John 1:26

26 respondit eis Iohannes dicens ego baptizo in aqua medius autem vestrum stetit quem vos non scitis

John 1:26 Meaning and Commentary

John 1:26

John answered them, saying, I baptize with water
Or in water, so the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions render it. The sense of the answer is, that he indeed baptized persons in water, which was all that he could do, or pretended to do; and he owned, that this was a new rite, and that he was the administrator of a new ordinance; but he suggests, as may be supplied from ( Matthew 3:11 ) that there was one at hand, and even now among them, that should baptize, and so it is read in one of Stephens's copies here, in the Holy Ghost, and in fire; and it was by his authority, by a commission he had received from him, that he baptized in water; and that his speedy manifestation and appearance as the Messiah, which would be confirmed by his power of baptizing in the Holy Ghost, and by his ministry and miracles, would be a sufficient vindication of his conduct, and support him in his administration of water baptism: but there standeth one among you;
or "hath stood", as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; referring, not to his being among them at twelve years of age, but a few days ago when he came to John to be baptized, and was baptized by him; for from ( John 1:29 ) it is plain he was not now, or "today", as Nounus expresses it, standing in the midst of them. The Ethiopic version renders it, there is one about to stand among you, as he did the next day: though the meaning of the phrase may only be, that he was then in being, and dwelt somewhere among them, and not that he was personally present at that time: whom ye know not;
neither from whence he is, nor who he is, or what is his work and office; neither the dignity of his person, nor the end of his coming into the world, nor the nature of his business in it.

John 1:26 In-Context

24 et qui missi fuerant erant ex Pharisaeis
25 et interrogaverunt eum et dixerunt ei quid ergo baptizas si tu non es Christus neque Helias neque propheta
26 respondit eis Iohannes dicens ego baptizo in aqua medius autem vestrum stetit quem vos non scitis
27 ipse est qui post me venturus est qui ante me factus est cuius ego non sum dignus ut solvam eius corrigiam calciamenti
28 haec in Bethania facta sunt trans Iordanen ubi erat Iohannes baptizans
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.