John 1:23

In the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort this verse is: :Ἔφη, Ἐγὼ φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, Εὐθύνατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου, καθὼς εἶπεν Ἠσαΐας ὁ προφήτης. In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads: :He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. The New International Version translates the passage as: :John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.'" ==Analysis==

"I am the Voice, etc." comes from Isaiah 40:3. Witham expands the meaning as: "I am a servant, and prepare paths, your hearts, for the Lord. I come, he says, to say that He is at the doors who is expected, that you may be prepared to go whithersoever He may bid you.” MacEvilly notes that, "Having already declared what he was not, he now declares in very distinct terms, what he was, thus meaning to show the nothingness of his origin, compared with the Messiah." ==Commentary from the Church Fathers==

Augustine: "So spoke Esaias: the prophecy was fulfilled in John the Baptist." ==References==