Yohanes 1:31-33

1:31 I did not recognize ¹  him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel.” ² 

1:32 Then ³  John testified, ⁴  “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove ⁵  from heaven, ⁶  and it remained on him. ⁷  1:33 And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining – this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

Yohanes 1:35-38

1:35 Again the next day John ⁸  was standing there ⁹  with two of his disciples. 1:36 Gazing at Jesus as he walked by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” ¹⁰  1:37 When John’s ¹¹  two disciples heard him say this, ¹²  they followed Jesus. ¹³  1:38 Jesus turned around and saw them following and said to them, “What do you want?” ¹⁴  So they said to him, “Rabbi” (which is translated Teacher), ¹⁵  “where are you staying?”

[1:31]  ¹ tn Or “know.”

[1:31]  ² sn John the Baptist, who has been so reluctant to elaborate his own role, now more than willingly gives his testimony about Jesus. For the author, the emphasis is totally on John the Baptist as a witness to Jesus. No attention is given to the Baptist’s call to national repentance and very little to his baptizing. Everything is focused on what he has to say about Jesus: so that he could be revealed to Israel.

[1:32]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events in the narrative. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[1:32]  ⁴ tn Grk “testified, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[1:32]  ⁵ sn The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.

[1:32]  ⁶ tn Or “from the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.

[1:32]  ⁷ sn John says the Spirit remained on Jesus. The Greek verb μένω (menw) is a favorite Johannine word, used 40 times in the Gospel and 27 times in the Epistles (67 together) against 118 times total in the NT. The general significance of the verb μένω for John is to express the permanency of relationship between Father and Son and Son and believer. Here the use of the word implies that Jesus permanently possesses the Holy Spirit, and because he does, he will dispense the Holy Spirit to others in baptism. Other notes on the dispensation of the Spirit occur at John 3:5 and following (at least implied by the wordplay), John 3:34, 7:38-39, numerous passages in John 14-16 (the Paraclete passages) and John 20:22. Note also the allusion to Isa 42:1 – “Behold my servant…my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit on him.”

[1:35]  ⁸ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[1:35]  ⁹ tn “There” is not in the Greek text but is implied by current English idiom.

[1:36]  ¹⁰ sn This section (1:35-51) is joined to the preceding by the literary expedient of repeating the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus being the Lamb of God (1:36, cf. 1:29). This repeated testimony (1:36) no longer has revelatory value in itself, since it has been given before; its purpose, instead, is to institute a chain reaction which will bring John the Baptist’s disciples to Jesus and make them Jesus’ own disciples.

[1:37]  ¹¹ tn Grk “his”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:37]  ¹² tn Grk “And the two disciples heard him speaking.”

[1:37]  ¹³ sn The expression followed Jesus pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.

[1:38]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “What are you seeking?”

[1:38]  ¹⁵ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.