John 3:23

And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. AND, [ de (G1161 ), RATHER, 'NOW,' OR 'BUT,'] JOHN ALSO WAS BAPTIZING IN AENON, [ =`ayin (H5869) `eeynaan (H5881)] - 'an eye,' 'a fountain,' which accords with the Evangelist's explanation at the end of this verse. NEAR TO SALIM. The site of these places cannot now be certainly ascertained. But the scenes of the Master's and the servant's labours could not have been very far apart. BECAUSE THERE WAS MUCH WATER THERE: AND THEY CAME, AND WERE BAPTIZED, [ pareginonto ...

22-36 John was fully satisfied with the place and work assigned him; but Jesus came on a more important work. He also knew that Jesus would increase in honour and influence, for of his government and peace there would be no end, while he himself would be less followed. John knew that Jesus came from heaven as the Son of God, while he was a sinful, mortal man, who could only speak about the more plain subjects of religion. The words of Jesus were the words of God; he had the Spirit, not by measure, as the prophets, but in all fulness. Everlasting life could only be had by faith in Him, and might be thus obtained; whereas all those, who believe not in the Son of God, cannot partake of salvation, but the wrath of God for ever rests upon them....

Verse 23. _IN AENON_] This place was eight miles southward from Scythopolis, between Salim and Jordan. _THERE WAS MUCH WATER_] And this was equally necessary, where such multitudes were baptized, whether the ceremony were performed either by _dipping_ or _sprinkling_. But as the Jewish custom required the persons to stand in the water, and, having been instructed, and entered into a covenant to renounce all idolatry, and take the God of Israel for their God, then _plunge themselves under the_ _water_, it is probable that the rite was thus performed at AEnon. The consideration that _they dipped themselves_, tends to remove the difficulty expressed in _Clarke's note on "_Matthew 3:6_"_. See the observations at the end of Mark....

IN ENON - The word “Enon,” or “Aenon,” means “a fountain,” and was doubtless given to this place because of the fountains there. On the situation of the place nothing certain has been determined. Eusebius places it eight Roman miles south of Scythopolis or Bethshan, and 53 miles northeast of Jerusalem. NEAR TO SALIM - It would seem from this that Salim was better known then than Enon, but nothing can be determined now respecting its site. These places are believed to have been on the west side of the Jordan. BECAUSE THERE WAS MUCH WATER THERE - John’s preaching attracted great multitudes. It appears that they remained with him probably many days. In many parts of that country, particularly in the hilly region near where John preached, it was difficult to find water to accommodate the necessities of the people, and perhaps, also, of the camels with which those

EXPOSITION This is the first of the eleven discourses recorded by this evangelist, and for the most part addressed to the cultivated, hierarcical party in Jerusalem, who questioned him in an unfriendly spirit. On the sources of these records, and the degree to which John's subjectivity coloured his record of them, see Introduction. JOHN 3:1 BUT THERE WAS A MAN OF THE PHARISEES. Is this narrative introduced, as Baur thinks, to give a specimen of wrongly directed faith, to which Christ did _not _entrust himself? and was the evangelist busy at once on his great mission of undervaluing the Jewish parties and nation? Certainly not. We have a clear proof that, in the case of the genuine inquirer, Christ did open His very heart; and to a "ruler of Jews," to a "Pharisee," to a "teacher of Israel," he deigne

AND JOHN ALSO WAS BAPTIZING IN AENON,.... The Syriac and Persic versions call it "Ain", or "In you", the fountain of the dove; and the Arabic version reads it, the fountain of "Nun": and whether it was a town, or river, it seems to have its name from a fountain near it, or that itself was one, where was an abundance of water, as the text shows. There is a city of this name in the Septuagint version of Joshua 15:61, and mention is made of Hazerenon in Numbers 34:9, but neither of them seem to be the same with this; but be it where, and what it will, it was NEAR TO SALIM; and where that was, is as difficult to know as the other, some take it to be Shalem, a city of Shechem, mentioned in Genesis 33:

This is a very wonderful chapter, because, while it teaches the doctrine of regeneration, and the necessity of a great moral and spiritual change, it yet also reveals the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, a very wonderful combination, which puzzles many who read what is here recorded. Many have been staggered by one or other of these great truths, yet they evidently agree together, for they are taught by the same unerring Teacher, and they are preserved to us by the Spirit of God in the same chapter. John 3:1. _There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him._ Nicodemus was very candid; he went as far as he could go. If he had not yet learned to believe in Christ as his Sa

II. ETERNAL LIFE IMPARTED: What it is and What it Includes Chapter 2:23-17 The second part of this Gospel contains the blessed teachings the Son of God gave concerning eternal life, how it is imparted and what it includes. Everything in these Chapter s is new. The story of Nicodemus, the woman at Sychar's well, the healing of the impotent man, the discourses of our Lord, etc., are not reported by the synoptic Gospels. There is not a word of the Sermon on the Mount reported by John; the many miracles, so significantly arranged in Matthew, are omitted (except the feeding of the 5000); nor do we find a single parable concerning the Kingdom of Heaven. The progressive revelation concerning eternal life will be brought out in the annotations. As already stated the teachings begin with the new birth, in which eternal life is imparted, and end with the destiny of those who are born again. This...

THE LAST APPEARANCE OF THE BAPTIST. Convinced that the nation is not ripe for Messianic teaching, Jesus falls back on preparatory work similar to that of John, who was continuing his work at Æ non near Salim. In Eusebius-' time this was identified with a place on the borders of Galilee and Samaria not far from Bethshan. Modern explorers favour a place called - Aynun, north of the Salim near Nablus. The evangelist notes that John's imprisonment did not take place, as the earlier gospels (Mark 1:14) seem to imply, before the beginning of Jesus-' public work. A dispute arose between John's disciples and a Jew about purification, probably leading to a comparison of the cleansing power of the two baptisms. The disciples of John are jealous for their master's honour, hardly an impossibility (Wellhausen) after the witness borne by him to the superiority of Jesus. The splendid answer of self-den...

JOHN ALSO WAS BAPTIZING AT ÆNON NEAR TO SALIM. The location of Ænon was long in doubt, and it was left for Lieut. Conder, of the British Palestine Exploration, to settle the question so satisfactorily that the authorities on the sacred localities, Robinson, Stanley, Thompson, Schaff and McGarvey, have accepted his discovery. He, the only man who has made. scientific survey of Palestine, locates it northeast of Samaria, in. beautiful valley, not far from the Jordan. He says (Tent Work, p. 92): "The valley is open in most of its course, and we find in it the two requisites for the scene of the baptism of. large multitude,--an open space and abundance of water. Not only does the name Salim occur in the village three miles south of the valley, but the name Ænon, signifying 'springs,' is recognized as the village of _Ainun,_ four miles north of the stream. There is only one other place of the...