The precise meaning of the Greek phrase “the land of Judea” (Good News Translation the province of Judea) is not clear. Some believe that this phrase implies that Jesus left the city of Jerusalem to go into the country regions of Judea (so Jerusalem Bible “into the Judean countryside”). But it seems more probable that the phrase refers to the Judean territory in general (New American Bible “into Judean territory”; Goodspeed, Phillips, “the country of Judea”), and not specifically to the Judean countryside; this interpretation is given in Good News Translation. Because of the chronological problems occasioned by this verse, Moffatt placed 22-25 after 2.12, but there is not textual evidence to support this alteration.

The verb translated spent some time (Greek diatribō) is not the usual verb that John uses when speaking of Jesus in this way (Greek menō). In fact only in this verse in this Gospel is this particular verb used. However, the two verbs have the same meaning. It is difficult, of course, to estimate the amount of time involved in such an expression as some time. Since, however, in some languages, one much clearly distinguish whether it means a few days, a few weeks, or several months, it is better to select the expression roughly equivalent to “several weeks.”

The tense of the Greek verb translated baptized suggests repeated or habitual action. This verse states explicitly that Jesus himself baptized; it does not imply that Jesus’ disciples baptized on his authority, while Jesus himself did not baptize. Any attempt to harmonize this verse with 4.2 would be unwarranted, for here John states explicitly that Jesus himself did baptize. It may be necessary to indicate clearly some goal to the action baptized, and therefore one may say “baptized people.” It may likewise be necessary to introduce a goal to the verb baptizing in the following verse (verse 23). See comments at 1.25 for a further discussion of baptism.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .