In those days. The phrase is indefinite, but always points back to a preceding date; in this case to the date of the settlement of the family at Nazareth. "In those days," i e., some time during the nearly thirty years since that settlement. John. Hebrew, meaning God has dealt graciously. Compare t... [ Continue Reading ]
Repent [μ ε τ α ν ο ε ι τ ε]. A word compounded of the preposition meta, after, with; and the verb noew, to perceive, and to think, as the result of perceiving or observing. In this compound the preposition combines the two meanings of time and change, which may be denoted by after and different; so... [ Continue Reading ]
Were baptized [ε β α π τ ι ζ ο ν τ ο]. See on Mark 7:4. Confessing their sins [ε ξ ο μ ο λ ο γ ο υ μ ε ν ο ι τ α ς α μ α ρ τ ι α ς α υ τ ω ν]. The words imply : 1. That confession was connected with baptism. They were baptized while in the act of confessing. 2. An open confession, not a private on... [ Continue Reading ]
These stones. Pointing, as he spoke, to the pebbles on the beach of the Jordan.... [ Continue Reading ]
Is laid [κ ε ι τ α ι]. Not, is applied, as "She layeth her hands to the spindle" (Proverbs 31:19), but is lying. Is hewn down and cast. The present tense is graphic, denoting what is to happen at once and certainly.... [ Continue Reading ]
To bear. Compare to unloose, Mark 1:7. John puts himself in the position of the meanest of servants. To bear the sandals of their masters, that is, to bring and take them away, as well as to fasten or to take them off, was, among the Jews, Greeks, and Romans, the business of slaves of the lowest ran... [ Continue Reading ]
Fan, floor (Wyc. has corn - floor). The picture is of a farmer at his threshing - floor, the area of hard - beaten earth on which the sheaves are spread and the grain trodden out by animals. His fan, that is his winnowing - shovel or fork, is in his hand, and with it he throws up the mingled wheat a... [ Continue Reading ]
Forbad [δ ι ε κ ω λ υ ε ν]. The A. V., following Wyc. and Tynd., misses the meaning of the verb. As in so many instances, it overlooks the force of the imperfect tense, which expresses past action, either in progress or in process of conception, in the agent's mind. John did not forbid Jesus, but ha... [ Continue Reading ]
As a dove [ω σ ε ι π ε ρ ι σ τ ε ρ α ν]. In the form of a dove, and not, as some interpret, referring merely to the manner of the descent - swiftly and gently as a dove (compare Luke 3:22 " In a bodily form, as a dove "). The dove was an ancient symbol of purity and innocence, adopted by our Lord in... [ Continue Reading ]