John 1:29-42
Christ revealed as the Lamb of God
1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
1:30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’
1:31 I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
1:32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
1:33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
1:34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”
1:35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples,
1:36 and as he watched Jesus walk by he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”
1:37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
1:38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?”
1:39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
1:40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
1:41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed).
1:42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
[29] Τῇ ἐπαύριον βλέπει ὁ ᾿Ιωάννης τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν ἐρχόμενον πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ λέγει· ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου.
[30] οὗτός ἐστι περὶ οὗ ἐγὼ εἶπον· ὀπίσω μου ἔρχεται ἀνὴρ ὃς ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν, ὅτι πρῶτός μου ἦν.
[31] κἀγὼ οὐκ ᾔδειν αὐτόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα φανερωθῇ τῷ ᾿Ισραήλ, διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθον ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι βαπτίζων.
[32] καὶ ἐμαρτύρησεν ᾿Ιωάννης λέγων ὅτι τεθέαμαι τὸ Πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον ὡς περιστερὰν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἔμεινεν ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν.
[33] κἀγὼ οὐκ ᾔδειν αὐτόν, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ πέμψας με βαπτίζειν ἐν ὕδατι, ἐκεῖνός μοι εἶπεν· ἐφ᾽ ὃν ἂν ἴδῃς τὸ Πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον καὶ μένον ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ βαπτίζων ἐν Πνεύματι ῾Αγίῳ.
[34] κἀγὼ ἑώρακα καὶ μεμαρτύρηκα ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ.
[35]Τῇ ἐπαύριον πάλιν εἱστήκει ὁ ᾿Ιωάννης καὶ ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ δύο,
[36] καὶ ἐμβλέψας τῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ περιπατοῦντι λέγει· ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ.
[37] καὶ ἤκουσαν αὐτοῦ οἱ δύο μαθηταὶ λαλοῦντος, καὶ ἠκολούθησαν τῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ.
[38] στραφεὶς δὲ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς καὶ θεασάμενος αὐτοὺς ἀκολουθοῦντας λέγει αὐτοῖς·
[39] τί ζητεῖτε; οἱ δὲ εἶπον αὐτῷ· ῥαββί· ὃ λέγεται ἑρμηνευόμενον διδάσκαλε· ποῦ μένεις;
[40]λ έγει αὐτοῖς· ἔρχεσθε καὶ ἴδετε. ἦλθον οὖν καὶ εἶδον ποῦ μένει, καὶ παρ᾽ αὐτῷ ἔμειναν τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην· ὥρα ἦν ὡς δεκάτη.
[41] ἦν ᾿Ανδρέας ὁ ἀδελφὸς Σίμωνος Πέτρου εἷς ἐκ τῶν δύο τῶν ἀκουσάντων παρὰ ᾿Ιωάννου καὶ ἀκολουθησάντων αὐτῷ.
[42] εὑρίσκει οὗτος πρῶτος τὸν ἀδελφὸν τὸν ἴδιον Σίμωνα καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· εὑρήκαμεν τὸν Μεσσίαν· ὅ ἐστι μεθερμηνευόμενον Χριστός·
Comments
The pericope contains many verbs of seeing and hearing; the stress is on eyewitness and hearing with one’s own ears. The vb ‘appear’ is taken in a concrete sense in v. 31.
[29] βλέπει: βλέπω, ‘I see (with my eyes)’ is synonymous with ὁράω/ ῶ.
ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς: the phrase is repeated in v. 36. ἴδε, 2nd pers. sg. imperative < εἶδον, 2nd aor. < ὁράω/ ῶ. ἴδε is postcl. (cl. Gk uses the imper. ἰδέ), and in LXX is indeclinable, serving to point at something or someone; the equivalent of ‘behold’ (Muraoka s.v., εἶδον, 7.). It is freq. used by the Evangelist John. ὁ ἀμνὸς, ‘ the (male) lamb’, already cl. Gk (which however uses in the oblique cases forms from ἀρήν; LSJ s.v. ἀμνὸς). The Baptist stresses a particular (well known) lamb. τοῦ Θεοῦ: gen. of origin or possession, or both. Cf. v. 34, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ‘the son of God’.
τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου: ἁμαρτίαν, acc., is singular: ‘the sin of the world’. The sg., used of plural sins, is a collective sg.
What is important here is that the pericope begins with a vb of seeing (βλέπει) and uses the visual, formulaic ἴδε, ‘look! behold!’ Cf. v.40, ἴδετε, 2nd pers. pl. imper., ‘(Come and) see!’
[31] φανερωθῇ τῷ ᾿Ισραήλ: the pass.φανερόομαι/ φανεροῦμαι, Hellenistic Gk, is used by John in the sense ‘I appear (concretely), become visible; become known’ (EDNT s.v. φανερόω, 3).
[32] τεθέαμαι τὸ Πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον: τεθέαμαι, ‘I have seen’, θεάομαι/ θεῶμαι, another synonym of ὁράω/ ῶ, ‘I see’. In several cases in the NT, θεῶμαι may arguably keep its classical connotation of ‘seeing and wondering at’. Cf. v. 38.
[34] κἀγὼ ἑώρακα: ‘And I have seen’; the Greek emphasises ‘I’, as also in v. 32, κἀγὼ οὐκ ᾔδειν αὐτόν, ‘And I too did not know him’.
ἑώρακα, a late form, pf. < ὁράω/ ῶ, ‘I have seen’. (In cl. Gk, the pf. form is ἑόρακα.)
[36] ἐμβλέψας τῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ περιπατοῦντι: ἐμβλέπω, cmpd form of βλέπω (see v. 29); here the meaning seems to be ‘I look at/ observe with interest’. In cl. Gk and LXX, ἐμβλέπω, c. dat., ‘I look at in the face’.
[37] ἤκουσαν αὐτοῦ οἱ δύο μαθηταὶ λαλοῦντος: ἀκούω + gen. denotes that the subject perceives someone/ something with her or his own ears. ‘The two disciples heard him speaking’.
ἔρχεσθε καὶ ἴδετε: the command ‘come and see’ sounds colloquial.
[42] Χριστός: in cl. Gk, this term is an adj. meaning ‘suitable for use as an ointment’, and can refer to olive oil (cf. LSJ s.v. I).
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 