Matthew 3 (NET)

The Ministry of John the Baptist

1 In those days John the Baptist came into the wilderness1 of Judea proclaiming, 2 “Repent,2 for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3 For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken:3

“The voice4 of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make5 his paths straight.’”6

4 Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey.7 5 Then people from Jerusalem,8 as well as all Judea and all the region around the Jordan, were going out to him, 6 and he was baptizing them9 in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

7 But when he saw many Pharisees10 and Sadducees11 coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore produce fruit12 that proves your13 repentance, 9 and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 10 Even now the ax is laid at14 the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy15 to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.16 12 His winnowing fork17 is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse,18 but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.”19

The Baptism of Jesus

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John to be baptized by him in the Jordan River.20 14 But John21 tried to prevent22 him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” 15 So Jesus replied23 to him, “Let it happen now,24 for it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John25 yielded26 to him. 16 After27 Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the28 heavens29 opened30 and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove31 and coming on him. 17 And32 a voice from heaven said,33 “This is my one dear Son;34 in him35 I take great delight.”36

1tn Or “desert.” 2tn Grk “and saying, ‘Repent.’” The participle λέγων (legwn) at the beginning of v. 2 is redundant in English and has not been translated. 3tn Grk “was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying.” The participle λέγοντος (legonto") is redundant and has not been translated. The passive construction has also been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style. 4tn Or “A voice.” 5sn This call to “make paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance. 6sn A quotation from Isa 40:3. 7sn John’s lifestyle was in stark contrast to many of the religious leaders of Jerusalem who lived in relative ease and luxury. While his clothing and diet were indicative of someone who lived in the desert, they also depicted him in his role as God’s prophet (cf. Zech 13:4); his appearance is similar to the Prophet Elijah (2 Kgs 1:8). Locusts and wild honey were a common diet in desert regions, and locusts (dried insects) are listed in Lev 11:22 among the “clean” foods. 8tn Grk “Then Jerusalem.”map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. 9tn Grk “they were being baptized by him.” The passive construction has been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style. 10sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection. 11sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8. 12sn Fruit worthy of repentance refers to the deeds that indicate a change of attitude (heart) on the part of John’s hearers. 13tn Grk “fruit worthy of.” 14sn Laid at the root. That is, placed and aimed, ready to begin cutting. 15tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”sn The humility of John is evident in the statement I am not worthy. This was considered one of the least worthy tasks of a slave, and John did not consider himself worthy to do even that for the one to come, despite the fact he himself was a prophet. 16sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage. 17sn A winnowing fork was a pitchfork-like tool used to toss threshed grain in the air so that the wind blew away the chaff, leaving the grain to fall to the ground. The note of purging is highlighted by the use of imagery involving sifting though threshed grain for the useful kernels. 18tn Or “granary,” “barn” (referring to a building used to store a farm’s produce rather than a building to house livestock). 19sn The image of fire that cannot be extinguished is from the OT: Job 20:26; Isa 34:8-10; 66:24. 20tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity. 21tc ‡ The earliest mss (א* B sa) lack the name of John here (“but he tried to prevent him,” instead of “but John tried to prevent him”). It is, however, clearly implied (and is thus supplied in translation). Although the longer reading has excellent support (Ì⁹⁶ א¹ C D^s L W 0233 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat[t] sy mae bo), it looks to be a motivated and predictable reading: Scribes apparently could not resist adding this clarification. 22tn The imperfect verb has been translated conatively. 23tn Grk “but Jesus, answering, said.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “replied to him.” 24tn Grk “Permit now.” 25tn Grk “he”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 26tn Or “permitted him.” 27tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated. 28tn Grk “behold the heavens.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1). 29tn Or “sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ourano") may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The same word is used in v. 17. 30tc ‡ αὐτῷ (autw, “to/before him”) is found in the majority of witnesses (א¹ C D^s L W 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat), perhaps added as a point of clarification or emphasis. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity. 31sn The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation. 32tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here. 33tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle λέγουσα (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style. 34tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).sn The parallel accounts in Mark 1:11 and Luke 3:22 read “You are” rather than “This is,” portraying the remark as addressed personally to Jesus. 35tn Grk “in whom.” 36tn Or “with whom I am well pleased.”sn The allusions in the remarks of the text recall Ps 2:7a; Isa 42:1 and either Isa 41:8 or, less likely, Gen 22:12,16. God is marking out Jesus as his chosen one (the meaning of “[in him I take] great delight”), but it may well be that this was a private experience that only Jesus and John saw and heard (cf. John 1:32-33).