John 3:23

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

And John also was immersing in Aenon, near to him, because, many waters, were there; and they were coming, and being immersed; -

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
John was also baptizing people in Aenon, a place near Salim with plenty of water. People were going there to be baptized.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And Iohn also baptised in Enon besydes Salim because ther was moche water there and they came and were baptised.

Hebrew Names Version
Yochanan also was immersing in Einayim near Shalem, because there was much water there. They came, and were immersed.

International Standard Version
John was also baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. PeopleThey">[fn] kept coming and were being baptized,1 Samuel 9:4; Matthew 3:5-6;">[xr]

New American Standard Bible
Now John also was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and being baptized—

New Century Version
John was also baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were going there to be baptized.

Update Bible Version
And John also was baptizing in Enon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

Webster's Bible Translation
And John also was baptizing in Enon, near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

English Standard Version
John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized

World English Bible
John also was baptizing in Enon near Salim, because there was much water there. They came, and were baptized.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And John also was baptizing in Enon, near Salim, because there was much water there; and they came and were baptized.

Weymouth's New Testament
And John too was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there were many pools of water there; and people came and received baptism.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Joon was baptisinge in Ennon, bisidis Salym, for many watris weren there; and thei camen, and weren baptisid.

English Revised Version
And John also was baptizing in AEnon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

Berean Standard Bible
Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because the water was plentiful there, and people kept coming to be baptized.

Contemporary English Version
John had not yet been put in jail. He was at Aenon near Salim, where there was a lot of water, and people were coming there for John to baptize them.

Amplified Bible
Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and were being baptized—

American Standard Version
And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

Bible in Basic English
Now John was then giving baptism at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people came and were given baptism.

Complete Jewish Bible
Yochanan too was immersing at Einayim, near Shalem, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to be immersed.

Darby Translation
And John also was baptising in Aenon, near Salim, because there was a great deal of water there; and they came to [him] and were baptised:

Etheridge Translation
But Juchanon also was baptizing in Ein-yon, near Sholim, because the waters were there many; and they came and were baptized;

Murdock Translation
And John also was baptizing in 'non, which is near to Salim, because there were many waters there: and the people came, and were baptized.

King James Version (1611)
And Iohn also was baptizing in Aenon, neere to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

New Living Translation
At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to him for baptism.

New Life Bible
John was baptizing in the town of Aenon near Salim. There was much water there and people were coming to be baptized.

New Revised Standard
John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Iohn also baptized in Enon besides Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

George Lamsa Translation
John also was baptizing at the spring of Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there; and they came, and were baptized.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And John also was baptizing in Ennon near Salim: because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.

Revised Standard Version
John also was baptizing at Ae'non near Salim, because there was much water there; and people came and were baptized.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Iohn also baptized in Enon, besides Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

Good News Translation
John also was baptizing in Aenon, not far from Salim, because there was plenty of water in that place. People were going to him, and he was baptizing them.

Christian Standard Bible®
John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were coming and being baptized,

King James Version
And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

Lexham English Bible
Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and they were coming and were being baptized.

Literal Translation
And John was also baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, for many waters were there. And they came and were being baptized.

Young's Literal Translation
and John was also baptizing in Aenon, nigh to Salem, because there were many waters there, and they were coming and were being baptized --

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Ihon baptysed also in Enon besyde Salem: for there was moch water there. And they came thither, and were baptysed:

Mace New Testament (1729)
and baptized, while John was likewise baptizing in Enon, near Salim, it being a place abounding with water: so that people came to be baptized there.

New English Translation
John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming to him and being baptized.

New King James Version
Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.

Simplified Cowboy Version
John was out near Aenon doing his baptizing. He was there because there was plenty of water to baptize.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized—

Legacy Standard Bible
And John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized—

Contextual Overview

²² After these things, came Jesus, and his disciples, into the Judaean land; and, there, was he tarrying with them, and immersing. ²³ And John also was immersing in Aenon, near to him, because, many waters, were there; and they were coming, and being immersed; - ²⁴ for, not yet, had John been cast into prison. ²⁵ There arose, therefore, a questioning, from among the disciples of John, with a Jew, - concerning purification. ²⁶ And they came unto John, and said unto him - Rabbi! he who was with thee beyond the Jordan, unto whom, thou, hast borne witness, see! the same, is immersing; and, all, are coming unto him. ²⁷ John answered, and said - A man can receive, nothing, except it have been given him out of heaven. ²⁸ Ye yourselves, unto me, bear witness, that, I, said - I, am not the Christ; but - I am sent before, That One. ²⁹ He that hath the bride, is, bridegroom; but, the friend of the bridegroom, who standeth by and hearkeneth unto him, greatly, rejoiceth, by reason of the voice of the bridegroom. This, my joy, therefore, is fulfilled. ³⁰ That One, it behoveth to increase, - but, me, to decrease. ³¹ He that, from above, doth come, over all, is: he that is of the earth, of the earth, is, and, of the earth, doth speak: he that, out of heaven, doth come, over all, is,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

near: Genesis 33:18, Shalem, 1 Samuel 9:4, Shalim

much: Jeremiah 51:13, Ezekiel 19:10, Ezekiel 43:2, Revelation 1:15, Revelation 14:2, Revelation 19:6

and they: Matthew 3:5, Matthew 3:6, Mark 1:4, Mark 1:5, Luke 3:7

Reciprocal: Matthew 3:11 - but Matthew 14:3 - Herod John 1:28 - where Acts 8:36 - See Acts 8:38 - and he baptized

Cross-References

Genesis 2:5
Now, no bush of the field, as yet - was in the earth, and, no herb of the field, as yet had sprung up, - because Yahweh God had not sent rain on the earth, and, man, was there none to till the ground;

Genesis 3:19
In the sweat of thy face, shalt thou eat bread, until thou return to the ground, because therefrom, wast thou taken, - For, dust, thou art, And, unto dust, shalt thou return.

Genesis 4:2
And she went on to hear his brother, Abel, - and Abel became a feeder of sheep, whereas Cain, was a tiller of the round.

Genesis 4:12
Though thou till the ground, it shall not go on to give its vigour to thee. A wanderer and a fugitive, shalt thou be in the earth.

Genesis 9:20
And Noah began to he a husbandman, - so he planted a vineyard:

Ecclesiastes 5:9
And, the profit of the earth, is, for all, - a king, by the field, is served.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And John also was baptizing in Aenon,.... The Syriac and Persic versions call it "Ain", or "In you", the fountain of the dove; and the Arabic version reads it, the fountain of "Nun": and whether it was a town, or river, it seems to have its name from a fountain near it, or that itself was one, where was an abundance of water, as the text shows. There is a city of this name in the Septuagint version of Joshua 15:61, and mention is made of Hazerenon in Numbers 34:9, but neither of them seem to be the same with this; but be it where, and what it will, it was

near to Salim; and where that was, is as difficult to know as the other, some take it to be Shalem, a city of Shechem, mentioned in

Genesis 33:18, but that is not the same name with this; and besides was in Samaria; and indeed is by some there thought not to be the proper name of any place. Others are of opinion, that it is the same with Shalim in 1 Samuel 9:4, though it seems rather to be the place which Arias Montanus calls o "Salim juxta torrentem", Salim by the brook; and which he places in the tribe of Issachar: and might be so called, either because it was near this Aenon, and may be the brook, or river intended, by which it was; or because it was not far from the place where the two rivers, Jabbok and Jordan, met; and so the Jewish maps place near Jordan, in the tribe of Manasseh, bordering on the tribe of Issachar, a Shalem, and by it Ain-yon. And the Septuagint in Joshua 19:22 mention "Salim by the sea", as in the tribe of Issachar. There is a passage in the Talmud p, which, whether it has any regard to this Aenon, and Salim, I leave to be considered:

"the wine of Ogedoth, why is it forbidden? because of the village Pegesh; and that of Borgetha, because of the Saracene palace; and of Ain-Cushith, because of the village Salem.''

Nonnus here calls Aenon, a place of deep waters; and Salim he reads Salem; and so some copies. Aenon, where John baptized, according to Jerom q, was eight miles from Scythopolis, to the south, and was near Salim and Jordan; and he makes Salim to be at the same distance from Scythopolis. However, John was baptizing in these parts, at the same time that Christ was teaching and baptizing: he did not leave off on that account. This was the work he was sent to do, and which he continued in as long as he had his liberty; and be chose this place,

because there was much water there; or "many waters"; not little purling streams, and rivulets; but, as Nonnus renders it, abundance of water; or a multitude of it, as in the Arabic version; see Revelation 1:15 and the Septuagint in Psalms 78:16, and what was sufficient to immerse the whole body in, as Calvin, Aretius, Piscator, and Grotius, on the place, observe; and which was agreeable not only to: the practice of the Jews, who used dipping in their baptisms, and purifications, as Musculus and Lightfoot assert; but to John's method and practice elsewhere:

and they came, and were baptized. The Ethiopic version renders it, "they came to him", that is, to John, "and he baptized them"; as the Persic version adds, "there", in Aenon, near Salim, in the much water there: it may be understood of the people coming both to John and Christ, and of their being baptized by them; though it seems rather to be said of John; and so Nonnus paraphrases it.

o Antiqu. Jud. l. 2. c. 3. p T. Hieros. Avoda Zara, fol. 44. 4. q De locis Hebraicis fol. 89. C. & fol, 94. F.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In Enon - The word “Enon,” or “Aenon,” means “a fountain,” and was doubtless given to this place because of the fountains there. On the situation of the place nothing certain has been determined. Eusebius places it eight Roman miles south of Scythopolis or Bethshan, and 53 miles northeast of Jerusalem.

Near to Salim - It would seem from this that Salim was better known then than Enon, but nothing can be determined now respecting its site. These places are believed to have been on the west side of the Jordan.

Because there was much water there - John’s preaching attracted great multitudes. It appears that they remained with him probably many days. In many parts of that country, particularly in the hilly region near where John preached, it was difficult to find water to accommodate the necessities of the people, and perhaps, also, of the camels with which those from a distance would come. To meet their necessities, as well as for the purpose of baptizing, he selected a spot that was well watered, probably, with springs and rivulets. Whether the ordinance of baptism was performed by immersion or in any other mode, the selection of a place well watered was proper and necessary. The mention of the fact that there was much water there, and that John selected that as a convenient place to perform his office as a baptizer, proves nothing in regard to the mode in which the ordinance was administered, since he would naturally select such a place, whatever was the mode.

Where numbers of people came together to remain any time, it is necessary to select such a place, whatever their employment. An encampment of soldiers is made on the same principles, and in every camp-meeting that I have ever seen, a place is selected where there is a good supply of water, though not one person should be immersed during the whole services. As all the facts in the case are fully met by the supposition that John might have baptized in some other way besides immersion, and as it is easy to conceive another reason that is sufficient to account for the fact that such a place was selected, this passage certainly should not be adduced to prove that he performed baptism only in that manner.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 23. In AEnon — This place was eight miles southward from Scythopolis, between Salim and Jordan.

There was much water — And this was equally necessary, where such multitudes were baptized, whether the ceremony were performed either by dipping or sprinkling. But as the Jewish custom required the persons to stand in the water, and, having been instructed, and entered into a covenant to renounce all idolatry, and take the God of Israel for their God, then plunge themselves under the water, it is probable that the rite was thus performed at AEnon. The consideration that they dipped themselves, tends to remove the difficulty expressed in Clarke's note on "Matthew 3:6". See the observations at the end of Mark.