John 1:15 (YLT)

Passage

John doth testify concerning him, and hath cried, saying, `This was he of whom I said, He who after me is coming, hath come before me, for he was before me;'

Nearby Context

John 1:13 who--not of blood nor of a will of flesh, nor of a will of man but--of God were begotten.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of an only begotten of a father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:15 John doth testify concerning him, and hath cried, saying, `This was he of whom I said, He who after me is coming, hath come before me, for he was before me;'

John 1:16 and out of his fulness did we all receive, and grace over-against grace;

John 1:17 for the law through Moses was given, the grace and the truth through Jesus Christ did come;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "john", "doth", "testify", "concerning", "hath", "cried", "saying", and "said". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "john" and "doth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "And the Word became flesh and did..." into verse 16's "and out of his fulness did we...", so "john" and "doth" 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 "doth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.