SEV Biblia, Chapter 3:5
Entonces salía a l Jerusaln, y toda Judea, y toda la provincia de alrededor del Jordn;
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 3:5
Verse 5. Jordan] Many of the best MSS. and versions, with Mark i. 5, add potamw, the river Jordan; but the definitive article, with which the word is generally accompanied, both in the Hebrew and the Greek, is, sufficient; and our article the, which should ever be used in the translation, expresses the force of the other.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 5. Then went out to him Jerusalem , etc.] 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 them; and all Judea, a great number of people from all parts of that country. All is here put for many. And all the region round about Jordan ; multitudes from thence, which seems to be the same country with that which is called beyond Jordan, ( Matthew 4:25) and is distinguished from Judea as here. The Septuagint in ( 2 Chronicles 4:17) use the same phrase the Evangelist does here, and likewise in ( Genesis 13:10,11).
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-6 - After Malachi there was no prophet until John the Baptist came. He appeared first in the wilderness of Judea. This was not an uninhabite desert, but a part of the country not thickly peopled, nor muc enclosed. No place is so remote as to shut us out from the visits of Divine grace. The doctrine he preached was repentance; "Repent ye." The word here used, implies a total alteration in the mind, a change in the judgment, disposition, and affections, another and a better bias of the soul. Consider your ways, change your minds: you have thought amiss think again, and think aright. True penitents have other thoughts of God and Christ, sin and holiness, of this world and the other, tha they had. The change of the mind produces a change of the way. That is gospel repentance, which flows from a sight of Christ, from a sense of his love, and from hopes of pardon and forgiveness through him. It is great encouragement to us to repent; repent, for your sins shall be pardoned upon your repentance. Return to God in a way of duty, and he will, through Christ, return unto you in the way of mercy. It is stil as necessary to repent and humble ourselves, to prepare the way of the Lord, as it then was. There is a great deal to be done, to make way for Christ into a soul, and nothing is more needful than the discovery of sin, and a conviction that we cannot be saved by our own righteousness The way of sin and Satan is a crooked way; but to prepare a way for Christ, the paths must be made straight, Heb 12:13. Those whose business it is to call others to mourn for sin, and to mortify it ought themselves to live a serious life, a life of self-denial, an contempt of the world. By giving others this example, John made way for Christ. Many came to John's baptism, but few kept to the professio they made. There may be many forward hearers, where there are few tru believers. Curiosity, and love for novelty and variety, may bring man to attend on good preaching, and to be affected for a while, who neve are subject to the power of it. Those who received John's doctrine testified their repentance by confessing their sins. Those only ar ready to receive Jesus Christ as their righteousness, who are brough with sorrow and shame to own their guilt. The benefits of the kingdo of heaven, now at hand, were thereupon sealed to them by baptism. Joh washed them with water, in token that God would cleanse them from all their iniquities, thereby intimating, that by nature and practice all were polluted, and could not be admitted among the people of God unless washed from their sins in the fountain Christ was to open, Ze 13:1.
Greek Textus Receptus
τοτε 5119 ADV εξεπορευετο 1607 5711 V-INI-3S προς 4314 PREP αυτον 846 P-ASM ιεροσολυμα 2414 N-NSF και 2532 CONJ πασα 3956 A-NSF η 3588 T-NSF ιουδαια 2449 N-NSF και 2532 CONJ πασα 3956 A-NSF η 3588 T-NSF περιχωρος 4066 A-NSM του 3588 T-GSM ιορδανου 2446 N-GSM
