John 1:30

30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man who is become before me: for he was before me.

John 1:30 Meaning and Commentary

John 1:30

This is he, of whom it is said
Either the day before, as in ( John 1:27 ) , or some time before that, ( John 1:15 ) , when he first began to baptize, even before Christ came to be baptized by him, and before he personally knew him; see ( Matthew 3:11 Matthew 3:13 ) .

After me cometh a man;
not a mere man, but the man God's fellow: and this is said, not because he was now a grown man, or to show the truth of his human nature; but seems to be a common Hebraism, and is all one as if it had been said, "after me cometh one", or a certain person: for the sense of this phrase, and what follows, (See Gill on John 1:15).

John 1:30 In-Context

28 These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 On the morrow he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!
30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man who is become before me: for he was before me.
31 And I knew him not; but that he should be made manifest to Israel, for this cause came I baptizing in water.
32 And John bare witness, saying, I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven; and it abode upon him.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.