Greek
καὶ ἐκήρυσσεν λέγων Ἔρχεται ὁ ἰσχυρότερός μου ὀπίσω οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς κύψας λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ
Transliterated
kai ekēryssen legōn Erchetai ho ischyroteros mou opisō hou ouk eimi hikanos kypsas lysai ton himanta tōn hypodēmatōn autou
Literal English
And he was preaching saying He comes - [is] mightier of Me after of whom not I am sufficient having stooped down to untie the strap of the sandals of Him’”
Bible Hub
English
7And he was preaching, saying, He comes, the mightier after me, whom I am not worthy, having stooped down, to untie the strap of his sandals.
Commentary
† St. John the Baptist was humble and fully acknowledged the greatness of Our Lord. His full acknowledgement seems similar to exomologeó (exomologoumenoi) in verse 1:5: to out-and-out acknowledge sin, or to confess. Though in his case, it is not acknowledgement of a moral missing of the mark for which we ourselves are at fault, but a saint's humble acknowledgement of his relative imperfection in the bright light of God's perfection. So we see St. John the Baptist was no hypocrite. He tells others to change their inward selves, to fully acknowledge their shortcomings and imperfections, to be humble for the sake of purifying the way of God within us, while he also fully acknowledges who he himself is.