their desire to partake in the soon coming Holy Spirit that had been promised by the prophets, often in terms of rain (Isa 32:15; Isa 44:1-5; Joe 2:28; Eze 36:25-28).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The effect of his preaching:
v. 5. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan. If not instantaneous, the success was rapid. The news traveled swiftly. First came those from the surrounding country, people from either side of the Jordan, whose homes were in or near the wilderness. Then the great movement spread in ever-widening circles into Judea. And finally, haughty, disdainful Jerusalem is drawn into the excitement. This the evangelist intimates by placing the capital city first; even conservative Jerusalem goes into the wilderness, a penitent at the call of John. A remarkable testimony for the power of the Word when openly and fearlessly proclaimed!
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 3:5. And all the region round about Jordan As the river Jordan runs through a vast tract of land, it cannot be supposed that all they who lived nearest it came to John’s baptism. By all the region, &c. St. Matthew therefore must mean some of those countries near Jordan, which bordered upon Judaea; as the plain of Jordan, which is by the LXX called the country about Jordan. The novelty of a prophet’s appearance in Israel, the family of John, the circumstances of his birth, the extraordinarycharacter which he had maintained for strict and undissembled piety, all concurred, no doubt, with the time of his appearance, and the people’s impatient desire of the Messiah’s arrival, and uneasiness under the Roman yoke, to draw such vast multitudes after him. See Calmet, and Doddridge.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 3:5 . ] , Gen 13:10-11 ; 1Ki 7:47 ; 2Ch 4:17 . The country on both sides of the Jordan, now Elgor, see Robinson, Pal. II. p. 498 ff. Comp. Lightfoot, Hor. p. 216. The whole passage conveys an impression of solemnity, with which also the naming of the town and district, instead of the inhabitants (Ngelsbach on the Iliad, p. 103 ff. Exo 3 ), is connected. The baptism of John has been erroneously regarded as a modified application of the Jewish baptism of proselytes. So Selden (Jus. nat. Mat 2:2 ), Lightfoot (Hor. p. 220 ff.), Danz (in Meuschen, N. T. ex Talm. ill. pp. 233 ff., 287 ff.), Ziegler (theol. Abh. II. p. 132 ff.), Eisenlohr (hist. Bemerk. b. d. Taufe, 1804), Kaiser (bibl. Theol. II. p. 160), Kuinoel, Fritzsche, Bengel, b. d. Alter d. Jd. Proselytent. 1814. For the baptism of proselytes, the oldest testimony to which occurs in the Gemara Babyl. Jebamoth xlvi. 2, and regarding which Philo, Josephus, and the more ancient Targumists are altogether silent, did not arise till after the destruction of Jerusalem. Schneckenburger, b. d. Alter der Jd. Proselytent. u. deren Zusammenst. m. d. joh. u. chr. Ritus, 1828; Paulus, exeg. Handb. I. p. 307 ff. The reception of proselytes was accomplished, so long as the temple stood, by means of circumcision and the presentation of a sacrifice, which was preceded, like every sacrifice, by a lustration, which the proselyte performed on himself. It is not, however, with this lustration merely, but chiefly with the religious usages of the Jews as regards washings, and their symbolical meaning (Gen 35:2 ; Exo 19:10 ; Num 19:7 ; Num 19:19 ; 1Sa 16:5 ; Jdt 12:7 ), that the baptism of John has its general point of connection in the history of the people, although it is precisely as baptism, and accompanied by the confession of sin, that it appears only as something new given to this dawn of the Messiah’s kingdom, under the excitement of the divine revelation, of which John was the bearer. Venerable prophetic pictures and allusions, like Isa 1:16 ; Isa 4:4 ; Isa 44:24 , Eze 36:25 , Zec 13:1 , Psa 51:4 , might thus serve to develope it still further in the soul of this last of the prophets. What was symbolized in the baptism of John was the . Comp. Josephus, Antt. xviii. 5. 2. [380] To this, however, the immersion of the whole of the baptized person, as the , was to purify the whole man, corresponded with profound significance, and to this the specifically Christian view of the symbolic immersion and emersion afterwards connected itself (Rom 6:3 ff.; Tit 3:5 ) by an ethical necessity.
.] In the same way as in the case of the sin-offering (Lev 16:21 ff.; Num 5:7 ), and in general to be taken as a venerable pre-condition of divine grace and blessing, Psa 32:5 ; Psa 51:1 ff.; Ezr 9:6 ; Dan 9:5 .
The participle is not to be taken as if it were conditional (Fritzsche: “ si confiterentur ”), as the subjection to this condition, in the case of every one who came to be baptized, is necessarily required as a matter of course; but: they were baptized whilst they confessed , during the confession, which is conceived as connected with the act of baptism itself. Whether is it a summary or a specific confession which is intended? Both may have taken place, varying always according to the individuals and their relations. The compound , however (Josephus, Antt . viii. 4. 6; passages in Philo; see in Loesner), expresses, as also in Act 19:18 , Jas 5:16 , an open confession.
[380] See this passage of Josephus above on ver. 2. Without any reason has this meaning been discovered in it, that John viewed his baptism as a means of covenant , by explaining to mean: to unite through or for baptism (Strauss, Keim, Hausrath). The meaning of the passage is rather: John commanded the Jews to be wise in the exercise of virtue, and so on ( sapere , comp. Rom 3:11 ; 2Co 10:12 ), by means of baptism .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
The wilderness of Judea John preached in, is not to be considered by us as what we should now call a wilderness, that is a solitary place, for there were both towns and villages in it. The multitude thronging to him is not to be wondered at, when we consider how long an interval, even of 350 years, had taken place in the church, from the days of Malachi, the last Prophet.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
Ver. 5. Then went out to him Jerusalem ] Hitherto the description of the Baptist: follows now the resort that was made unto him; for by his divine doctrine and austere life he had merited among many to be taken for the Messiah, Joh 1:20 .
And all Judea ] That is, very many, as the word “all” is many times elsewhere taken in the New Testament.
And all the region round about Jordan ] Stirred up by the noise of that new preacher. So various among us will be content to hear, if there go a great report of the man; or if he deliver some new doctrine, or deal in deep points, as Herod, Luk 23:8 . But these grow weary and fall off as those Jews did from John, for the which they were justly taxed by our Saviour, Joh 5:35 ; Mat 11:7 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
5. . ] The latter here has been supposed to mean ‘ especially ,’ seeing that Juda was part of the ; as in the expression . But the former will hardly allow this.
. means all the neighbourhood of Jordan not included in Jerusalem and Juda before mentioned. Parts of Pera, Samaria, Galilee, and Gaulonitis come under this denomination.
There need be no surprise at such multitudes going out to John. The nature of his announcement, coupled with the prevalent expectation of the time, was enough to produce this effect. See, as strictly consistent with this account, chap. Mat 11:7-15 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 3:5-6 . Effects of John’s preaching . Remarkable by his appearance, his message, and his moral intensity, John made a great impression. They took him for a prophet, and a prophet was a novelty in those days. His message appealed to the common Messianic hope, and proclaimed fulfilment to be at hand. , then , general note of time, frequent in this Gospel. imperfect, denoting continued action. The movement of course was gradual. It began on a small scale and steadily grew till it reached colossal dimensions. Each evangelist, in his own way, bears witness to this. Luke speaks of crowds (Mat 3:7 ), Mark and Matthew give graphic particulars, similar, but in diverse order. “All Judaea and all the Jerusalemites,” says Mark. “Jerusalem, Judaea and the Jordan country,” Matthew. The historical order was probably the reverse of that in Matthew’s narrative. First came those from the surrounding country people living near the Jordan, on either side, in what is now called El-Ghor. Then the movement extended in widening circles into Judaea. Finally it affected conservative, disdainful Jerusalem, slow to be touched by new popular influences. : the Greek form here as in Mat 2:3 , and generally in this Gospel. It is not said all Jerusalem, as in Mark. The remarkable thing is that any came from that quarter. Standing first, and without the “all,” the reference means even Jerusalem. The in the other two clauses is of course an exaggeration. It implies, not that every human being went to the Jordan, but that the movement was general . The evangelist expresses himself just as we should do in a similar case. with the article means “the whole,” without, “every”.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
to = unto. Greek. pros. App-104.
Jerusalem . . . Judeea. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Subject), App-6, for their inhabitants.
all. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus), for the greater part.
all the region. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of the Whole), for the greater part of the country.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
5. .] The latter here has been supposed to mean especially, seeing that Juda was part of the ; as in the expression . But the former will hardly allow this.
. means all the neighbourhood of Jordan not included in Jerusalem and Juda before mentioned. Parts of Pera, Samaria, Galilee, and Gaulonitis come under this denomination.
There need be no surprise at such multitudes going out to John. The nature of his announcement, coupled with the prevalent expectation of the time, was enough to produce this effect. See, as strictly consistent with this account, chap. Mat 11:7-15.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 3:5. , all) i.e., from all parts.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mat 4:25, Mat 11:7-12, Mar 1:5, Luk 3:7, Luk 16:16, Joh 3:23, Joh 5:35
Reciprocal: 1Sa 14:25 – all they Mar 11:32 – for Luk 3:3 – the country Luk 7:29 – being
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3:5
Verse 5. The text does not say that every individual in these dIstricts was baptized. but that great throngs from all of them came out to be baptized.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan.
[The region round about Jordan.] The word the region round about; is used by the Jerusalem Gemara: “From Beth-horon to the sea is one region round about;” or, one circumjacent region. Perhaps, both in the Talmudist and in the evangelist, is one and the same thing with a coast; or a country along a coast; in Pliny: “The country (saith he) along the coast is Samaria”: that is, the sea-coast, and the country further, lying along by that coast: which may be said also concerning the region round about Jordan. Strabo, concerning the plain bordering on Jordan, hath these words; “It is a place of a hundred furlongs, all well watered and full of dwellings.”
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 3:5. To him, i.e., to the banks of Jordan.
Jerusalem. The inhabitants of the capital city are first referred to.
All Judea, the multitude was great enough to justify this expression.
Bound about Jordan. An indefinite expression, which may include parts of Samaria and Galilee, but the most remote locality seems to have been put first and the nearest last. Continued action is here asserted. Johns spiritual power was so great, that it became quite the fashion, even among the self-righteous Jews, to go out into the wilderness to be baptized.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, The great encouragement which John had in his ministry, from the people’s attendance upon it: he was now fishing for souls, and God brought the people very thick about the net of the gospel, and multitudes were enclosed, no doubt, to his joy and great satisfaction. For it is matter of great rejoicing to the ministers of Christ, when they find their people forward to encourage their ministry by a diligent attendance.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 3:5. Then went out to him Jerusalem That is, the citizens of it, famed as they were for wisdom and virtue: and all Judea, &c. The preacher being described, the evangelist proceeds to tell us what auditors he had. All sorts and ranks of persons, and the generality of the people there, flocked to hear him. The uncommon circumstances of Johns public appearance could scarcely fail to awaken the attention of the people to his person and ministry, which would be yet more excited by the time of it: for the Roman yoke began to bear hard upon them, and their uneasiness under it raised in their minds the most impatient desire of the Messiahs arrival, by whom they expected not only deliverance, but universal monarchy. No wonder, therefore, that they flocked to the Baptist from all parts, and listened attentively while he proclaimed this long-expected Messiahs approach, and denounced the divine vengeance upon such as rejected him. Add to this, the novelty of a prophets appearance in Israel, (for it seems they had had none among them since Malachis time;) the family of John, the circumstances of his birth, and the extraordinary character he had no doubt maintained for strict and undissembled piety; the new doctrine he taught, and his fervent manner of urging it, together with the new rite of baptism which he brought in; all concurred, with the cause mentioned above, to draw such vast multitudes after him. And, it appears, great numbers of them were brought under very serious impressions by his faithful remonstrances, expostulations, and warnings. Here we observe a remarkable difference between John and Jesus. That the people might hear John they were under the necessity of going out of the city, and travelling to him into the desert: but Jesus, of his own accord, went to his hearers.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 5
Jordan. The River Jordan is about one hundred miles in length, forming the eastern boundary of Palestine.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
3:5 Then went out to him {g} Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
(g) The people of Jerusalem.