Matthew 3:14

But John ¹  tried to prevent ²  him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?”

Lu 1:43; Joh 1:16; Joh 3:3-7; Joh 13:6-8; Ac 1:5-8; Ro 3:23,25; Ga 3:22,27-29; Ga 4:6; Eph 2:3-5; Re 7:9-17

¹ tc ‡ The earliest mss (א* B sa) lack the name of John here (“but he tried to prevent him,” instead of “but John tried to prevent him”). It is, however, clearly implied (and is thus supplied in translation). Although the longer reading has excellent support (Ì⁹⁶ א¹ C D^s L W 0233 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat[t] sy mae bo), it looks to be a motivated and predictable reading: Scribes apparently could not resist adding this clarification.

² tn The imperfect verb has been translated conatively.