John 1:21 (KJV)

Passage

And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

Nearby Context

John 1:19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

John 1:20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

John 1:21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

John 1:22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?

John 1:23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "asked", "thou", "elias", "saith", "prophet", and "answered". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "asked" and "thou", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "And he confessed and denied not but..." into verse 22's "Then said they unto him Who art...", so "asked" and "thou" 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 "asked" and "thou" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.