1:25a–b

Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?: This is a real question. The Pharisees were asking for information, but they were also implying a rebuke like a rhetorical question might. They were implying that John had no right to baptize people. They wanted him to explain why he was baptizing people.

It is best to translate this as a real question. But you should imply that the Pharisees did not approve of John baptizing and wanted him to explain his actions. For example:

25a–b If you aren’t the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize? (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-

25a–b If you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet, then why are you baptizing? (Revised English Bible)

The two examples above have reordered 1:25a and 1:25b. See the General Comment on 1:25a–b at the end of 1:25b for other examples of this.

1:25a

Why then do you baptize: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as then can also be translated as “therefore” or “so.” Some English translations leave it implicit. For example:

Why are you baptizing people…? (Contemporary English Version)

baptize: The verb baptize means to use water in a special ceremony to show that God makes his people pure. In this context the ritual represented purification from sin. It did not mean that the person was cleaned to remove dirt. Baptism was a ceremony that marked the beginning of a person’s life as one of God’s pure people.

Here are some ways to translate the word baptize in this context:

• Use a descriptive term. For example:

⌊ritually⌋ wash
-or-
accept ⌊people as new Christians⌋ with water

• Use a term for a similar ritual that is already used in your culture. You may need to indicate that in this context it has a special connection with God. For example:

show that people have been made pure with God’s ceremonial bath
-or-
wash people in a ceremony/ritual with water to show the beginning of their lives as God’s pure people

• Use a term that is already accepted by the local churches. In some areas this term may have been borrowed from the national language or transliterated from Greek or English.

You may need to use footnotes or a glossary to explain the meaning more completely.

See baptize, baptism in Key Biblical Terms.

1:25b

if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet: John had already said that he was not the Christ (that is, the Messiah), nor Elijah, nor the Prophet. The Pharisees accepted this as correct. They agreed with him about this. So it may be more natural to translate this clause like this:

because you are not the Messiah/Christ or Elijah or the prophet

the Christ: The term Christ is a title. It is not just one of Jesus’ names. This title refers to the person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and Savior. See how you translated this in 1:20b and the note on “Christ” at 1:17b.

Elijah: See how you translated this name in 1:21b.

the Prophet: See how you translated this term in 1:21d.

General Comment on 1:25a–b

In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of 1:25a and 1:25b. For example:

25b “Then because you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, 25a by what right do you baptize?” they asked.
-or-

25b “If you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet, 25a why do you baptize people?” (New Century Version)

General Comment on 1:24–25

In some languages it may be more natural to translate these verses using an indirect quote, possibly using more than one sentence. For example:

24 The Pharisees in the group of representatives 25 asked John to explain why he baptized people. He had admitted that he was not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet ⌊so there had to be another reason⌋ .

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