Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, May 6th, 2025
the Third Week after Easter
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Read the Bible

Good News Translation

John 1:20

John did not refuse to answer, but spoke out openly and clearly, saying: "I am not the Messiah."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Jesus, the Christ;   Thompson Chain Reference - John the Baptist;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - John;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - John the baptist;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Baptize, Baptism;   John the Baptist;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Universalists;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - John the Baptist;   Revelation of John, the;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Deny;   John;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - John the Baptist;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Benedictus;   John the Baptist;   Manuscripts;   Prophet;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - John the Baptist;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Baptist;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Jesus christ;   John the apostle;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Affirm;   Baptism (Non-Immersionist View);   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Affirmatives;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He didn’t deny it but confessed: “I am not the Messiah.”
King James Version (1611)
And he confessed, and denied not: but confessed, I am not the Christ.
King James Version
And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
English Standard Version
He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."
New American Standard Bible
And he confessed and did not deny; and this is what he confessed: "I am not the Christ."
New Century Version
John spoke freely and did not refuse to answer. He said, "I am not the Christ."
Amplified Bible
And he confessed [truthfully] and did not deny [that he was only a man], but acknowledged, "I am not the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)!"
New American Standard Bible (1995)
And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."
Legacy Standard Bible
And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."
Berean Standard Bible
He did not refuse to confess, but openly declared, "I am not the Christ."
Complete Jewish Bible
he was very straightforward and stated clearly, "I am not the Messiah."
Darby Translation
And he acknowledged and denied not, and acknowledged, I am not the Christ.
Easy-to-Read Version
Without any hesitation he said openly and plainly, "I am not the Messiah."
Geneva Bible (1587)
And he confessed and denied not, and said plainely, I am not that Christ.
George Lamsa Translation
And he confessed and did not deny it; but he declared, I am not the Christ.
Lexham English Bible
And he confessed—and he did not deny, and confessed—"I am not the Christ!"
Literal Translation
And he acknowledged and did not deny; yea, he acknowledged, I am not the Christ.
American Standard Version
And he confessed, and denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ.
Bible in Basic English
He said quite openly and straightforwardly, I am not the Christ.
Hebrew Names Version
He confessed, and didn't deny, but he confessed, "I am not the Messiah."
International Standard Version
He spoke openly and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."[fn]Luke 3:15; John 3:28; Acts 13:25;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
And he confessed, and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Meshicha.
Murdock Translation
And he confessed, and denied not, but confessed I am not the Messiah.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he confessed and denyed not, and sayde playnely, I am not that Christe.
English Revised Version
And he confessed, and denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ.
World English Bible
He confessed, and didn't deny, but he confessed, "I am not the Christ."
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And he confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ.
Weymouth's New Testament
He avowed--he did not conceal the truth, but avowed, "I am not the Christ."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
He knoulechide, and denyede not, and he knoulechide, For Y am not Crist.
Update Bible Version
And he confessed, and did not deny; and he confessed, I am not the Christ.
Webster's Bible Translation
And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
New English Translation
He confessed—he did not deny but confessed—"I am not the Christ!"
New King James Version
He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."
New Living Translation
He came right out and said, "I am not the Messiah."
New Life Bible
He told them without holding back any words, "I am not the Christ!"
New Revised Standard
He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and he confessed, and did not deny, - and he confessed - I, am not, the Christ;
Douay-Rheims Bible
And he confessed and did not deny: and he confessed: I am not the Christ.
Revised Standard Version
He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And he confessed and denyed not and sayde playnly: I am not Christ.
Young's Literal Translation
and he confessed and did not deny, and confessed -- `I am not the Christ.'
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And he confessed and denyed not. And he confessed, and sayde: I am not Christ.
Mace New Testament (1729)
he own'd it, and did not deny it; but made this protestation, I am not the Christ.
Simplified Cowboy Version
John flat out told them, "I am not the Top Hand. I cannot save you."

Contextual Overview

19 The Jewish authorities in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John to ask him, "Who are you?" 20 John did not refuse to answer, but spoke out openly and clearly, saying: "I am not the Messiah." 21 "Who are you, then?" they asked. "Are you Elijah?" "No, I am not," John answered. "Are you the Prophet?" they asked. "No," he replied. 22 "Then tell us who you are," they said. "We have to take an answer back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" 23 John answered by quoting the prophet Isaiah: "I am ‘the voice of someone shouting in the desert: Make a straight path for the Lord to travel!'" 24 The messengers, who had been sent by the Pharisees, 25 then asked John, "If you are not the Messiah nor Elijah nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?" 26 John answered, "I baptize with water, but among you stands the one you do not know. 27 He is coming after me, but I am not good enough even to untie his sandals." 28 All this happened in Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

John 3:28-36, Matthew 3:11, Matthew 3:12, Mark 1:7, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:15-17

Reciprocal: John 1:8 - that light John 1:24 - that Christ Acts 13:25 - whom

Cross-References

Genesis 1:14
Then God commanded, "Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days, years, and religious festivals begin;
Genesis 1:22
He blessed them all and told the creatures that live in the water to reproduce and to fill the sea, and he told the birds to increase in number.
Genesis 1:24
Then God commanded, "Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small"—and it was done.
Genesis 1:25
So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw.
Genesis 1:30
but for all the wild animals and for all the birds I have provided grass and leafy plants for food"—and it was done.
Genesis 2:19
So he took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and all the birds. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and that is how they all got their names.
Genesis 8:17
Take all the birds and animals out with you, so that they may reproduce and spread over all the earth."
1 Kings 4:33
He spoke of trees and plants, from the Lebanon cedars to the hyssop that grows on walls; he talked about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.
Psalms 148:10
all animals, tame and wild, reptiles and birds.
Ecclesiastes 2:21
You work for something with all your wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then you have to leave it all to someone who hasn't had to work for it. It is useless, and it isn't right!

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he confessed, and denied not,.... He freely, and without any reserve, declared, and in the plainest and strongest terms professed to the messengers before all the people, that he was not the Messiah; nor did he retract his confession, or draw in his words again, or drop any thing that looked doubtful or suspicious;

but confessed, I am not the Christ: he stood to it, and insisted on it, that he was not that illustrious person; nor had they any reason to entertain such an opinion of him; nor would he have them do so; they might assure themselves he was not Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I am not the Christ - This confession proves that John was not an impostor. He had a wide reputation. The nation was expecting that the Messiah was about to come, and multitudes were ready to believe that John was he, Luke 3:15. If John had been an impostor he would have taken advantage of this excited state of public feeling, proclaimed himself to be the Messiah, and formed a large party in his favor. The fact that he did not do it is full proof that he did not intend to impose on people, but came only as the forerunner of Christ; and his example shows that all Christians, and especially all Christian ministers, however much they may be honored and blessed, should be willing to lay all their honors at the feet of Jesus; to keep themselves back and to hold up before the world only the Son of God. To do this is one eminent mark of the true spirit of a minister of the gospel.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse John 1:20. He confessed, and denied not; but confessed — A common mode of Jewish phraseology. John renounces himself, that Jesus may be all in all. Though God had highly honoured him, and favoured him with peculiar influence in the discharge of his work, yet he considered he had nothing but what he had received, and therefore, giving all praise to his benefactor, takes care to direct the attention of the people to him alone from whom he had received his mercies. He who makes use of God's gifts to feed and strengthen his pride and vanity will be sure to be stripped of the goods wherein he trusts, and fall down into the condemnation of the devil. We have nothing but what we have received; we deserve nothing of what we possess; and it is only God's infinite mercy which keeps us in the possession of the blessings which we now enjoy.


 
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