Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the issue of ceremonial washing.
Parallel translations
- WEB There arose therefore a questioning on the part of John’s disciples with some Jews about purification.
- KJV Then there arose a question between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purifying.
- NKJV Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification.
- NASB Then a matter of dispute developed on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification.
- NLT A debate broke out between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over ceremonial cleansing.
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
A dispute arose between John's disciples and a Jew about ceremonial purification. The question of ritual washing sets up the larger issue of John's and Jesus' baptisms.
Overview
The debate over 'purification' likely concerned how John's baptism related to Jewish rites and perhaps to Jesus' baptizing. The controversy stirs John's disciples to raise their concern with him. It provides the occasion for the Baptist's profound teaching about Christ's necessary supremacy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- John 2:6Now six stone water jars had been set there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each could hold from twenty to thirty gallons.
- Matt 3:11I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
- Heb 6:2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
- Heb 9:23So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
- Heb 9:10They consist only in food and drink and special washings—external regulations imposed until the time of reform.
- 1 Pet 3:21And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
- Mark 7:8You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.”
- Heb 9:13–14For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean,
- Mark 7:2–5and they saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled—that is, unwashed.
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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 3:25 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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