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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Yhn C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21
Yhn 1 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51
OET (OET-LV) It_is this one concerning whom I said:
After me is_coming a_man, who has_become before me, because he_was before me.
OET (OET-RV) This is the man I was talking about when I said, ‘There’s someone coming after me, yet who came before me, because he existed before I did.’
This section is the most important part of what John the Baptist said about Jesus. Here John identified Jesus as God’s sacrifice for sin. John declared that Jesus was the one on whom the Spirit came down, and that Jesus was the Son of God.
Here are other possible section headings:
John the Baptist saw Jesus and told people that he was the Lamb of God
John the Baptist told about who Jesus was
Jesus was the Lamb of God
This is He of whom I said,
He is the one I meant when I said,
I was speaking about him when I told you(plur) that
This is He of whom I said: This and He and whom all refer to Jesus. Jesus was related to John the Baptist (Luke 1:36), so John surely recognized him. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
This is the one I was talking about when I said (GNT)
He is the one I told you about when I said (CEV)
Here is the man I was referring to when I told you that
‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me
‘Someone is coming after me who is greater than me
a man who comes behind me is more important than I am,
A man who comes after me has surpassed me: John continued to talk about Jesus. Jesus was born after John and began his ministry after John, and he was greater than John. See the notes on 1:15d, where the same clause is quoted. You should translate the clause the same way in both verses. For example:
After me comes a man who is greater than I am. (NET)
Behind me comes one who has passed ahead of me. (NJB)
has surpassed me: This clause means that Jesus is more important than John the Baptist. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
who is far greater than I am (NLT)
He is greater than I am (CEV)
is more important than I am
because He was before me.’
because he existed before I did.’
because he was living/alive before I was born.
because He was before me: This clause states the reason why Jesus ranked ahead of John: Jesus existed before John was born. This is why he is greater than John. Because Jesus was younger than John, this implies that he existed with God before he was born. See the notes on 1:15e. Translate the clause the same way here and in 1:15e. For example:
because he existed before me (NET)
because he was alive before I was born (CEV)
ὀπίσω μου ἔρχεται ἀνὴρ, ὃς ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν, ὅτι πρῶτός μου ἦν.
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: οὗτος Ἐστίν ὑπέρ οὗ ἐγώ εἶπον Ὀπίσω μού ἔρχεται ἀνήρ ὅς ἔμπροσθεν μού γέγονεν ὅτι πρῶτος μού ἦν)
See how you translated this in verse [15](../01/15.md).
1:19-51 John’s Gospel gives limited attention to John the Baptist compared to the synoptic Gospels (Matt 3:1-6; Mark 1:2-6; Luke 1:1-24, 57-80; 3:1-13). Yet the apostle John wants us to see that John the Baptist correctly identified and exalted Jesus. John the Baptist’s disciples leave him and follow Jesus; Jesus took over the ministry John began, increasing as John decreased (John 3:30).
OET (OET-LV) It_is this one concerning whom I said:
After me is_coming a_man, who has_become before me, because he_was before me.
OET (OET-RV) This is the man I was talking about when I said, ‘There’s someone coming after me, yet who came before me, because he existed before I did.’
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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