1:28a

All this happened: The pronoun this refers to the events of 1:19–27.

at Bethany beyond the Jordan: Scholars do not know where the Bethany mentioned here was. John may have referred to a very small settlement, or he may have referred to the region of Betanea in the northeastern part of the country. Because this is not certain, it is better not to include information such as “the town of…” or “the region of….”

beyond the Jordan: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as beyond refers to being on the other side of the Jordan. The Jordan is a river that runs north-south. The main events in this story all take place on the west side of the Jordan, where Jerusalem is found. You may want to make clear which side of the river John refers to. For example:

on the east side of the Jordan River (New International Version)

1:28b

where John was baptizing: The verb was baptizing indicates that John baptized people there regularly over a period of time.

General Comment on 1:28a–b

In some languages it may be natural to combine the information in 1:28a and b. For example:

John said this as he was baptizing east of the Jordan River in Bethany. (Contemporary English Version)

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