Matthew 3:1-6

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Matthew 3:1-6

We have here an account of the preaching and baptism of John, which were the dawning of the gospel-day. Observe, I. The time when he appeared. In those days (Matt. 3:1), or, after those days, long after what was recorded in the foregoing chapter, which left the child Jesus in his infancy. In those days, in the time appointed of the Father for the beginning of the gospel, when the fulness of time was come, which was often thus spoken of in the Old Testament, In those days. Now the last of... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 3:1-6

3:1-6 In those days John the Baptizer arrived on the scene, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea. "Repent," he said, "for the Kingdom of the Heavens has come near." It was this man who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Make ready the road by which the Lord is coming, and make straight the paths which he must travel!"' John himself wore a garment made from camel's hair, and he had a leathern belt round his waist; and his food was... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 3:1

In those days came John the Baptist ,.... The Evangelist having given an account of the genealogy and birth of Christ; of the coming of the wise men from the east to him; of his preservation from Herod's bloody design against him, when all the infants at Bethlehem were slain; of the flight of Joseph with Mary and Jesus into Egypt, and of their return from thence, and settlement in Nazareth, where Christ continued till near the time of his baptism, and entrance on his public ministry;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 3:2

And saying, repent ye ,.... The doctrine which John preached was the doctrine of repentance; which may be understood either of amendment of life and manners; for the state of the Jews was then very corrupt, all sorts of men were grown very wicked; and though there was a generation among them, who were righteous in their own eyes, and needed no repentance; yet John calls upon them all, without any distinction, to repent; and hereby tacitly strikes at the doctrine of justification by works,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 3:3

For this is he that was spoken of ,.... These are not the words of the Baptist himself, as in John 1:23 but of the Evangelist, who cites and applies to John a passage in the Prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 40:3 and that very pertinently, since that "chapter" is a prophecy of the Messiah. The consolations spoken of in Isaiah 40:3 , were to be in the days of the king Messiah, as a writer of note F25 R. David Kimchi in Isa. xl. 1. among the Jews observes. The Messiah is more expressly... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 3:4

The same John had his raiment ,.... The Evangelist goes on to describe this excellent person, the forerunner of our Lord, by his raiment; the same John of whom Isaiah prophesied, and who came preaching the doctrine in the place and manner before expressed, had his raiment of camel's hair ; not of camel's hair softened and dressed, which the Talmudists F26 Misn. Negaim. c. 11. sect. 2. & Kilaim, c. 9. sect. 1. Talmud, Bab. Menachot, fol. 39. 2. call צמר גמלים "camel's... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 3:5

Then went out to him Jerusalem ,.... The uncommon appearance of this person, the oddness of his dress, the austerity of his life, together with the awfulness and importance of his doctrine, and the novelty of the ordinance of baptism he administered, and the Jews having had no prophet for some hundreds of years, and imagining he might be the Messiah, quickly drew large numbers of people to him. Some copies read "all Jerusalem": that is, the inhabitants of that city, a very large number of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 3:6

And were baptized of him ,.... The place where they were baptized of him was, "in Jordan"; some copies read, "in the river Jordan", as in Mark 1:5 . As to the name of this river, and the etymology of it, the Jews say F12 T. Bab. Becorot. fol. 55. 1. Kimchi in Josh. xix. 47. it was so called, שיורד מדן "because it descended" from Dan, i.e. Leshem Dan, or Pamias, which they say is a cave at the head of it. It was in John's time and long after a considerable river, a river to swim... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 3:1

John the Baptist - John, surnamed The Baptist, because he required those to be baptized who professed to be contrite because of their sins, was the son of a priest named Zacharias, and his wife Elisabeth, and was born about A. M. 3999, and about six months before our blessed Lord. Of his almost miraculous conception and birth, we have a circumstantial account in the Gospel of Luke, chap. 1: to which, and the notes there, the reader is requested to refer. For his fidelity in reproving Herod... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 3:2

Repent - Μετανοειτε . This was the matter of the preaching. The verb μετανοεω is either compounded of μετα , after, and νοειν to understand, which signifies that, after hearing such preaching, the sinner is led to understand, that the way he has walked in was the way of misery, death, and hell. Or the word may be derived from μετα after, and ανοια , madness, which intimates that the whole life of a sinner is no other than a continued course of madness and folly: and if to live in... read more

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