Matthew 3:11

Matthew 3:11 is the eleventh verse of the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The verse occurs in the section relating the preachings of John the Baptist. In this verse he predicts that he will be followed by someone much greater than himself. The main theme of this verse is that John will soon be supplanted by a much greater figure and that John's water baptism is just a preparation for the much greater baptism by fire and spirit that will occur under the second coming of the Christian messiah Jesus, an original Christian concept that, according to Jewish scholars, lacks any fundament in the Hebrew scripture.

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

The New International Version translates the passage as:

For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 3:11

This verse links up with the Gospel of Mark for the first time since Matthew 3:6. In Mark this verse is mirrored by Mark 1:7 and 8. This verse is also found in Luke at Luke 3:16. However the context is somewhat different in Luke John is addressing a receptive multitude in Matthew it is assumed he is still speaking to the Pharisees and Sadducees introduced in Matthew 3:7. Schweizer notes that despite this, the verse is still written as though it is addressing all Israel. Matthew has also entirely skipped the content found in Luke 3:10-14. This is understandable as the response from the crowd is not in keeping with the hostile and unrepentant Pharisees and Sadducees.

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