ἀφῆκεν. ‘He left it alone, let it go’ (John 4:28) as something that He would have retained, but now left to itself. First the Temple, then Jerusalem, and now Judaea has to be abandoned, because He can win no welcome. On the contrary, the report of His very partial success seems at once to have provoked opposition, which He avoids by retiring. Perhaps also He wished to avoid the appearance of being a rival of John. There is no trace of His continuing to baptize in Galilee.

πάλιν. Omitted by some important witnesses. It points to John 1:43 to John 2:12. He had come from Capernaum to Jerusalem for the Passover (John 2:13); He now returns to Galilee, where His opponents would have less influence. That this return is the beginning of the Galilean ministry recorded by the Synoptists (Matthew 4:12) is possibly but by no means certainly correct. See on John 6:1 and Mark 1:14-15.

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Old Testament