John 10:40-42

“ And he went away again beyond the Jordan, into the place where John had baptized at the beginning;and he abode there. 41. And many came to him, and they said: John did no miracle; but all that John said of this man was true. 42. And many believed on him there. ”

As we have already said, the Synoptics (Matthew 19:1; Mark 10:1; and, because of the parallelism, Luke 18:15) also mention this sojourn in Peraea, a little before the last Passover. As Jesus certainly could not have remained a long time at Jerusalem without the result of bringing the conflict to its decisive issue, He abandoned the capital after the feast of Dedication, and went away to resume the pilgrimage which had been interrupted by this brief journey. It was thus that He arrived in Peraea, where we find Him in this passage of John. We feel, from the apostle's tone, that this sojourn was not without pleasure for Jesus and for His first disciples. There is a charm in finding oneself, on finishing one's career, in the places where it was begun. Jesus had, moreover, the joy of gathering a harvest here which had been prepared by the faithful labor of His forerunner. It would be difficult not to recognize in this description the personal recollection of the evangelist (see Weiss).

The word again (John 10:40) does not by any means allude to a supposed sojourn in Peraea between John 10:21-22, as Lange thought, but certainly to that of which John had spoken in John 1:28, when Jesus was at Bethany, near the Jordan, with His forerunner. The term τὸ πρῶτον (or, as the Sinaitic MS. reads, τὸ πρότερον) contrasts these first days with His later ministry, which was accomplished in altogether different localities (John 3:23). The meaning of the testimony which the believers of Peraea bear to Jesus is this: “If John did not himself do miracles, he did indeed at least predict everything which this one does, whose coming he announced.” John thus grew greater to their view with all the greatness of Him who had followed him and to whom he had borne testimony. The word ἐκεῖ, there, should certainly be placed, according to the reading of the Alexandrian authorities, at the end of the verse; it is on this word that the emphasis rests. This faith which is so easily developed in Peraea forms a striking contrast with the persistent and increasing unbelief of the inhabitants of Judea, which has just been described in the preceding Chapter s. This passage thus forms, by means of this contrast, as Luthardt remarks, the last point of the great act of accusation directed against the Jews in this part of the Gospel.