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30 [a]He is the one of whom I said,(A) ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’

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Footnotes

  1. 1:30 He existed before me: possibly as Elijah (to come, Jn 1:27); for the evangelist and his audience, Jesus’ preexistence would be implied (see note on Jn 1:1).

27 John answered and said, “No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven.(A) 28 You yourselves can testify that I said [that] I am not the Messiah, but that I was sent before him.(B) 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man,[a] who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete.(C) 30 He must increase; I must decrease.”(D)

The One from Heaven.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 3:29 The best man: literally, “the friend of the groom,” the shoshben of Jewish tradition, who arranged the wedding. Competition between him and the groom would be unthinkable.
  2. 3:31–36 It is uncertain whether these are words by the Baptist, Jesus, or the evangelist. They are reflections on the two preceding scenes.