Bible Strands
Matthew 3:16
As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the instant after Jesus emerges from the Jordan, with John the Baptist present and the crowd witnessing. This is the pivot between John's permission (v. 15) and the Father's declaration (v. 17).
The words — εὐθὺς (euthus), "immediately," marks zero delay between the water and the theophany; καταβαῖνον (katabainon), "descending," is the active participle that carries the Spirit's motion toward Jesus.
The thread — Isaiah 11:2 predicts the Spirit resting on the Servant; Mark 1:10 and Luke 3:21 give parallel accounts; John 1:32–33 records John the Baptist's own testimony of seeing the Spirit descend.
Why it lands — The verse places Father, Son, and Spirit in a single scene, making Jesus's identity a public declaration rather than a private feeling. The "immediately" forecloses any reading that the Spirit's approval is conditional on what follows.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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 God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Cross-references
- Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.
- Mark 1:10 As soon as Jesus came up out of the water, He saw the heavens breaking open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove.
- Luke 3:21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened,
- Isaiah 42:1 “Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
- John 1:31 I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.”
- Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
- Acts 7:56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
- Ezekiel 1:1 In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God.
- Colossians 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
- John 3:34 For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.