1:20a

He did not refuse to confess, but openly declared: The word confess here means to declare something to be true. It does not mean that John admitted that he sinned. The Greek text says the same thing three times. It says it twice as a positive statement (“confessed…confessed”) and once as a negative statement (“did not deny it”). However, in some languages it may be natural to emphasize this in a different way and say it only once or twice, like the Berean Standard Bible does. For example:

He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely (New International Version)
-or-
He quickly declared the truth
-or-
He told them plainly (Contemporary English Version)

1:20b

I am not the Christ: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as the Christ is a title. The Jews used this title to refer to the person whom God had promised to send to save Israel. Both the Greek word Christ and the Hebrew word “Messiah” mean “anointed one.” To anoint someone means “to put oil on someone to indicate that they have a special purpose.” When the term is used for Jesus as the Messiah, it refers to the person that God appointed for a special purpose. See the note on Christ at 1:17b.

General Comment on 1:19–20

The event in John 1:19a is the same one described in 1:20a and occurs after 1:19b-c. In some languages it may be natural to translate these verses in the order in which they happened. For example:

19b The leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and temple helpers 19c to ask John who he was. 19a–20 He told them plainly, “I am not the Messiah.” (Contemporary English Version)

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