## He freely stated, and did not deny ##

The second phrase says in negative terms the same thing that the first phrase says in positive terms. This emphasizes that John was telling the truth. AT: "He told them the truth freely" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-litotes]])

## What are you then? ##

"What then is the case, if you are not the Messiah?" or "What then is going on?" or "What then are you doing?"