“Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked. And they replied, “The baptism of John.”
Parallel translations
- WEB He said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.”
- KJV And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.
- BSB “Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied.
- NKJV And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.”
- NASB And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul asked into what they had been baptized, and they answered, into John's baptism.
Overview
Their baptism was John's baptism of repentance, which pointed forward to the coming Messiah but did not itself convey the new-covenant gift of the Spirit. This explained their incomplete understanding. The exchange shows Paul carefully diagnosing where their faith stood before leading them to the fullness of the gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Acts 18:25This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John.
- Matt 28:19Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
- 1 Cor 12:13For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit.
- Luke 3:1–38Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
- Matt 3:1–17In those days, John the Baptizer came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
- Acts 8:16for as yet he had fallen on none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of Christ Jesus.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 19:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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