True Bible Answers

Matthew 3: John baptizes at the Jordan, and Jesus comes from Galilee

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Matthew 2:23ESV

And he went and lived in a city called , so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

ESV

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the ,

ESV

Then and all and all the region about the were going out to him,

ESV

and they were baptized by him in the river , confessing their sins.

ESV

Then Jesus came from to the to John, to be baptized by him.

Matthew 4:5ESV

Then the devil took him to the and set him on the pinnacle of the temple

Matthew 2
Matthew 4

John the Baptist preaches in the wilderness of Judea, and Jerusalem, all Judea and all the region about the Jordan go out to him and are baptized in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. He warns the Pharisees and Sadducees who come to his baptism. Then Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John, and as he goes up from the water the heavens are opened and a voice from heaven speaks.

Map of Matthew 3: John baptizes at the Jordan, and Jesus comes from Galilee — 2 sites plotted

Regions on this map

Verse 13: the region Jesus comes from to be baptized.

  • Verse 13: Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. Galilee is the northern region of the land, west of the lake that bears its name.

    the northern region as a whole; the gazetteer's representative point falls in the Sea of Galilee

Verses 1 and 5: the wilderness of Judea where John preaches, and Jerusalem and all Judea going out to him.

  • Verses 1 and 5: John preaches in the wilderness of Judea, and all Judea goes out to him. Judea is the southern hill country around Jerusalem.

    no point of its own; the gazetteer offers Jerusalem, which is already a pin on this map

  • Verse 5: Jerusalem is the first of the places whose people go out to John to be baptized. All 500 votes put it at the city of Jerusalem in the Judean hills.

    Today: Jerusalem

  • Verse 1: John the Baptist comes preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and verse 3 calls it "the wilderness" in Isaiah's words. The text does not say where in it he preached.

    the gazetteer gives no site for it, so no point is plotted

Verses 5, 6, 13 and 16: the river where John baptizes, the region about it, and the water Jesus goes up from.

  • Verses 5, 6 and 13: people come from all the region about the Jordan, are baptized by John in the river Jordan, and Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized; verse 16's "the water" is the same river. The pin is the gazetteer's point on the lower Jordan, east of Jericho; the text does not say where along the river John baptized.

    Today: the Jordan River, between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea (representative point)

Matthew 3, verse by verse

  1. Matthew 3:1In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the ,
  2. Matthew 3:5Then and all and all the region about the were going out to him,
  3. Matthew 3:6and they were baptized by him in the river , confessing their sins.
  4. Matthew 3:13Then Jesus came from to the to John, to be baptized by him.