Messianic · He was before me

John 1:15

John the Baptist · ~27 AD · Status: Fulfilled · Confidence: 80% · Payne §John 1
“John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.”
King James Version
More of John 1 on this siteJohn 1:29

John the Baptist, born six months before Jesus, says of Him: 'he was before me.' As a man He came after John; as God He was before all.

Fulfillment References

John 1:1-3 John 1:14 John 1:30 John 8:58 Isaiah 40:3

How Traditions Read This Prophecy

Apostolic (Oneness) PentecostalJohn was born six months before Jesus (Luke 1:26, 36), and yet he says, 'he was before me.' As a man, Jesus came after John. As God, He was before John and before everything: 'the Word was God... All things were made by him' (John 1:1, 3). John knew who he was preparing for. Isaiah calls Him 'the LORD... our God' (Isa. 40:3; John 1:23). The One who 'was before me' is not a second divine person waiting in heaven. He is the one God, who 'was made flesh, and dwelt among us' (1:14).
JewishThere is no traditional Jewish reading. The Baptist's claim is a Christian one.
CatholicA witness to the eternal pre-existence of the Son before His birth in time.
ProtestantThe Baptist's testimony to Christ's pre-existence and greater rank, repeated in 1:27 and 1:30.
OrthodoxThe Forerunner's confession of the eternal Word.
DispensationalTestimony to the deity of the coming King.
AcademicA patterned saying ('after me... before me... before me') that frames the prologue's theme of pre-existence. Payne lists it because the Baptist foretells the One 'that cometh after me.'
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Bible Prophecy Explorer · based on J. Barton Payne’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy catalogue · an openly Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal study resource — all traditions presented fairly. Pastor: C. Myles Young, D.Min. · Bishop: Nathaniel J. Wilson, Ed.D.