the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative singular feminine
is
ἐστίestí
G2076
he (she or it) is
record
μαρτυρίαmarturia
G3141
evidence given (judicially or genitive case) · noun — nominative singular feminine
John
ἸωάννουIōannou
G2491
Joannes (i.e. Jochanan) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
when
ὅτεhote
G3753
at which (thing) too · conjunction
Jews
ἸουδαῖοιIoudaioi
G2453
Judæan · noun — nominative plural masculine, a people name
sent
ἀπέστειλανapesteilan
G649
set apart · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
priests
ἱερεῖςhi'ereis
G2409
a priest (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
Levites
ΛευίταςLeuitas
G3019
a Levite · noun — accusative plural masculine, a people name
from
ἐξex
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
Jerusalem
ἹεροσολύμωνHi'erosolumōn
G2414
Hierosolyma (i.e. Jerushalaim) · noun — genitive plural neuter, a place
to
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
ask
ἐρωτήσωσινerōtēsōsin
G2065
to interrogate · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
him
αὐτόν·auton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
Who
τίςtis
G5101
an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
art
εἶeî
G1488
thou art
thou
σὺsu
G4771
thou · personal pronoun — 2nd person nominative singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 3:15-18 And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;
John 10:24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
Acts 19:4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should co…
John 5:33-36 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.
Acts 13:25 And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his…
Matthew 21:23-32 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what aut…
John 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
John 5:10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 1:19-28
We have here the testimony of John, which he delivered to the messengers who were sent from Jerusalem to examine him. Observe here,
I. Who they were that sent to him, and who they were that were sent. 1. They that sent to him were the Jews at Jerusalem, the great sanhedrim or high-commission court, which sat at Jerusalem, and was the representative of the Jewish church, who took cognizance of all matters relating to religion. One would think that they who were the fountains of learning, and the guides of the church, should have, by books, understood the times so well as to know that the Messiah was at hand, and therefore should presently have known him that was his forerunner, and readily em…
THE BAPTIST'S TESTIMONY TO CHRIST. (John 1:19-36)
record--testimony.
the Jews--that is, the heads of the nation, the members of the Sanhedrim. In this peculiar sense our Evangelist seems always to use the term.
Adam Clarke on John 1:19
And this is the record of John - He persisted in this assertion, testifying to the Jews that this Jesus was The Christ.
John Gill on John 1:19
And this is the record of John,.... The evangelist proceeds to give a large, and full account of the testimony John the Baptist bore to Christ, which he had hinted at before, and had signified was his work, and office, and the end of his being sent,
When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem, to ask him, who art thou? The Jews that sent were the great sanhedrim that sat at Jerusalem, whose business it was to inquire into, examine, and try prophets, whether true or false (p); and John appearing as a prophet, and being so esteemed by the people, they deputed messengers to him to interrogate him, and know who he was. The persons sent were very likely of their own body, since priests…
Hear then how this blessed person answered to the intention with which they asked the question, not to the question itself. When they said, "Who art thou?" he did not at once give them what would have been the direct answer, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness." But what did he? He removed the suspicion they had formed; for, saith the Evangelist, being asked, "Who art thou?" "He confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ." Observe the wisdom of the Evangelist. He mentions this for the third time, to set forth the excellency of the Baptist, and their wickedness and folly.
And they send to ask, "Who art thou?" Yet the manner of his birth was well known to all, so that all said, "What manner of child shall this be?"; and the report had gone forth into all the hill country. And afterwards when he came to Jordan, all the cities were set on the wing, and came to him from Jerusalem, and from all Judaea, to be baptized. Why then do they now ask? Not because they did not know him, (how could that be, when he had been made manifest in so many ways?) but because they wished to bring him to do that which I have mentioned.
It is worth while to learn why he did thus. It was, that their wickedness might be manifest and plain to all men. Often did John testify of Christ to the Jews, and when he baptized them he continually made mention of Him to his company, and said, "I indeed baptize you with water, but there cometh One after me who is mightier than I; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." With regard to him they were affected by a human feeling; for, tremblingly attentive to the opinion of the world, and looking to "the outward appearance," they deemed it an unworthy thing that he should be subject to Christ.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
John, Gospel of — The genuineness of this Gospel, i.e., the fact that the apostle John was its author, is beyond all reasonable doubt. In recent times, from about 1820, many attempts have been made to impugn its…
Jesus, The Christ · .Testimony of — .Testimony of
Pharisees, The · Many priest and Levites were of — Many priest and Levites were of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on John 1:19-23
John 1:19-23
19. And this is [32] the testimony of John, when the Jews sent Priests and Levites to Jerusalem, to ask him, Who art thou? 20. And he confessed, and denied not; he confessed, I say, I am not the Christ. 21. They then asked him, What art thou then? Art thou Elijah? And he said, I am not. Art thou a Prophet? [33] And he answered, No. 22. They said therefore to him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? 23. He saith, I am the voice of him who crieth in the wilderness, [34] Prepare the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.
19. And this is the testimony. Hitherto the Evangelist has related the preaching of John about Chri…
Jesus reveals himself to the world through his miraculous signs and sermons. Audiences were divided: Some wanted to believe in him; others opposed him. This division intensifies as the book unfolds. Jesus ended his public ministry with a final appeal for people to believe in him (12:44-50).
1:19-51 John’s Gospel gives limited attention to John the Baptist compared to the synoptic Gospels (Matt 3:1-6; Mark 1:2-6; Luke 1:1-24, 57-80; 3:1-13). Yet the apostle John wants us to see that John the Baptist correctly identified and exalted Jesus. John the Baptist’s disciples leave him and follow Jesus; Jesus took over the ministry John began, increasing as John decreased (John 3:30).