John 3:22

THE MESSAGE

After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. John's disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism. They came to John and said, "Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he's now competing with us. He's baptizing, too, and everyone's going to him instead of us."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
After this, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judean countryside, where he spent time with them and baptized.

King James Version (1611)
After these things, came Iesus and his disciples into the land of Iudea, and there hee taried with them, and baptized.

King James Version
After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.

English Standard Version
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing.

New American Standard Bible
After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea; and there He was spending time with them and baptizing.

New Century Version
After this, Jesus and his followers went into the area of Judea, where he stayed with his followers and baptized people.

Amplified Bible
After these things Jesus and His disciples went into the land of Judea, and there He spent time with them and baptized.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing.

Legacy Standard Bible
After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing.

Berean Standard Bible
After this, Jesus and His disciples went into the Judean countryside, where He spent some time with them and baptized.

Contemporary English Version
Later, Jesus and his disciples went to Judea, where he stayed with them for a while and was baptizing people.

Complete Jewish Bible
After this, Yeshua and his talmidim went out into the countryside of Y'hudah, where he stayed awhile with them and immersed people.

Darby Translation
After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he abode with them and baptised.

Easy-to-Read Version
After this, Jesus and his followers went into the area of Judea. There he stayed with his followers and baptized people.

Geneva Bible (1587)
After these things, came Iesus & his disciples into the lande of Iudea, and there taried with them, and baptized.

George Lamsa Translation
After these things, Jesus and his disciples came to the land of Judaea, and he remained there with them, and baptized.

Good News Translation
After this, Jesus and his disciples went to the province of Judea, where he spent some time with them and baptized.

Lexham English Bible
After these things Jesus and his disciples came into Judean territory, and there he spent time with them and was baptizing.

Literal Translation
After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea. And He continued there with them and baptized.

American Standard Version
After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.

Bible in Basic English
After these things Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judaea, and there he was with them for some time, giving baptism.

Hebrew Names Version
After these things, Yeshua came with his talmidim into the land of Yehudah. He stayed there with them, and immersed.

International Standard Version
After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside. He spent some time there with them and began baptizing.John 4:2;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
AFTER these came Jeshu and his disciples into the land of Jihuda, and there conversed with them and baptized.

Murdock Translation
After these things, came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he abode with them, and baptized.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
After these thynges, came Iesus and his disciples into the lande of Iurie, and there he taryed with the, & baptized.

English Revised Version
After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.

World English Bible
After these things, Jesus came with his disciples into the land of Judea. He stayed there with them, and baptized.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
After these things Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea, and there he tarried with them and baptized.

Weymouth's New Testament
After this Jesus and His disciples went into Judaea; and there He made a stay in company with them and baptized.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Aftir these thingis Jhesus cam, and hise disciplis, in to the loond of Judee, and there he dwellide with hem, and baptiside.

Update Bible Version
After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.

Webster's Bible Translation
After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.

New English Translation
After this, Jesus and his disciples came into Judean territory, and there he spent time with them and was baptizing.

New King James Version
After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.

New Living Translation
Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people.

New Life Bible
After this, Jesus and His followers came into the country of Judea. He stayed with them there and baptized people.

New Revised Standard
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
After these things, came Jesus, and his disciples, into the Judaean land; and, there, was he tarrying with them, and immersing.

Douay-Rheims Bible
After these things, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea: and there he abode with them and baptized.

Revised Standard Version
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea; there he remained with them and baptized.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
After these thinges cam Iesus and his disciples into the Iewes londe and ther he haunted with them and baptised.

Young's Literal Translation
After these things came Jesus and his disciples to the land of Judea, and there he did tarry with them, and was baptizing;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Afterwarde came Iesus & his disciples in to the lode of Iewry, and had his beynge there with them, and baptysed

Mace New Testament (1729)
After this Jesus went with his disciples into Judea, where he stay'd with them for some time,

Simplified Cowboy Version
Then Jesus and his cowboys left Jerusalem and went out into the countryside. Jesus stuck around there for a while baptizing people.

Contextual Overview

²²After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. John's disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism. They came to John and said, "Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he's now competing with us. He's baptizing, too, and everyone's going to him instead of us." ²⁷John answered, "It's not possible for a person to succeed—I'm talking about eternal success—without heaven's help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom's friend, his ‘best man'—that's me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start? "That's why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines. "The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth. "The One that God sent speaks God's words. And don't think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn't see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that." ³⁰Born from Above There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it." Jesus said, "You're absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to—to God's kingdom." "How can anyone," said Nicodemus, "be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above' talk?" Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit. "So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above'—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone ‘born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God." Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?" Jesus said, "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basics? Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don't believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can't see, the things of God? "No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. "This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is." After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. John's disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism. They came to John and said, "Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he's now competing with us. He's baptizing, too, and everyone's going to him instead of us." John answered, "It's not possible for a person to succeed—I'm talking about eternal success—without heaven's help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom's friend, his ‘best man'—that's me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start? "That's why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines. ³¹"The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth. ³⁴"The One that God sent speaks God's words. And don't think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn't see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

these: John 2:13, John 4:3, John 7:3

and baptized: John 3:26, John 4:1, John 4:2

Reciprocal: Mark 1:14 - after Acts 8:38 - and he baptized

Cross-References

Genesis 1:26
God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth." God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."

Genesis 3:6
When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she'd know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.

Genesis 3:7
Immediately the two of them did "see what's really going on"—saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves.

Genesis 3:12
The Man said, "The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it." God said to the Woman, "What is this that you've done?"

Genesis 3:13
"The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."

Revelation 2:7
"Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. I'm about to call each conqueror to dinner. I'm spreading a banquet of Tree-of-Life fruit, a supper plucked from God's orchard."

Revelation 22:14
"How blessed are those who wash their robes! The Tree of Life is theirs for good, and they'll walk through the gates to the City. But outside for good are the filthy curs: sorcerers, fornicators, murderers, idolaters—all who love and live lies.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

After these things,.... After Christ's coming to Jerusalem, at the feast of the passover, with his disciples, and driving the buyers and sellers from the temple, and doing the miracles he did there, upon which many believed on him; and after the long discourse he had with Nicodemus, concerning regeneration, and other things:

came Jesus and his disciples, into the land of Judea; or "into Judea the country", having been in Jerusalem, the city part or chief city in Judea; so that the country is distinguished from, and opposed to the city. And thus, a countryman, and a Jerusalemite, or citizen of Jerusalem, are distinguished l;

"if, הקרתני, "a countryman", (one that lives in the country any where in the land of Israel out of Jerusalem m,) receives a field, מירושלמי, "from a man of Jerusalem", the second tithes belong to the Jerusalemite; but the wise men say, the countryman may bring them up, and eat them at Jerusalem.''

Or, it may be, because that Jerusalem was part of it in the tribe of Benjamin, and the other in the tribe of Judah; therefore, when Christ, and his disciples, left Jerusalem, they might more properly be said to come into the land of Judea. Indeed, it is commonly said by the Jews n, that Jerusalem was not divided among the tribes, and that it did not belong to any tribe; and if so, then with greater propriety still might Christ be said to come into the land of Judea, when he departed from Jerusalem; unless it should be thought, that he went into Galilee, and after that came into the land of Judea; so Nonnus:

and there he tarried with them: with his disciples, as Nonnus; and with the inhabitants of those parts: he made a longer stay here than at Jerusalem, having more work to do here, and being more delighted with the plainness and simplicity of the country people; or "he conversed" with them, as the Syriac version renders it; he exercised, and employed himself among them, as the Greek word used signifies: he went about from village to village, doing good, healing diseases, and preaching the Gospel which was made useful to many:

and baptized; not he himself, but his disciples, by his orders, and in his name; see John 4:2; whereby he gave fresh countenance and sanction to the ordinance of water baptism, administering it to others, as well as submitting to it himself.

l Misn. Demai, c. 6. sect. 4. m Maimon. Bartenora in ib. n T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 12. 1, & Megilla, fol. 26. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Land of Judea - The region round about Jerusalem.

And baptized - Jesus did not Himself administer the ordinance of baptism, but his disciples did it by his direction and authority, John 4:2.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 22. Came - into the land of Judea — Jerusalem itself, where Christ held the preceding discourse with Nicodemus, was in Judea; but the evangelist means that our Lord quitted the city and its suburbs, and went into the country parts. The same distinction between Jerusalem and Judea is made, Acts 1:8; Acts 10:39; and in 1 Macc. 3:34; and in 2 Macc. 1:1, 10. See Bp. Pearce.

And baptized. — It is not clear that Christ did baptize any with water, but his disciples did - John 4:2; and what they did, by his authority and command, is attributed to himself. It is a common custom, in all countries and in all languages, to attribute the operations of those who are under the government and direction of another to him by whom they are directed and governed. Some however suppose that Christ at first did baptize; but, when he got disciples, he left this work to them: and thus these two places are to be understood:-

1. this place, of Christ's baptizing before he called the twelve disciples; and

2 John 1:4:2, of the baptism administered by the disciples, after they had been called to the work by Christ.