The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 171

in the previoueverses, rccc,gnizes the Messiah, the eign then given tlJ him, makes it obvious nod that in vers. 31-33 he declares that that the baptism and the forty de.ye of the knowledge to have followed the baptism and temptation are now in the pas;. Every day is clearly marked from the day on T, U, II, n; B,9a/3a.p4, in Cursive MSS. 6!), which the deputation from the Sanhedrin approached him, till we find Jesus at Cane., 262. B'1)0ap4, Bo.Oa.p4, B'18•pa.fJ4, a.re other on his way to Jeruso.lem. Consequently, forms that the no.me assumes in some of Origen's references to it. Epiphe.nius called the baptism of Christ, which was the occasion attention to the two readings, as did Uhry- of the h_igher_knowledge that John acquired sostom. Tischendorf (8th edit.), Tregelles, concernmg him, as well as the temptation, Alford, Meyer, Godet, Westcott and Hort, had been consummated. Of this la.at it would eeem highly probable John had re- R. T., etc., have all reverted to the best- ceived, in subsequent conversation with the attested reading. There was ruch e. place Lord, e. full l'eport. The Lord had passed as Bethabara, n:i~p;-n•?., e. '' house of ford," through the fiery ordeal. He had accepted beyond Jordan. It is found in • Onomas- the position of the Servant of the Lord, who, ticon' of Eusebius, is referred to in the in the way of pri va.tion, suffering, fierce Old Testament (Josh. xv. 6, 61; xviii. 2:l). antagonism from world, flesh, and devil, The suggestion has been made that, since would win the crown of victory and prove n:~::-\-n'?. may mean "the house of ship," or himself to be the Life and Light of the world. ferry, that the two names may, at different This chronological hint appears to me to periods, have been attached to the same explain the sudden and surprising utterance place. Against this it has been said that of the next verse. the true etymology of B'1)8a.vla., equivalent to Ver. 29.-0n the following day. Next •;;•n-n•?., is e. "house of dates" (Lightfoot). after the day on which the Sanhedrin had This may be true. The Greek form of the heard from John the vindication of his own name may (as in other analogous instances) right to ba.ptize in virtue of the commence- represent two Hebrew words, just as the ment of the ?ilessie.h's ministry, which as yet " Abel" of Gen. iv. 2 is a different Hebrew was concealed from all eyes but his own. word from the "Abel" of 2 Sam. xx. 14. He [John 1] eeeth Jesns coming towards him, The fact that there should be two Bethe.- within reach of observation (certainly not, nias is no more astonishing than that there as Ewe.Id and others have imagined. to be should be two Bethsaidas (Luke ix. 10 ; be.ptized of him, for, as we ha.ve seen, the Mark vi. 45), two Carmela, two Cmse.reas, statements of ver. 33 exclude the possibility two Antiochs, two Canas. Bethany was of such a purpose. The design of Jesus is doubtless a small place, the no.me of which not stated. The evangelist i.s here occupied fastened itself on the memory of John from with the testimony of the Baptist to Christ. its resemble.nee to Bethany near Jerusalem, Enough is said to provide the opportnnity from which, in this place, he carefully dis- for the most wonderful and mvsteriollll tinguishes it. Some have placed it near utterances of the forerunner. Behold (l7ie Jericho, others near Scythopolis, south of the in the singular, although several persons a.re Sea of Galilee. Caspari(' Chronolog. Geogr. addressed, is not unusual; see Matt. x. 16 Introd. to the Life of Christ,' § 70) is Vl'ry and eh. xi. 3) the Lamb of God, which taketh confident that it is identifiable with Tell or away the Bin of the world. We should Beth-Anibje, on the fords of the Jordo.n, six observe, from the later context, that already miles north of the Sea of Galilee. To the John ho.d perceived by special signs and ,J.ight resemblance of the names he adds Divine inspiration that Je.,,W1 wa.s the Son of the remark that it is the only possible pln.ce God, and the veritable Baptizer with the :m the further shore whence Jesus could Holy Ghost; that he was before him in dig- have reached Cana of Galilee in one day ( cf. nity, honour, and by pre-existence, although eh. i. 44 ; ii. l ). He maintains that this site his eiuthly ministry had been delayed until throws light on Matt. xix. 1 and eh. x. 40. He is even disposed to read "Bethany" ii. 17, 57, has found an abarah, or ford, for " Bethso.ida" in !Hark viii. 22, on the fw·Yler north than the tra<litional place of e.uthority of the solitary D and Ilalio and passage and much nearer to Cana. Bethanie. Gothio Versions. Pn.ulus put a period after may have been the no.we of e. village near J-ylve-ro, and then commenced a new sentence such e. ford, either there or near Jericho. with ,dpav, and maintained thnt the Bethany Such a spot is placed in the map of the is \he well-known Bethany of eh. xi. This, Po.lest. Exp!. Soo. 1 B.\,,re, (without cl 'Jc»d""'!s) is the read- even, is preferable to the Juggestion of the Tiibingen critios, that the writer invented the ing of ~. B, c•. K, L, etc., e.nd a large place in ol'der to make the ministry of our number of uncials, and is adopted by 'l're- Lord oommenoe and terminate at the same gelles, Alford, Westcott ancl Hort, R.'l' ., iwd plaoo. Lieut, Oonder, 'Tent-Work,' i. 91; 'J.'ischeudorf.  THE GOSPEL ACCORDING 1'0 81'. JOHN. [en. t. 1-51. --------- n~er John's propnrntnry work hnd been " Sernnt of God ; " but the fourth, fifth, done. ,Tohn hnd folt thnt the "confession sixth, and twelfth verses of thnt ohnptor are of sins'.' mnde hr the guilty mulhtude, by e~. e~arg-ed "°!t·h !ho gln-bearin~_of the great genemtions of npem. was needful, rntionitl "V 1ctim, the v1ranous nnd prop1tmtory virtuo impemtiYe upon them; but that in th; of his agony unto dcnth, that we eanuot <'itBe of Jesus this eonfession wns not onlv separate the one from the other. Ho who is superfluous. but a kind of contrAdietiou in l?d as a Lamb to tho slaughter bears our torms. The Lord over whom the heavens sms and suffers pain for us, is woundc<' on hnd opc>nM, and to whom the heaven Iv name account of our trans~ressions : "The Lord hnd bC'en given, fulfilling 1111 righteousness ~ns laid on him the iniquity of us •111 .. , h! sl!bmitting to the baptism of repentanoo 1t pleased tho Lord to bruiso hi.m," eto. unto the remission of sins, was n profound The Servant of God is God's Lnmb, appointed perplc>xity to the Baptist. Slrnnge was it e.nd ronsecratcd for the highest work of that he who would hnve power to deal with sacrificial suffering nud death. The LXX. the Holy Ghost C'ven a.a John had been has certainly used the verb .i, pe,v, to bear, using water should have been called in any where John uses afpew, to take away. real sense to confess the sins of his own Meyer su_ggcsts that in the idea of al&p<1v nature or life. John believed that Jesus the previous notion of tf,lpeiv is involved e.nd was the Source of a fiery purity and purify- presupposed. The Hebrew formullll, NJ:)n Nltll ing power, nnd thnt according to his own 0