Joannes (i.e. Jochanan) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
record
ἐμαρτύρησενemarturēsen
G3140
to be a witness · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
saying
λέγωνlegōn
G3004
properly · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
saw
τεθέαμαιtetheamai
G2300
to look closely at · verb — perfect middle or passive deponent indicative, 1st person singular
Spirit
πνεῦμαpneuma
G4151
a current of air · noun — accusative singular neuter
descending
καταβαῖνονkatabainon
G2597
to descend (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active participle, accusative singular neuter
from
ἐξex
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
heaven
οὐρανοῦ,ouranou
G3772
the sky · noun — genitive singular masculine
like
ὡσείhōseí
G5616
as if
dove
περιστερὰνperisteran
G4058
a pigeon · noun — accusative singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
abode
ἔμεινενemeinen
G3306
to stay (in a given place · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
upon
ἐπ᾽ep᾽
G1909
properly · preposition
him
αὐτόν.auton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in t…
Mark 1:10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of G…
John 1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
John 5:32 There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 1:29-36
We have in these verses an account of John's testimony concerning Jesus Christ, which he witnessed to his own disciples that followed him. As soon as ever Christ was baptized he was immediately hurried into the wilderness, to be tempted; and there he was forty days. During his absence John had continued to bear testimony to him, and to tell the people of him; but now at last he sees Jesus coming to him, returning from the wilderness of temptation. As soon as that conflict was over Christ immediately returned to John, who was preaching and baptizing. Now Christ was tempted for example and encouragement to us; and this teaches us, 1. That the hardships of a tempted state should engage us to ke…
knew him not--Living mostly apart, the one at Nazareth, the other in the Judean desert--to prevent all appearance of collusion, John only knew that at a definite time after his own call, his Master would show Himself. As He drew near for baptism one day, the last of all the crowd, the spirit of the Baptist heaving under a divine presentiment that the moment had at length arrived, and an air of unwonted serenity and dignity, not without traits, probably, of the family features, appearing in this Stranger, the Spirit said to him as to Samuel of his youthful type, "Arise, anoint Him, for this is He!" (Sa1 16:12). But the sign which he was told to expect was the visible descent of the Spirit upo…
I saw the Spirit descending, etc. - See the notes on Mat 3:16, Mat 3:17.
John Gill on John 1:32
And John bare record,.... The same day that he said the above things, and at the same time:
saying, I saw the Spirit; that is, of God, as is said in Matthew 3:16 and which Nonnus here expresses; and the Ethiopic version reads, "the Holy Ghost",
descending from heaven like a dove; at the time of his baptism; see Gill on Matthew 3:16.
And it abode upon him; for some time; so long as that John had a full sight of it, and so was capable of giving a perfect account of it, and bearing a certain and distinct testimony to it.
The Church Fathers
Here it is evident that the Spirit descending like a dove on the baptized Lord was not seen by all those present, but by John only in a sort of spiritual vision. Similarly, the prophets amid many people were used to seeing those things that were invisible to all the others. It would have been useless to say that John testified and said, "I saw the Spirit," if all those present had been participants in that vision as well.
We do not attribute only to Christ the possession of a real body and say that the Holy Spirit assumed a false appearance to people's eyes. For the Holy Spirit could no more, in consistency with his nature, deceive people than could the Son of God. The almighty God, who made every creature out of nothing, could as easily form a real body of a dove, without the instrumentality of other doves, as he made a real body in the womb of the Virgin without the seed of the male.
For why, my brethren? Who does not see what they do not? And no wonder; for they who are unwilling to return from that are just like the raven that was sent forth from the ark. For who does not see what they see not? They are unthankful even to the Holy Spirit Himself. See, the dove descended upon the Lord, upon the Lord when baptized: and thereupon was manifested that holy and real Trinity, which to us is one God. For the Lord went up out of the water, as we read in the Gospel: "And, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit descending like a dove, and it abode upon Him: and immediately a voice followed, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The Trinity most manifestly appears: the Father in the voice, the Son in the man, the Spirit in the dove.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Anointing — in Holy Scripture, is either, I. Material—with oil—or II. Spiritual—with the Holy Ghost. I. MATERIAL.—
Dove — In their wild state doves generally build their nests in the clefts of rocks, but when domesticated “dove-cots” are prepared for them (Cant. 2:14; Jer. 48:28; Isa. 60:8). The dove was placed on the…
Peter — Originally called Simon (=Simeon, i.e., “hearing”), a very common Jewish name in the New Testament. He was the son of Jona (Matt. 16:17). His mother is nowhere named in Scripture. He had a younger…
Baptism · OF THE HOLY SPIRIT — OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Dove, The · Illustrative: Of the Holy Spirit — Illustrative: Of the Holy Spirit
Dove, Turtle · .Of the Holy Spirit — .Of the Holy Spirit
High Priest, The · Typified Christ in: His appointment — Typified Christ in: His appointment
Jesus, The Christ · .Testimony of — .Testimony of
John · Mission of — Mission of
Trinity · THE HOLY — THE HOLY
Witness Of The Holy Spirit · Borne to Christ: As Messiah — Borne to Christ: As Messiah
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on John 1:29-34
John 1:29-34
29. The next day, John seeth Jesus coming to him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world! 30. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man who was preferred to me, because he was more excellent than I. 31. And I knew him not; but in order that he might be manifested to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water. 32. And John testified, saying, I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained upon him. 33. And I knew him not; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, it is he who baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34. I saw therefore, and test…
John the Baptist’s second testimony (see 1:19-23) told what happened when Jesus was baptized. • In the Old Testament, kings and prophets were anointed with the Holy Spirit, but these anointings were temporary and tied to a particular office or occasion. By contrast, with the Spirit’s resting on him, Jesus’ anointing was permanent (see 3:34).
