Discovery BoxMatthew 3:16-17 
Context3:16 After 1 Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the 2 heavens 3 opened 4 and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove 5 and coming on him. 3:17 And 6 a voice from heaven said, 7 “This is my one dear Son; 8 in him 9 I take great delight.” 10
1 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
2 tn Grk “behold the heavens.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
3 tn Or “sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ourano") may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The same word is used in v. 17.
4 tc ‡ αὐτῷ (autw, “to/before him”) is found in the majority of witnesses (א1 C Ds L W 0233 Ë1,13 33 Ï lat), perhaps added as a point of clarification or emphasis. NA27 includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
5 sn The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.
6 tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here.
7 tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle λέγουσα (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style.
8 tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).
sn The parallel accounts in Mark 1:11 and Luke 3:22 read “You are” rather than “This is,” portraying the remark as addressed personally to Jesus.
9 tn Grk “in whom.”
10 tn Or “with whom I am well pleased.”
sn The allusions in the remarks of the text recall Ps 2:7a; Isa 42:1 and either Isa 41:8 or, less likely, Gen 22:12,16. God is marking out Jesus as his chosen one (the meaning of “[in him I take] great delight”), but it may well be that this was a private experience that only Jesus and John saw and heard (cf. John 1:32-33).
