John Calvin Commentary John 1:20

"And he confessed, and denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ." — John 1:20 (ASV)

And he confessed, and denied not. That is, he confessed openly, and without any ambiguity or hypocrisy. The word confess, in the first instance, means generally, that he stated the fact as it really was. In the second instance, it is repeated in order to express the form of the confession. He replied expressly, that he was not the Christ.