John 1:26 (DBY)

Passage

John answered them saying, I baptise with water. In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know,

Nearby Context

John 1:24 And they were sent from among the Pharisees.

John 1:25 And they asked him and said to him, Why baptisest thou then, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet?

John 1:26 John answered them saying, I baptise with water. In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know,

John 1:27 he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose.

John 1:28 These things took place in Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was baptising.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "john", "answered", "saying", "baptise", "water", "midst", and "stands". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "john" and "answered", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 25's "And they asked him and said to..." into verse 27's "he who comes after me the thong...", so "john" and "answered" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "john" and "answered" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.