{He said} (eph(885c)). Common imperfect active (or second
aorist active) of ph(886d)i, to say, old defective verb. {I am the
voice of one crying in the wilderness} (Eg(9320)ph(936e)(8820)bo(936e)tos en t(8869)
er(886d)(9369)). For his answer John quotes  Isa 40:3 . The Synoptics
( Mr 1:3  Mt 3:3  Lu 3:4 ) quote this language from Isaiah as
descriptive of John, but do not say that he also applied it to
himself. There is no reason to think that he did not do so. John
also refers to Isaiah as the author of the words and also of the
message, "{Make straight the way of the Lord}" (Euthunate t(886e)
hodon tou kuriou). By this language (euthun(935c) in N.T. only here
and  Jas 3:4 , first aorist active imperative here) John
identifies himself to the committee as the forerunner of the
Messiah. The early writers note the differences between the use
of Logos (Word) for the Messiah and ph(936e)(885c) (Voice) for John.