John 1:28

These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. THESE THINGS WERE DONE IN BETHABARA, [ beeyt (H1004) `ªbaaraah (H5679)] - 'ferry-house' or 'crossing-place.' But the true reading, as nearly all the best and most ancient MSS. attest, is 'Bethany:' not, of course, the well-known Bethany, at the foot of Mount Oilvet, but some village lying on the east side of the Jordan, which in the time of Origen had disappeared. BEYOND JORDAN, WHERE JOHN WAS BAPTIZING....

28._These things were done in Bethabara_. The place is mentioned, not only to authenticate the narrative, but also to inform us that this answer was given amidst a numerous assembly of people; for there were many who flocked to John’s baptism, and this was his ordinary place for baptizing. It is likewise supposed by some to be a passage across Jordan, and, from this circumstance, they derive the name, for they interpret it _the house of passage_; unless, perhaps, some may prefer the opinion of those who refer to the memorable _passage _of the people, (Joshua 3:13,) when God opened up a way for them in the midst of the waters, under the direction of Joshua. Others say that it ought rather to be read _Betharaba_. Instead of _Bethabara_, some have inserted here the name _Bethany_, but this is a mistake; for we shall afterwards see how near _Bethany _was to

19-28 John disowns himself to be the Christ, who was now expected and waited for. He came in the spirit and power of Elias, but he was not the person of Elias. John was not that Prophet whom Moses said the Lord would raise up to them of their brethren, like unto him. He was not such a prophet as they expected, who would rescue them from the Romans. He gave such an account of himself, as might excite and awaken them to hearken to him. He baptized the people with water as a profession of repentance, and as an outward sign of the spiritual blessings to be conferred on them by the Messiah, who was in the midst of them, though they knew him not, and to whom he was unworthy to render the meanest service....

Verse 28. _THESE THINGS WERE DONE IN BETHABARA_] It is very probable that the word _Bethany_ should be inserted here, instead of _Bethabara_. This reading, in the judgment of the best critics, is the genuine one. The following are the authorities by which it is supported: ABCEGHLMSX, BV, of Matthai, upwards of a hundred others, _Syriac, Armenian, Persic, Coptic, Slavonic, Vulgate,_ _Saxon_, and all the _Itala_, with some of the most eminent of the primitive fathers, before the time of Origen, who is supposed to have first changed the reading. _Bethabara_ signifies literally _the_ _house of passage_, and is thought to be the place where the Israelites passed the river Jordan under Joshua. There was a place called _Bethany_, about two miles from Jerusalem, at the foot of the mount of Olives. But there was another of the same name, beyond Jordan, in the tribe of Reuben. It was probably of...

IN BETHABARA - Almost all the ancient manuscripts and versions, instead of “Bethabara” here, have “Bethany,” and this is doubtless the true reading. There was a Bethany about 2 miles east of Jerusalem, but there is said also to have been another in the tribe of Reuben, on the east side of the river Jordan, and in this place, probably, John was baptizing. It is about 12 miles above Jericho. The word “Bethabara” means “house or place of a ford.” The reading “Bethabara,” instead of “Bethany,” seems to have arisen from the conjecture of Origen, who found in his day no such place as “Bethany,” but saw a town called “Bethabara,” where John was said to have baptized, and therefore took the liberty of changing the former reading - Robinson, Lexicon. BEYOND JORDAN - On the east side of the Jordan River....

EXPOSITION THE title of the book is differently given in the manuscripts and ancient versions, and the differences are so considerable that they cannot be referred to the original text. The simplest form of the title is found in א, B, D, and is nothing more than "_according to_ John," ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ (B gives only one N in John's name, but א two); and this is followed by the vulgate and Syriac as a running title. The immense proportion of the uncials—A, C, E, F, G, L, and eight or nine others—read "Gospel according to John" (Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ιωάννην). This is followed by Tregelles, Lachmann, Alford. The T.R., with a large number of manuscripts, reads, "The Gospel according to John;" and in Stephen's third edition the word "holy" occurs before "Gospel." The cursives 69, 178, 259, read Εὐαγγέλιον ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Ἰωὰνην. Some cursives read, "Of the (holy) Gospel according to John." The p...

THESE THINGS WERE DONE IN BETHABARA,.... That is, this testimony was bore by John; and this discourse passed between him and the Pharisees, at the place here mentioned; which was a passage over Jordan, where much people walked to go on the other side, BEYOND JORDAN; and WHERE ALSO JOHN WAS BAPTIZING; which brought a great concourse of people together: so that this witness was bore in a very public manner, and before a large number; and it is to this that Christ refers, in John 1:33 for this was so well known, that there was no hiding or denying it: the place where this conversation passed, is in the Vulgate Latin, and all the eastern versions; and in the Alexandrian copy, and many other copies, and so in Nonnus, called Bethany; but as De Dieu observes, Bethany was not beyond Jordan, nor in the wilderness of Judea, but near to Jerusalem, about two miles distant from it; no

John 1:1. _In the beginning was the Word,_ Christ the Word has existed from all eternity. He is the eternal Son of the eternal Father; he is really what Melchisedec was metaphorically, «having neither beginning of days, nor end of life.» «In the beginning was the Word,» John 1:1. _And the Word was with God, and the Word was God._ The Word was as truly God as the Father was God, and as the Spirit was God:» these three are one,» and ever have been one. «Very God of very God» is that Jesus whom we trust, and love, and adore. John 1:2. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the li

JOHN 1:28 evn Bhqani,a| evge,neto {C} The earliest and most widely attested reading is Bhqani,a|. Origen, who in his travels was unable to locate a Bethany by the Jordan, adopted the reading Bhqabara|/, which he apparently found in a few copies current in his day (he declares that Bhqani,a| is the reading of “nearly all the manuscripts”), and to which he was attracted because of what he regarded as an edifying etymology: “The etymology of the name [Bethabara] corresponds with the baptism of him who made ready for the Lord a people prepared for him; for it yields the meaning ‘House of preparation,’ 5 while Bethany means ‘House of obedience.’ Where else was it fitting that he should bap...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. The Only-begotten, the Eternal Word; His Glory and His Manifestation -- Chapter 1:1-2:22 CHAPTER 1 __ 1. The Word: the Creator, the Life and the Light. (John 1:1 .) 2. The Light and the Darkness. The Light not Known. (John 1:5 .) 3. The Word Made Flesh and Its Gracious Results. (John 1:12 .) 4. The Witness of John. (John 1:19 .) 5. Following Him and Dwelling With Him. (John 1:35 .) 6. The Next Day. Nathanael's Unbelief and Confession. ...