John 1:20
New International Version
He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”

New Living Translation
He came right out and said, “I am not the Messiah.”

English Standard Version
He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

Berean Standard Bible
He did not refuse to confess, but openly declared, “I am not the Christ.”

Berean Literal Bible
And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."

King James Bible
And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

New King James Version
He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

New American Standard Bible
And he confessed and did not deny; and this is what he confessed: “I am not the Christ.”

NASB 1995
And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

NASB 1977
And he confessed, and did not deny, and he confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

Amplified Bible
And he confessed [truthfully] and did not deny [that he was only a man], but acknowledged, “I am not the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)!”

Christian Standard Bible
He didn’t deny it but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He did not refuse to answer, but he declared: “I am not the Messiah."”

American Standard Version
And he confessed, and denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he confessed and did not deny and confessed: “I am not The Messiah.”

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he confessed, and did not deny: and he confessed: I am not the Christ.

English Revised Version
And he confessed, and denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
John didn't refuse to answer. He told them clearly, "I'm not the Messiah."

Good News Translation
John did not refuse to answer, but spoke out openly and clearly, saying: "I am not the Messiah."

International Standard Version
He spoke openly and, remaining true to himself, admitted, "I am not the Messiah."

Literal Standard Version
And he confessed and did not deny, and confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

Majority Standard Bible
He did not refuse to confess, but openly declared, “I am not the Christ.”

New American Bible
he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Messiah.”

NET Bible
He confessed--he did not deny but confessed--"I am not the Christ!"

New Revised Standard Version
He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”

New Heart English Bible
And he confessed, and did not deny, but he confessed, "I am not the Christ."

Webster's Bible Translation
And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

Weymouth New Testament
He avowed--he did not conceal the truth, but avowed, "I am not the Christ."

World English Bible
He declared, and didn’t deny, but he declared, “I am not the Christ.”

Young's Literal Translation
and he confessed and did not deny, and confessed -- 'I am not the Christ.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Mission of John the Baptist
19And this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He did not refuse to confess, but openly declared, “I am not the Christ.” 21“Then who are you?” they inquired. “Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”…

Cross References
Luke 3:15
The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John could be the Christ.

John 1:8
He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

John 3:28
You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.'

Acts 13:25
As John was completing his course, he said, 'Who do you suppose I am? I am not that One. But He is coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.'


Treasury of Scripture

And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

John 3:28-36
Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him…

Matthew 3:11,12
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: …

Mark 1:7,8
And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose…

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John 1
1. The divinity, humanity, office, and incarnation of Jesus Christ.
15. The testimony of John.
39. The calling of Simon and Andrew, Philip and Nathanael














(20) Confessed, and denied not; but confessed.--Comp. for the style, Note on John 1:3.

I am not.--The better reading places the pronoun in the most emphatic position: "It is not I who am the Messiah." He understands their question, then, "Who art thou?" as expressing the general expectation, "Is it thou who art the Messiah?"

Verses 20, 21. -

(1) He deflates his own position, negatively. Verse 20. - And he confessed, and denied not. Perhaps the double form of statement, or rather the introduction of the clause, "he denied not," before the repetition of the confession with its contents, was adopted to indicate that John might have been tempted to "deny" that he was not the Christ. If he had hesitated at all, he would have denied the real Christ, the Son of God, who had been revealed to him by special means. I for my part - very emphatic - am not the Christ. This implies, not only that the supposition over which they are brooding is unfounded, not only that he is not the Christ, but that he knows more, and that he knows another to be the Christ. If this reading of the text is correct, the Baptist, by his negative reply, gave to the priests more than they asked.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
He did not refuse to confess,
ὡμολόγησεν (hōmologēsen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3670: From a compound of the base of homou and logos; to assent, i.e. Covenant, acknowledge.

but
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

openly declared,
ὡμολόγησεν (hōmologēsen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3670: From a compound of the base of homou and logos; to assent, i.e. Covenant, acknowledge.

“I
Ἐγὼ (Egō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

am
εἰμὶ (eimi)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

not
οὐκ (ouk)
Adverb
Strong's 3756: No, not. Also ouk, and ouch a primary word; the absolute negative adverb; no or not.

the
(ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Christ.”
Χριστός (Christos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5547: Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ. From chrio; Anointed One, i.e. The Messiah, an epithet of Jesus.


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NT Gospels: John 1:20 He confessed and didn't deny but he (Jhn Jo Jn)
John 1:19
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