And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
Parallel translations
- WEB The ones who had been sent were from the Pharisees.
- BSB Then the Pharisees who had been sent
- NKJV Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.
- NASB And the messengers had been sent from the Pharisees.
- NLT Then the Pharisees who had been sent
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
The delegation included members of the Pharisees. This explains their concern with John's authority to baptize.
Overview
The note that the envoys were from the Pharisees, the party most zealous for the law and ritual, prepares for their next question about baptism. As guardians of religious practice, they want to know by what right John administers a new rite. The detail situates the dialogue within the tensions of first-century Judaism that recur throughout John's Gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Luke 11:53And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things:
- Matt 23:13–15But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
- Luke 11:39–44And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.
- Luke 16:14And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.
- John 3:1–2There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
- Luke 7:30But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.
- Acts 23:8For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.
- Matt 23:26Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
- Phil 3:5–6Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
- John 7:47–49Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?
- Acts 26:5Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Pastoral
Henry on the prologue — rich on the Word and the incarnation.
Seminary
- ★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 1:24 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.