Matthew 3:5

5 People came to him from Jerusalem, from the whole province of Judea, and from all over the country near the Jordan River.

Matthew 3:5 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 3:5

Then went out to him Jerusalem
The uncommon appearance of this person, the oddness of his dress, the austerity of his life, together with the awfulness and importance of his doctrine, and the novelty of the ordinance of baptism he administered, and the Jews having had no prophet for some hundreds of years, and imagining he might be the Messiah, quickly drew large numbers of people to him. Some copies read "all Jerusalem": that is, the inhabitants of that city, a very large number of them; and "all Judea", a great number of people from all parts of that country. "All" is here put for "many". And

all the region round about Jordan;
multitudes from thence, which seems to be the same country with that which is called "beyond Jordan", ( Matthew 4:25 ) and is distinguished from Judea as here. The Septuagint in ( 2 Chronicles 4:17 ) use the same phrase the Evangelist does here, and likewise in ( Genesis 13:10 Genesis 13:11 ) .

Matthew 3:5 In-Context

3 John was the man the prophet Isaiah was talking about when he said, "Someone is shouting in the desert, "Prepare a road for the Lord; make a straight path for him to travel!' "

4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair; he wore a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

5 People came to him from Jerusalem, from the whole province of Judea, and from all over the country near the Jordan River.

6 They confessed their sins, and he baptized them in the Jordan.

7 When John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to him to be baptized, he said to them, "You snakes - who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send?