John 3:23

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

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
John	Ἰωάννης Iōannēs	G2491	Joannes (i.e. Jochanan) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
also	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
was	ἦν ēn	G2258	I (thou
baptizing	βαπτίζων baptizōn	G907	to immerse · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
Ænon	Αἰνὼν Ainōn	G137	Ænon · noun — dative singular feminine, a place
near	ἐγγὺς engus	G1451	akin to the base of G43 (ἀγκάλη)) · preposition
Salim	Σαλείμ, Saleim	G4530	Salim · noun — genitive singular neuter, a place
because	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
was	ἦν ēn	G2258	I (thou
much	πολλὰ polla	G4183	(singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) many · adjective — nominative plural neuter
water	ὕδατα hudata	G5204	water (as if rainy) literally or figuratively · noun — nominative plural neuter
there	ἐκεῖ. ekei	G1563	there · adverb
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
came	παρεγίνοντο pareginonto	G3854	to become near · verb — imperfect middle deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
baptized	ἐβαπτίζοντο· ebaptizonto	G907	to immerse · verb — imperfect passive indicative, 3rd person plural

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

Mark 1:4-5 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
1 Samuel 9:4 And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of…
Ezekiel 43:2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shin…
Matthew 3:5-6 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
Luke 3:7 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to c…
Genesis 33:18 And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-aram; and pitched his tent before the c…
Jeremiah 51:13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
Ezekiel 19:10 Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 3:22–end

In these verses we have, I. Christ's removal into the land of Judea (Joh 3:22), and there he tarried with his disciples. Observe, 1. Our Lord Jesus, after he entered upon his public work, travelled much, and removed often, as the patriarchs in their sojournings. As it was a good part of his humiliation that he had no certain dwelling-place, but was, as Paul, in journeyings often, so it was an instance of his unwearied industry, in the work for which he came into the world, that he went about in prosecution of it; many a weary step he took to do good to souls. The Sun of righteousness took a large circuit to diffuse his light and heat, Psa 19:6. 2. He was not wont to stay long at Jerusalem. T…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 3:23

Ã†non . . . Salim--on the west of Jordan. (Compare Joh 3:26 with Joh 1:28).

Adam Clarke on John 3:23

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 the note on Mat 3:6. See the observations at the end of Mark.

John Gill on John 3:23

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 Gene…

The Church Fathers

But why did John baptize? Because it was necessary that our Lord should be baptized. And why was it necessary that our Lord should be baptized? That no one might ever think himself at liberty to despise baptism.
— Augustine of Hippo ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

(Hierom. Ep. c. xxiii. ad Evag.) It matters not whether it is called Salem, or Salim; since the Jews very rarely use vowels in the middle of words; and the same words are pronounced with different vowels and accents, by different readers, and in different places. And they came, and were baptized.
— Jerome ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John still continues baptizing, though Christ has begun; for the shadow remains still, nor must the forerunner cease, till the truth is manifested. And John also was baptizing in Ænon, near to Salim. Ænon is Hebrew for water; so that the Evangelist gives, as it were, the derivation of the name, when he adds, For there was much water there. Salim is a town on the Jordan, where Melchisedec once reigned. The same kind of benefit which catechumens receive from instruction before they are baptized, the same did John's baptism convey before Christ's. As John preached repentance, announced Christ's baptism, and drew all men to the knowledge of the truth now made manifest to the world: so the ministers of the Church first instruct those who come to the faith, then reprove their sins; and lastly, drawing them to the knowledge and love of the truth, offer them remission by Christ's baptism.
— Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

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

AEnon — Springs, a place near Salim where John baptized (John 3:23). It was probably near the upper source of the Wady Far’ah, an open valley extending from Mount Ebal to the Jordan. It is full of springs. A…
Enon — (springs), a place “near to Salim,” at which John baptized. (John 3:23) It was evidently west of the Jordan, comp. (John 3:22) with John 3:26 and with John 1:28 And abounded in water. This is…
Faith — Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true (Phil. 1:27; 2 Thess. 2:13). Its primary idea is trust. A thing is true, and therefore worthy of trust. It admits of…
John the Baptist — The “forerunner of our Lord.” We have but fragmentary and imperfect accounts of him in the Gospels. He was of priestly descent. His father, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abia (1 Chr.…
Salim — Peaceful, a place near AEnon (q.v.), on the west of Jordan, where John baptized (John 3:23). It was probably the Shalem mentioned in Gen. 33:18, about 7 miles south of AEnon, at the head of the great…
Baptism · General references — General references
Enon (Aenon) · Be — Be
John · 1:7,8; — 1:7,8;
Salim · A city which is near Aenon — A city which is near Aenon

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 3:23

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 3:22–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 3:23

Adam Clarke on John 3:23

John Gill on John 3:23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John 3:23

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 3:22–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 3:23

Adam Clarke on John 3:23

John Gill on John 3:23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on John 3:22-28

Tyndale Open Study Notes on John 3:22-36