BAPTISM — A Word-Study Dossier βαπτίζω in John 1:33 and Romans 6:3-4, with their threads, related words, and the LXX background This dossier assembles the texts. It does not deliver a verdict. The occurrences stand first, the background second, the open question last — in the words in which it was left open. ———————————————————————————— I. THE TWO TEXTS "I didn't recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, 'On whomever you will see the Spirit descending and remaining on him is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.'" (John 1:33, WEB) "Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life." (Rom 6:3-4, WEB) One verb stands in both passages: βαπτίζω (baptizō, Strong's 907) — to dip, to submerge, specifically of ceremonial dipping; to baptize. Its noun stands in the second passage: βάπτισμα (baptisma, Strong's 908) — baptism, the rite itself. ———————————————————————————— II. EVERY OCCURRENCE IN THE JOHN THREAD (John 1:19-34) The thread is John's testimony: the delegation from Jerusalem asks who he is (John 1:19-25), John answers with his baptizing (John 1:26-28), and the next day he testifies to the Lamb and to the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit (John 1:29-34). The βαπτίζω word-group occurs six times in it, all of them the verb. No form of the nouns βάπτισμα (908) or βαπτισμός (909) occurs in John 1:19-34. 1. John 1:25 — βαπτίζεις (baptizeis) βαπτίζω, present active indicative, 2nd person singular (V-PIA-2S). Τί οὖν βαπτίζεις εἰ σὺ οὐκ εἶ ὁ χριστός; "Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" (John 1:25, WEB) The question is put to John by the ones sent from the Pharisees (John 1:24). The baptizing is present and ongoing, and it is the ground of their question: the act is treated as belonging to an office John has just denied three times (John 1:20-21). 2. John 1:26 — βαπτίζω (baptizō) βαπτίζω, present active indicative, 1st person singular (V-PIA-1S). Ἐγὼ βαπτίζω ἐν ὕδατι. "I baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you don't know." (John 1:26, WEB) John answers in the first person and names his element: ἐν ὕδατι, in water. The sentence does not stop at his baptizing; it sets the One standing among them over against it, unnamed in this verse. 3. John 1:28 — βαπτίζων (baptizōn) βαπτίζω, present active participle, nominative masculine singular (V-PPA-NMS). "These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing." (John 1:28, WEB) The participle stands with the imperfect ἦν: John was baptizing. It names the place by the act — Bethany beyond the Jordan is identified in the thread as the place where the baptizing was going on. 4. John 1:31 — βαπτίζων (baptizōn) βαπτίζω, present active participle, nominative masculine singular (V-PPA-NMS). "I didn't know him, but for this reason I came baptizing in water, that he would be revealed to Israel." (John 1:31, WEB) The same participle, the same element: ἐν ὕδατι, in water. Here the purpose of the baptizing is stated: not its own end, but that He would be revealed to Israel. The baptizer twice says he did not know Him (John 1:31, 33). 5. John 1:33 — βαπτίζειν (baptizein) βαπτίζω, present active infinitive (V-PNA). ὁ πέμψας με βαπτίζειν ἐν ὕδατι — "he who sent me to baptize in water." The infinitive states John's commission. The sender is God; the errand is baptizing; the element is again water. It is this sender's word that identifies the other Baptizer in the same verse. 6. John 1:33 — βαπτίζων (baptizōn) βαπτίζω, present active participle, nominative masculine singular (V-PPA-NMS), with the article: ὁ βαπτίζων. οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ βαπτίζων ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ — "is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit" (John 1:33, WEB). The participle with the article names an office: the One baptizing in the Holy Spirit. The preposition and the sphere are the same as John's — ἐν, in — and the element differs: not ὕδατι, water, but πνεύματι ἁγίῳ, the Holy Spirit. The sign by which He is known is the Spirit descending and remaining on Him (John 1:32-33). Summary of the thread: every form is present tense — two present indicatives (1:25, 26), three present participles (1:28, 31, 33), one present infinitive (1:33). No aorist, no perfect, no passive of βαπτίζω occurs in John 1:19-34. The baptizing is everywhere in progress or in office, never narrated as a completed act; and the thread's two baptizers are distinguished by their elements, water and the Holy Spirit, under the same verb. ———————————————————————————— III. EVERY OCCURRENCE IN THE ROMANS THREAD (Rom 6:1-11) The thread is Paul's answer to the charge that grace licenses sin: those who died to sin cannot live in it (Rom 6:1-2), for they were baptized into Christ and into His death, buried with Him, and raised to walk in newness of life (Rom 6:3-5), the old man crucified, the one who has died freed from sin (Rom 6:6-7), and the reckoning commanded (Rom 6:11). The bapt- word-group occurs three times in Rom 6:1-11 — twice the verb, once the noun. No other bapt- form occurs in Rom 6:1-2 or Rom 6:5-11. 1. Rom 6:3 — ἐβαπτίσθημεν (ebaptisthēmen), first occurrence βαπτίζω, aorist passive indicative, 1st person plural (V-AIP-1P). ὅσοι ἐβαπτίσθημεν εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν — "all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus" (Rom 6:3, WEB). The passive: the baptized are acted upon; no baptizer is named in the verse. The direction is εἰς, into — and the first "into" is a person, Christ Jesus. 2. Rom 6:3 — ἐβαπτίσθημεν (ebaptisthēmen), second occurrence βαπτίζω, aorist passive indicative, 1st person plural (V-AIP-1P) — the same form, repeated within the one sentence. εἰς τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτίσθημεν — "were baptized into his death" (Rom 6:3, WEB). The repetition carries the sentence from the person to His death. Paul does not change the verb or the tense; he changes the "into." To be baptized into Christ Jesus is, in the same breath, to be baptized into His death. 3. Rom 6:4 — βαπτίσματος (baptismatos) Noun βάπτισμα (Strong's 908), genitive neuter singular (N-GNS), with the article: διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος, "through baptism." "We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death" (Rom 6:4, WEB). The noun, not the verb, carries the burial: συνετάφημεν, "we were buried with Him" (aorist passive indicative, 1st person plural). The baptism is named as that through which the burial into death runs, and the verse's end is resurrection-shaped: raised through the glory of the Father, to walk in newness of life. No element — neither water nor Spirit — is named in Rom 6:3-4. The named terms are a person (Christ Jesus), an event (His death), and an act shared with Him (burial). The related words — included and distinguished: 4. βάπτω (baptō, Strong's 911) — the simpler verb behind βαπτίζω. A primary verb: to dip, to dye. In the New Testament it is used of literal dipping, never of the baptism of John or of Christ. Luke 16:24 — βάψῃ (bapsē), βάπτω, aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular (V-AAS-3S): the rich man asks that Lazarus dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue (Luke 16:24, paraphrase). John 13:26 uses the same verb of the morsel dipped and given to the betrayer (John 13:26, paraphrase). The distinction: βάπτω dips a thing — a finger, a morsel. βαπτίζω, its longer form, is the verb both threads of this dossier use, and the verb of the rite. 5. βαπτισμός (baptismos, Strong's 909) — washings, distinguished from βάπτισμα (908). A different noun from the βάπτισμα of Rom 6:4. Where βάπτισμα names the baptism — John's, and the baptism into Christ — βαπτισμός in the New Testament stands in the plural for washings as a class, and is not the noun Paul uses in Rom 6. Heb 6:2 — βαπτισμῶν (baptismōn), noun, genitive masculine plural (N-GMP): "of the teaching of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment" (Heb 6:2, WEB). The teaching is listed among the foundation things to be left for maturity (Heb 6:1-2). Heb 9:10 — βαπτισμοῖς (baptismois), noun, dative masculine plural (N-DMP): "being only (with meats and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation" (Heb 9:10, WEB). Here the washings stand among the fleshly ordinances of the first tent — foods, drinks, washings — bounded by a term: until a time of reformation. The same noun is used of the washing of cups and vessels in Mark 7:4, 8 (paraphrase). The dossier notes the distribution without merging the nouns: Rom 6:4 has βάπτισμα; Hebrews has βαπτισμός, plural, both times. Summary of the thread: both verb forms are aorist passive, both 1st person plural, both in one verse, and the noun follows in the next. Where John 1 keeps the verb in the present and in the active, Rom 6 states the baptism as done — undergone by "us," directed into Christ and into His death, and followed by burial and newness of life as its stated consequence (Rom 6:4-5). ———————————————————————————— IV. THE LXX BACKGROUND OF THE WORDS In the Septuagint, the bapt- words render chiefly the Hebrew verb טבל (ṭābal), to dip. The usage is rare — βαπτίζω itself only a handful of times in the Greek Old Testament and the deuterocanonical books — and the occurrences stand close to the New Testament threads: a dipping in the Jordan, a dipping in blood over living water, and washings for cleansing from defilement. 1. 4 Kingdoms 5:14 (LXX; 2 Kings 5:14) — Naaman in the Jordan. ἐβαπτίσατο (ebaptisato), βαπτίζω, aorist middle indicative, 3rd person singular: Naaman went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean (2 Kings 5:14, paraphrase of the LXX). The Hebrew verb is ṭābal, to dip. The LXX renders this one dipping — of a man, himself, in the Jordan, seven times, for cleansing from leprosy — with the verb that John 1 and Rom 6 use. It is the LXX's lone use of βαπτίζω for a person's dipping in the canonical history books, and its river is the river of John's baptizing (John 1:28, 31). 2. Leviticus 14:6 (LXX) — dipping with βάπτω. βάψει (bapsei), βάπτω, future active indicative, 3rd person singular. καὶ βάψει αὐτὰ καὶ τὸ ὀρνίθιον τὸ ζῶν εἰς τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ὀρνιθίου τοῦ σφαγέντος ἐφ' ὕδατι ζῶντι — the priest shall dip the cedar wood, the scarlet, the hyssop, and the living bird into the blood of the slain bird, over living water (Lev 14:6, paraphrase of the LXX). The rite is for the cleansing of a leper (Lev 14:1-7). The simpler verb does the dipping; what is dipped goes into blood, and the blood stands over living — running — water. 3. Judith 12:7 — washing at the spring. ἐβαπτίζετο (ebaptizeto), βαπτίζω, imperfect middle/passive indicative, 3rd person singular: Judith went out by night into the valley of Bethulia and washed herself at the spring of water in the camp (Judith 12:7, paraphrase of the LXX). A repeated washing, night by night, for ceremonial cleansing while she lodged among the enemy. The verb is βαπτίζω, in the imperfect — the washing in progress, recurring. 4. Sirach 34:25 — washing after a corpse. βαπτιζόμενος (baptizomenos), βαπτίζω, present middle/passive participle, nominative masculine singular: one who washes himself after touching a dead body, and touches it again — what profit is there in his washing? (Sirach 34:25, paraphrase of the LXX; the verse is also numbered 31:25 and 34:30 in some editions.) The washing in view is the cleansing from corpse-defilement prescribed in Numbers 19. The participle names the man by his washing, and the question exposes a washing undone by a fresh touch — the act complete, the cleansing not kept. Also standing behind both passages: the Jordan washings and dippings of the law — the dipping of the hyssop in blood at the Passover (Ex 12:22), the washings of Lev 11-15, and Naaman's sevenfold dipping above. The dossier notes them as background to the words, not as exegesis of the two passages. ———————————————————————————— V. THE ARRANGEMENT, SET SIDE BY SIDE John 1 thread: — The delegation asks why John baptizes, if he is not the Christ (1:25, present indicative, 2nd singular). — John answers: I baptize in water; One stands among you whom you do not know (1:26, present indicative, 1st singular; the element named: water). — The place is named by the act: where John was baptizing (1:28, present participle). — The purpose is stated: I came baptizing in water, that He would be revealed to Israel (1:31, present participle; the baptizer did not know Him). — The commission and the office meet in one verse: sent to baptize in water (1:33, present infinitive); He is the One baptizing in the Holy Spirit (1:33, present participle with the article; the element named: the Holy Spirit). In John, the baptizing is present and active throughout, two baptizers stand in one thread, and each is named with his element. Romans 6 thread: — The question is whether those who died to sin may live in it (6:1-2). No bapt- word occurs. — All of us were baptized into Christ Jesus; the same form repeated: were baptized into His death (6:3, aorist passive, 1st plural, twice). — We were buried with Him through baptism into death, that we also might walk in newness of life (6:4, the noun, genitive singular). — United with Him in the likeness of His death and of His resurrection; the old man crucified; the dead man freed from sin; the reckoning commanded (6:5-11). No bapt- word occurs. In Romans, the baptism is stated once, as undergone and complete, and everything after it in the thread is consequence: burial, union, freedom, reckoning. No baptizer and no element is named; the named terms are Christ Jesus, His death, and the burial through baptism. ———————————————————————————— VI. THE CRUX, LEFT OPEN The crux stays open: John names two baptizers and two elements — John in water, and the Son in the Holy Spirit (John 1:26, 33). Paul names one baptism, into Christ Jesus and into His death, and a burial through baptism into death (Rom 6:3-4). Do John and Paul speak of one baptism under two descriptions, or of two? And where does the water of John 1 stand in the baptism of Romans 6 — as the element, as the sign, or as the shadow that the Spirit's baptism fulfills? This dossier assembles the text under that question. It does not answer it. ———————————————————————————— Sources: Greek text and parsing — Nestle 1904 via BibleHub text analysis and Strong's lexicon (John 1:25, 26, 28, 31, 33; Rom 6:3, 4; Luke 16:24; Heb 6:2; 9:10), verified 2026-10-26. English — World English Bible (public domain), via Bible Gateway (John 1:19-34; Rom 6:3-11; Heb 6:2) and BibleStudyTools (Heb 9:10), verified 2026-10-26. LXX texts — 4 Kingdoms 5:14 (ἐβαπτίσατο for Hebrew ṭābal), Lev 14:6 (βάψει), Judith 12:7 (ἐβαπτίζετο), and Sirach 34:25 (βαπτιζόμενος), verified 2026-10-26; the LXX passages are cited in paraphrase and marked as such, and the Sirach verse numbering varies by edition, as noted in its entry.