μετὰ ταῦτα. Quite vague; a less close connexion than is indicated by μετὰ τοῦτο. Contrast John 5:1; John 5:14; John 6:1; John 19:38; John 21:1 with John 2:12; John 11:7; John 11:11; John 19:28. Εἰς τ. Ἰουδαίαν γῆν. Occurs here only; comp. ἡ Ἰ. χώρα Mark 1:5; Acts 26:20. Both phrases indicate the country as distinct from the capital. The sphere of Christ’s ministry widens; first the Temple (John 2:14), then Jerusalem (John 2:23), now Judaea, finally Galilee (John 4:45; John 6:1).

διέτριβεν … ἐβάπτιζεν. Imperfects, implying that this went on for some time. He was baptizing through His disciples (John 4:2): not yet in the Name of the Trinity (John 7:39), as ordered to the Apostles (Matthew 28:19), but as a continuation of John’s Baptism, accompanied by the operation of the Spirit (John 3:5). We have abundant evidence that John baptized before Christ’s ministry began, and that the Apostles baptized after His ministry closed; yet “this is the one passage in which it is positively stated that our Lord authorised baptism during His lifetime” (Sanday). But how probable that the one baptism should be the offspring of the other!

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Old Testament