Matthew 3:11
Matthew 3:11 | |
---|---|
← 3:10 3:12 → | |
Book | Gospel of Matthew |
Christian Bible part | New Testament |
Matthew 3:11 is the eleventh
Content
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
- I indeed baptize you with water unto
- repentance. but he that cometh after
- me is mightier than I, whose shoes I
- am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize
- you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
The New International Version translates the passage as:
- "I baptize you with water for repentance.
- But after me will come one who is more
- powerful than I, whose sandals I am not
- fit to carry. He will baptize you
- with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
The 1881
- εγω μεν υμας βαπτιζω εν υδατι εις μετανοιαν
- ο δε οπισω μου ερχομενος ισχυροτερος μου εστιν
- ου ουκ ειμι ικανος τα υποδηματα βαστασαι αυτος υμας
- βαπτισει εν πνευματι αγιω και πυρι
For a collection of other versions see BibleHub Matthew 3:11
Analysis
This verse corresponds with the
France notes that the word translated as after is not chronological, rather it means the one who is a follower or disciple. This links in with the reference to
John predicts a much stronger form of baptism by the Holy Spirit and by fire. It is from this verse that the expression "baptism by fire" comes.[4] Hill notes for many years scholars felt that linking the Holy Spirit with fire, a symbol of God's wrath, clashed with the portrayal of the Spirit elsewhere in the New Testament, which saw it as a purely loving and helpful force incompatible with a destructive judgement. A number of theories were proposed to address this, some translations dropped the word fire to create a less destructive image. Another option is that Holy Spirit should actually read wind, as the same word can be used for wind and spirit in Greek. This would also link it to the next verse.[5] This all changed with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran, near where John the Baptist was said to be preaching. In a number of the texts, the Holy Spirit is linked to God's wrath and judgement leading most scholars to include that the wording here is original and that there were different views of the Holy Spirit circulating in the first century.[6] Nolland notes that many scholars have attempted to use this verse as evidence for the Christian baptism ritual, but he does not believe that Jesus' baptism by fire and holy spirit can be so linked.[7]
Whether the more powerful one coming after is a reference to God or Jesus is a matter of debate. After this verse, Jesus immediately enters the narrative, and the corporeal metaphor of carrying his shoes would seem to describe a human figure. On the other hand, this violent imagery contradicts the idea of the Messiah as a bringer of peace. Schnackenburg argues the wording in this passage is deliberately obscure between the two options.[5]
Jerome comments on the Holy Spirit and fire aspect of this passage saying, "Either the Holy Ghost Himself is a fire, as we learn from the Acts, when there sat as it were fire on the tongues of the believers; and thus the word of the Lord was fulfilled who said, I am come to send fire on the earth, I will that it burn. (Luke 12:49.) Or, we are baptized now with the Spirit, hereafter with fire; as the Apostle speaks, Fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is. (1 Cor. 3:13.)"
Rabanus Maurus says, "As though he had said, I indeed am mighty to invite to repentance, He to forgive sins; I to preach the kingdom of heaven, He to bestow it; I to baptize with water, He with the Spirit."
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this verse are:
- Papyrus 101 (3rd century)[8][9]
- Codex Vaticanus (~325–350)
- Codex Sinaiticus (~330–360)
- Codex Washingtonianus (~400)
- Codex Bezae (~400)
- Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450)
Commentary from the Church Fathers
Glossa Ordinaria: As in the preceding words John had explained more at length what he had shortly preached in the words, Repent ye, so now follows a more full enlargement of the words, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.[10]
Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or, John was sent to baptize, that to such as came to his baptism he might announce the presence among them of the Lord in the flesh, as himself testifies in another place, That He might be manifested to Israel, therefore am I come to baptise with water. (John 1:31.)[10]
Rabanus Maurus: Or, by this sign of baptism he separates the penitent from the impenitent, and directs them to the baptism of Christ.[10]
Pseudo-Chrysostom: Because then he baptized on account of Christ, therefore to them who came to him for baptism he preached that Christ should come, signifying the eminence of His power in the words, He who cometh after me is mightier than I.[10]
Saint Remigius: There are five points in which Christ comes after John, His birth, preaching, baptism, death, and descent into hell. A beautiful expression is that, mightier than I, because he is mere man, the other is God and man.[10]
Rabanus Maurus: As though he had said, I indeed am mighty to invite to repentance, He to forgive sins; I to preach the kingdom of heaven, He to bestow it; I to baptize with water, He with the Spirit.[10]
Hilary of Poitiers: Leaving to the Apostles the glory of bearing about the Gospel, to whose beautiful feet was due the carrying the tidings of God's peace.[10]
Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or, by the feet of Christ we may understand Christians, especially the Apostles, and other preachers, among whom was John Baptist; and the shoes are the infirmities with which he loads the preachers. These shoes all Christ's preachers wear; and John also wore them; but declares himself unworthy, that he might show the grace of Christ, and be greater than his deserts.[10]
Jerome: In the other Gospels it is, whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to loose. Here his humility, there his ministry is intended; Christ is the Bridegroom, and John is not worthy to loose the Bridegroom's shoe, that his house be not called according to the Law of Moses and the example of Ruth, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed. (Deut. 25:10.)[10]
Jerome: Either the Holy Ghost Himself is a fire, as we learn from the Acts, when there sat as it were fire on the tongues of the believers; and thus the word of the Lord was fulfilled who said, I am come to send fire on the earth, I will that it burn. (Luke 12:49.) Or, we are baptized now with the Spirit, hereafter with fire; as the Apostle speaks, Fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it ise. (1 Cor. 3:13.)[10]
Hilary of Poitiers: He marks the time of our salvation and judgment in the Lord; those who are baptized in the Holy Ghost it remains that they be consummated by the fire of judgment.[10]
See also
- Malachi 4:1
References
- The Anchor Bible Series. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1971.
- ^ Schweizer, Eduard. The Good News According to Matthew. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975
- ^ France, R.T. The Gospel According to Matthew: an Introduction and Commentary, Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 1985.
- ^ Clarke, Howard W. (2003), The Gospel of Matthew and its Readers: A Historical Introduction to the First Gospel
- ^ a b Schnackenburg, Rudolf. The Gospel of Matthew, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2002 pg. 33
- ^ Hill, David. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981
- ^ Nolland, John. The Gospel of Matthew: a commentary on the Greek text. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005 pg. 147
- ^ Thomas, J. David. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri LXIV (London: 1997), pp. 2–4.
- ^ "Liste Handschriften". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Catena Aurea: commentary on the four Gospels; collected out of the works of the Fathers. Oxford: Parker, 1874. Thomas Aquinas". Oxford, Parker. 1874. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Preceded by Matthew 3:10 |
Gospel of Matthew Chapter 3 |
Succeeded by Matthew 3:12 |