John 1:31

John 1:31 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
• New International Version (NIV)I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel."
• New King James Version (NKJV)I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”

Context of John 1:31

29John saw Jesus coming toward him the next day and said, “Look! This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 30He is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘A man who comes after me was before me because he existed before I did.’ I didn’t know who he was. However, I came to baptize with water to show him to the people of Israel.” 32John said, “I saw the Spirit come down as a dove from heaven and stay on him. 33I didn’t know who he was. But God, who sent me to baptize with water, had told me, ‘When you see the Spirit come down and stay on someone, you’ll know that person is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

John 1:31 word by word

κἀγὼ οὐκ ᾔδειν αὐτόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα φανερωθῇ τῷ Ἰσραήλ, διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθον ἐγὼ ἐν ὕδατι βαπτίζων.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Iκἀγώkagō kamoi kame · and IG2504
• knewεἴδωeidō · to perceive: knowG1492
• himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• notοὐou · noG3756
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• he should be made manifestφανερόωphaneroō · to revealG5319
• to IsraelἸσραήλIsraēl · IsraelG2474
• thereforeδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• amἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
• Iἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• baptizingβαπτίζωbaptizō · to baptizeG907
• withἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• waterὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• waterὕδωρhudōr hudatos · waterG5204
• ·οὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778

Cross-references for John 1:31

• John 1:33I didn’t know who he was. But God, who sent me to baptize with water, had told me, ‘When you see the Spirit come down and stay on someone, you’ll know that person is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
• Luke 1:80The child John grew and became spiritually strong. He lived in the desert until the day he appeared to the people of Israel.
• Luke 2:39After doing everything the Lord’s Teachings required, Joseph and Mary returned to their hometown of Nazareth in Galilee.
• John 1:7John came to declare the truth about the light so that everyone would become believers through his message.
• Isaiah 40:3A voice cries out in the desert: “Clear a way for the Lord. Make a straight highway in the wilderness for our God.
• Malachi 3:1“I’m going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way ahead of me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the promise will come. He is the one you want,” says the Lord of Armies.
• Malachi 4:2“The Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings for you people who fear my name. You will go out and leap like calves let out of a stall.
• Luke 1:17He will go ahead of the Lord with the spirit and power that Elijah had. He will change parents’ attitudes toward their children. He will change disobedient people so that they will accept the wisdom of those who have God’s approval. In this way he will prepare the people for their Lord.”
• Matthew 3:6As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.
• Mark 1:3“A voice cries out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord! Make his paths straight!’ ”
• Luke 3:3John traveled throughout the region around the Jordan River. He told people about a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
• Acts 19:4Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. John told people to believe in Jesus, who was coming later.”

Commentaries on John 1:31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31And I knew him not, etc. - John did not know our Lord personally, and perhaps had never seen him, at the time he spoke the words in John 1:15. Nor is it any wonder that the Baptist should have been unacquainted with Christ, as he had spent thirty years in the hill country of Hebron, and our Lord remained in a state of great privacy in the obscure city of Nazareth, in the extreme borders of Galilee. But that he should be made manifest to Israel - One…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31I knew him not - John was not personally acquainted with Jesus. Though they were remotely related to each other, yet it seems that they had had heretofore no personal acquaintance. John had lived chiefly in the hill country of Judea. Jesus had been employed with Joseph at Nazareth. Until Jesus came to be baptized Matthew 3:13-14, it seems that John had no acquaintance with him. He understood that he was to announce that the Messiah was about to appear. He…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 29-36Verses 29-36 John saw Jesus coming to him, and pointed him out as the Lamb of God. The paschal lamb, in the shedding and sprinkling of its blood, the roasting and eating of its flesh, and all the other circumstances of the ordinance, represented the salvation of sinners by faith in Christ. And the lambs sacrificed every morning and evening, can only refer to Christ slain as a sacrifice to redeem us to God by his blood. John came as a preacher of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-51John’s Gospel focuses less on John the Baptist compared to the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 3:1–6; Mark 1:2–6; Luke 1:1–24, 57–80; 3:1–13). However, the apostle John wants us to understand that John the Baptist correctly identified and honored Jesus. John the Baptist’s disciples leave him to follow Jesus. Jesus continued the work that John had begun. As the ministry of Jesus grew, John’s ministry became smaller, just as John had said (John 3:30).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 31-3431-34. knew him not--Living mostly apart, the one at Nazareth, the other in the Judean desert--to prevent all appearance of collusion, John only knew that at a definite time after his own call, his Master would show Himself. As He drew near for baptism one day, the last of all the crowd, the spirit of the Baptist heaving under a divine presentiment that the moment had at length arrived, and an air of unwonted serenity and dignity, not without traits…Read the comment

Topics related to John 1:31

• Baptism
• Jesus, the Christ
• John

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Behold
• Believe
• Blood
• Dwell
• Flesh
• Guile
• Light

Commentaries on John 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings