John 1:19

In the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort this verse is:

Καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ μαρτυρία τοῦ Ἰωάννου, ὅτε ἀπέστειλαν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἐξ Ἱεροσολύμων ἱερεῖς καὶ Λευΐτας ἵνα ἐρωτήσωσιν αὐτόν, Σὺ τίς εἶ;

After ἀπέστειλαν, some ancient Greek versions add πρὸς αὐτόν.^[1]

In the King James Version of the Bible, the text reads:

And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

The New International Version translates the passage as:

Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.

Heinrich Meyer notes that John's "historical narrative" begins with this verse.^[1]

"And this is the witness of John ...", the same as the testimony of John seen in verse 15.^[1] It seems that John the Baptist often bore witness to Jesus, that He was the Messiah, both before and after his baptism.

"The Jews sent ...": According to Catholic writer Robert Witham, these men were priests and Levites who appear to have been sent by the Sanhedrin to enquire of John the Baptist, who was then held in great esteem, to see if he was their Messiah, for it was believed he was to come about that time.^[2] Lapide comments that "the reason for this embassy was because the chief priests saw John leading in the desert an angelic life, preaching with great power, baptizing, and moving men to repentance, as none of the other prophets had done".^[3] The mention of both priests and levites together is "a trait illustrative of John’s precision of statement".^[1]