Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 3:17
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
17. a voice from heaven ] Thrice during our Lord’s ministry it is recorded that a voice from heaven came to Him. The two other occasions were at the Transfiguration and in the week of the Passion (Joh 12:28).
heaven ] lit. as above heavens.
beloved ] The original word is used specially and only of the Saviour in the Gospels, Mar 12:6 and Luk 20:13 cannot be called exceptions. In late Greek it is nearly interchangeable with “only-begotten.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
A voice from heaven – A voice from God. This was probably heard by all who were present. This voice, or sound, was repeated on the mount of transfiguration, Mat 17:5; Luk 9:35-36; 2Pe 1:17. It was also heard just before his death, and was then supposed by many to be thunder, Joh 12:25-30. It was a public declaration that Jesus was the Messiah.
My beloved Son – This is the title which God himself gave to Jesus. It denotes the nearness of his relation to God, and the love of God for him, Heb 1:2. It implies that he was equal with God, Heb 1:5-8; Joh 10:29-33; Joh 19:7. The term Son is expressive of love of the nearness of his relation to God, and of his dignity and equality with God.
I am well pleased – or, I am ever delighted. The language implies that he was constantly or uniformly well pleased with him; and in this solemn and public manner he expressed his approbation of him as the Redeemer of the world.
The baptism of Jesus has usually been regarded as a striking manifestation of the doctrine of the Trinity, or the doctrine that there are three Persons in the divine nature:
(1) There is the Person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, baptized in Jordan, elsewhere declared to be equal with God, Joh 10:30.
(2) The Holy Spirit descending in a bodily form upon the Saviour. The Holy Spirit is also equal with the Father, or is also God, Act 5:3-4.
(3) The Father, addressing the Son, and declaring that He was well pleased with him.
It is impossible to explain this transaction consistently in any other way than by supposing that there are three equal Persons in the divine nature or essence, and that each of these sustains an important part in the work of redeeming people.
In the preaching of John the Baptist we are presented with an example of a faithful minister of God. Neither the wealth, the dignity, nor the power of his auditors deterred him from fearlessly declaring the truth respecting their character. He called things by their right names. He did not apologize for their sins. He set their transgressions fairly before them, and showed them faithfully and fearlessly what must be the consequence of a life of sin. So should all ministers of the Gospel preach. Rank, riches, and power should have nothing to do in shaping and gauging their ministry. In respectful terms, but without shrinking, all the truth of the Gospel must be spoken, or woe will follow the ambassador of Christ, 1Co 9:16.
In John we also have an example of humility. Blessed with great success, attended by the great and noble, and with nothing but principle to keep him from turning it to his advantage, he still kept himself out of view, and pointed to a far greater Personage at hand. So should every minister of Jesus, however successful, keep the Lamb of God in his eye, and be willing – nay, rejoice – to lay all his success and honors at Jesus feet.
Everything about the work of Jesus was wonderful. No person had before come into the world under such circumstances. God would not have attended the commencement of his life with such wonderful events if it had not been of the greatest moment to our race, and if he had not possessed a dignity above all prophets, kings, and priests. His name was to be called Wonderful, Councillor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace; of the increase of his government and peace there was to be no end; upon the throne of David and of his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice forever Isa 9:6-7; and it was proper that a voice from heaven should declare that he was the long-promised prince and Saviour; that the angels should attend him, and the Holy Spirit signalize his baptism by his personal presence. And it is proper that we, for whom he came, should give to him our undivided affections, our time, our influence, our hearts, and our lives.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. In whom I am well pleased.] in whom I have delighted – though it is supposed that the past tense is here used for the present: but See Clarke on Mt 17:5. By this voice, and overshadowing of the Spirit, the mission of the Lord Jesus was publicly and solemnly accredited; God intimating that he had before delighted in him: the law, in all its ordinances, having pointed him out, for they could not be pleasing to God, but as they were fulfilled in, and showed forth, the Son of man, till, he came.
As the office of a herald is frequently alluded to in this chapter, and also in various other parts of the New Testament, I think it best to give a full account of it here, especially as the office of the ministers of the Gospel is represented by it. Such persons can best apply the different correspondences between their own and the herald’s office.
At the Olympic and Isthmian games, heralds were persons of the utmost consequence and importance. Their office was: –
1. To proclaim from a scaffold, or elevated place, the combat that was to be entered on.
2. To summon the Agonistae, or contenders, to make their appearance, and to announce their names.
3. To specify the prize for which they were to contend.
4. To admonish and animate, with appropriate discourses, the athletae, or combatants.
5. To set before them, and explain, the laws of the agones, or contenders; that they might see that even the conqueror could not receive the crown or prize, unless he had strove lawfully.
6. After the conflict was ended, to bring the business before the judges, and, according to their determination, to proclaim the victor.
7. To deliver the prize to the conqueror, and to put the crown on his head, in the presence of the assembly.
8. They were the persons who convoked all solemn and religious assemblies, and brought forth, and often slew, the sacrifices offered on those occasions.
9. They frequently called the attention of the people, during the sacrifices, to the subject of devotion, with hoc age! : mind what you are about, don’t be idle; think of nothing else. See PLUTARCH in Coriolanus.
The office, and nearly the word itself, was in use among the ancient Babylonians, as appears from Da 3:4, where the Chaldee word caroza, is rendered by the Septuagint kerux, and by our translation, very properly, herald. His business in the above place was to call an assembly of the people, for the purpose of public worship; to describe the object and nature of that worship, and the punishment to be inflicted on those who did not join in the worship, and properly assist in the solemnities of the occasion.
Da 3:4, is the only place in our translation, in which the word herald is used: but the word , used by St. Paul, 1Ti 2:7; 2Ti 1:11, and by St. Peter, 2Pe 3:5, is found in the Septuagint, Ge 41:43, as well as in Da 3:4, and the verb is found in different places of that version, and in a great number of places in the New Testament.
It is worthy of remark, that the office of the , kerux, or herald, must have been anciently known, and indeed established, among the Egyptians: for in Ge 41:43, where an account is given of the promotion of Joseph to the second place in the kingdom, where we say, And they cried before him, saying, Bow the knee; the Septuagint has . And a HERALD made proclamation before him. As the Septuagint translated this for Ptolemy Philadelphus, the Egyptian king, and were in Egypt when they translated the law, we may safely infer that the office was not only known, but in use among the Egyptians, being denominated in their language abrek, which our translators, following the Vulgate, have rendered, Bow the knee; but which the Septuagint understood to be the title of an officer, who was the same among the Egyptians as the among the Greeks. This is a probable meaning of the word, which escaped me when I wrote the note on Ge 41:43.
As every kind of office had some peculiar badge, or ensign, by which it was known among the ancients, so the heralds were known by generally carrying a caduceus. This was a rod with two spread wings at the top, and about which two serpents were entwined. The poets fabled that this rod was given by Apollo, the god of wisdom and music, to Mercury, the god of eloquence, and the messenger of the gods. To it wonderful properties are ascribed – especially that it produces sleep, and that it raises the dead. Who does not at once see, that the caduceus and its properties clearly point out the office, honour, and influence of the herald? As persons of strong voice, and ready speech, and copious eloquence, were always chosen for heralds, they were represented as endued with wisdom and eloquence from above. They lulled men to sleep, i.e. by their persuasive powers of speech, they calmed the turbulent dispositions of an inflamed populace, when proceeding to acts of rebellion and anarchy; or they roused the dormant zeal of the community, who, through long oppression, despairing of succour or relief, seemed careless about their best interests being stupidly resolved to sink under their burdens, and expect release only in death.
As to the caduceus itself, it was ever the emblem of peace among the ancients: the rod was the emblem of power; the two serpents, of wisdom and prudence; and the two wings, of diligence and despatch. The first idea of this wonderful rod seems to have been borrowed from the rod of Moses. See Clarke on Ex 4:17.
The word kerux, or herald, here used, is evidently derived from , to proclaim, call aloud; and this from , the voice; because these persons were never employed in any business, but such only as could not be transacted but by the powers of speech, and the energy of ratiocination.
For the derivation of the word herald, we must look to the northern languages. Its meaning in Junius, Skinner, and Minshieu, are various, but not essentially different; they all seem to point out different parts of the herald’s office.
1. In the Belgic, heer signifies army. Hence heer-alt, a senior officer, or general, in the army.
2. Or heer-held, the hero of the army: he who had distinguished himself most in his country’s behalf.
3. Or from the Gallo-teutonic herr-haut, the high lord, because their persons were so universally respected, as we have already seen.
4. Or from the simple Teutonic herr-hold, he who is faithful to his lord.
5. And, lastly, according to Minshieu, from the verb hier-holden, stop here; because, in proclaiming peace, they arrested bloodshed and death, and prevented the farther progress of war.
These officers act an important part in all heroic history, and particularly in the Iliad and Odyssey, from which, as the subject is of so much importance, I shall make a few extracts.
I. Their character was sacred. Homer gives them the epithet of divine, .
———-, ,
.
Iliad x. 315.
“Dolon, son of Eumedes, the divine herald.”
They were also termed inviolable, ; also, great, admirable, c. In the first book of the Iliad, we have a proof of the respect paid to heralds, and the inviolability of their persons. Agamemnon commands the heralds, Talthybius and Eurybates, his faithful ministers, to go to the tent of Achilles, seize the young Briseis, and bring her to him. They reluctantly obey but, when they come into the presence of Achilles, knowing the injustice of their master’s cause, they are afraid to announce their mission. Achilles, guessing their errand, thus addresses them:-
, , , . . . .
“Hail, O ye heralds, messengers of God and of men! come forward. I cannot blame you-Agamemnon only is culpable, who has sent you for the beautiful Briseis. But come, O godlike Patroclus, bring forth the damsel, and deliver her to them, that they may lead her away,” c., Iliad i. 334, c.
II. Their functions were numerous they might enter without danger into besieged cities, or even into battles.
III. They convoked the assemblies of the leaders, according to the orders they received from the general or king.
IV. They commanded silence, when kings were to address the assembly, (Iliad xviii. 503. ‘ . See also Iliad ii. 280,) and delivered the sceptre into their hands, before they began their harangue.
‘
, ‘ .
Iliad xxiii. 567.
V. They were the carriers and executors of the royal commands, (Iliad i. 320,) and went in search of those who were summoned to appear, or whose presence was desired.
VI. They were entrusted with the most important missions and accompanied princes in the most difficult circumstances. Priam, when he went to Achilles, took no person besides a herald with him. (Iliad xxiv. 674, 689.) When Ulysses sent two of his companions to treat with the Lestrygons, he sent a herald at the same time. (Odys. x. 102.) Agamemnon, when he wished to soften Achilles, joined Eurybates and Hodius, his heralds, to the deputation of the princes. (Iliad ix. 170.)
VII. Heralds were employed to proclaim and publish whatever was to be known by the people. (Odys. xx. 276.)
VIII. They declared war and proclaimed peace. (Odys. xviii. 334.)
IX. They took part in all sacred ceremonies: they mingled the wine and water in the large bowls for the libations, which were made at the conclusion of treaties. They were the priests of the people in many cases; they led forth the victims, cut them in pieces, and divided them among those engaged in the sacrifices. (Odys. i. 109, c.)
X. In Odyssey lib. xvii., a herald presents a piece of flesh to Telemachus, and pours out his wine.
XI. They sometimes waited on princes at table, and rendered them many other personal services. (Iliad ii. 280 Odys. i. 143, c., 146, 153 ii. 6,38.) In the Iliad, lib. x. 3, Eurybates carries the clothes to Ulysses. And a herald of Alcinous conducts Demodocus, the singer, into the festive hall. (Odys. viii. 470.) Many others of their functions, services, and privileges, the reader may see, by consulting DAMM’S Homeric Lexicon, under .
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
17. And lo a voice from heaven,saying, This isMark and Luke give it in the direct form, “Thouart.” (Mar 1:11; Luk 3:22).
my beloved Son, in whom I amwell pleasedThe verb is put in the aorist to express absolutecomplacency, once and for ever felt towards Him. The English here, atleast to modern ears, is scarcely strong enough. “I delight”comes the nearest, perhaps, to that ineffable complacencywhich is manifestly intended; and this is the rather to be preferred,as it would immediately carry the thoughts back to that augustMessianic prophecy to which the voice from heaven plainly alluded(Isa 42:1), “Behold MyServant, whom I uphold; Mine Elect, INWHOM MY SOUL DELIGHTETH.”Nor are the words which follow to be overlooked, “I have put MySpirit upon Him; He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.”(The Septuagint perverts this, as it does most of theMessianic predictions, interpolating the word “Jacob,” andapplying it to the Jews). Was this voice heard by the by-standers?From Matthew’s form of it, one might suppose it so designed; but itwould appear that it was not, and probably John only heard and sawanything peculiar about that great baptism. Accordingly, the words,”Hear ye Him,” are not added, as at the Transfiguration.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And lo, a voice from heaven, saying,…. At the same time the heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God descended as a dove, and lighted on Christ, and whilst it abode upon him, an extraordinary voice was heard; hence the note of attention and admiration, “lo”, is prefixed unto it, as before, to the opening of the heavens; being what was unusual and surprising; and as denoting something to be expressed of great moment and importance. The Jews, in order to render this circumstance less considerable, and to have it believed, that these voices from heaven heard in the time of Jesus, and in relation to him were common things, have invented a great many stories concerning
, “the voice”, or “the daughter of the voice from heaven”; which they pretend came in the room of prophecy: their t words are,
“after the death of the latter prophets, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, the holy Spirit departed from Israel, and thenceforwards they used “Bath Kol”, the “voice”. One time they were sitting in the chamber of the house of Guria in Jericho, and there came to them , “the voice from heaven”, (saying;) there is one here, who is fit to have the Shekinah (or divine majesty) abide on him, as Moses our master; but because his generation was not worthy, therefore the wise men set their eyes on Hillell, the elder; and when he died, they said concerning him, this was a holy man, a meek man, a disciple of Ezra. Again, another time they were sitting in a chamber in Jabneh, and there came to them “the voice from heaven”, (saying;) there is one here, who is fit to have the Shekinah dwell on him; but because his generation was not worthy, therefore the wise men set their eyes on Samuel the little.”
I have cited this passage at large, partly because, according to them, it fixes the date and use of “the voice”; and partly, because it affords instances of it, wherefore more need not be mentioned; for, it would be endless to repeat the several things spoken by it; such as encouraging Herod to rebel, and seize his master’s kingdom u; forbidding Ben Uzziel to go on with his paraphrase on the Hagiographa, or holy books, when he had finished his Targum on the prophets w; declaring the words of Hillell and Shammai to be the words of the living God x; signifying the conception, birth, and death of y persons, and the like; all which seem to be mere fiction and imagination, diabolical delusions, or satanical imitations of this voice, that was now heard, in order to lessen the credit of it. But, to proceed; this extraordinary voice from heaven, which was formed in articulate sounds for the sake of John; and, according to the other Evangelists, was directed to Christ, Mr 1:11 expressed the following words, “this is my beloved Son”. “This” person, who had been baptized in water, on whom the holy Spirit now rested, is no other than the Son of God in human nature; which he assumed, in order to be obedient to this, and the whole of his Father’s will: he is his own proper “son”, not by creation, as angels, and men; nor by adoption, as saints; nor by office, as magistrates; but in such a way of filiation as no other is: he is the natural, essential, and only begotten Son of God; his beloved Son, whom the Father loved from everlasting, as his own Son; the image of himself, of the same nature with him, and possessed of the same perfections; whom he loved, and continued to love in time, though clothed with human nature, and the infirmities of it; appearing in the likeness of sinful flesh; being in his state of humiliation, he loved him through it, and all sorrows and sufferings that attended it. Christ always was, and ever will be considered, both in his person as the Son of God, and in his office as mediator, the object of his love and delight; wherefore he adds,
in whom I am well pleased. Jehovah the Father took infinite delight and pleasure in him as his own Son, who lay in his bosom before all worlds; and was well pleased with him in his office relation, and capacity: he was both well pleased in him as his Son, and delighted in him as his servant, Isa 42:1 he was pleased with his assumption of human nature; with his whole obedience to the law; and with his bearing the penalty and curse of it, in the room and stead of his people: he was well pleased with and for his righteousness, sacrifice and atonement; whereby his law was fulfilled, and his justice satisfied. God is not only well pleased in, and with his Son, but with all his people, as considered in him; in him he loves them, takes delight in them, is pacified towards them, and graciously accepts of them. It would be almost unpardonable, not to take notice of the testimony here given to the doctrine of the Trinity; since a voice was heard from the “father” in heaven, bearing witness to “the Son” in human nature on earth, on whom “the Spirit” had descended and now abode. The ancients looked upon this as so clear and full a proof of this truth, that they were wont to say; Go to Jordan, and there learn the doctrine of the Trinity. Add to all this, that since this declaration was immediately upon the baptism of Christ, it shows that his Father highly approved of, and was well pleased with his submission to that ordinance; and which should be an encouraging motive to all believers to follow him in it.
t T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 11. 1. Sota, fol. 48. 2. Yoma. fol. 9. 2. u T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 3. 2. w Megilla, fol. 3. 1. x T. Hieros. Beracot, fol. 3. 2. y T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 22. 1. T. Hieros. Sabbat. fol. 8. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
A voice out of the heavens ( ). This was the voice of the Father to the Son whom he identifies as His Son, “my beloved Son.” Thus each person of the Trinity is represented (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) at this formal entrance of Jesus upon his Messianic ministry. John heard the voice, of course, and saw the dove. It was a momentous occasion for John and for Jesus and for the whole world. The words are similar to Ps 2:7 and the voice at the Transfiguration (Mt 17:5). The good pleasure of the Father is expressed by the timeless aorist ().
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And lo a voice from heaven, saying,” (kai idou phone ek ton ouranon legousa) “And behold a voice (came) out of the heavens saying,” announcing an affirming. This same voice of God the Father instructed His disciples, “Hear ye him,” Mat 17:5.
2) “This is my beloved Son,” (houtos es on ho huios mou ho agapetos) “This (one) is (exists as) my beloved heir–Son;” Herein may be seen and witnessed the tri-nature or trinity of the Godhead. The Father of Jesus who was in heaven sent down upon His head the Holy Spirit in dove form appearance as the Father from heaven spoke in audible voice the words of this passage, as affirmed also Mat 28:18-20; 1Jn 5:7.
3) “In whom I am well pleased.” (en ho eudokesa) “in whose being (whom) I was (and am) well pleased,” or in whom I take delight, as described prophetically Isa 42:1-7.
Three things are evident in this Baptismal manifestation of Jesus Christ.
1)First, Jesus voluntarily sought baptism from the only individual God ever sent (mandated) from heaven to baptize, Joh 1:6; Joh 1:33.
2)Second, Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit for His official work on earth among men, Joh 3:34; Luk 4:18.
3)Third, God the Father acknowledged Him as His own Son, “in whom” He was well pleased, as His Son pursued this baptismal identity and revelation of Himself and His coming work in Israel and a lost world.
Joh 1:31-34 at His baptism Jesus passed from a private to a public life, having arrived at a legal age for a public teacher, which was 30 years of age.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
17. And, lo, a voice from heaven From that opening of the heavens, which has been already mentioned, a loud voice was heard, that its majesty might be more impressive. The public appearance of Christ, to undertake the office of Mediator, was accompanied by this announcement, (300) in which he was offered to us by the Father, that we may rely on this pledge of our adoption, and boldly call God himself our Father. The designation of Son belongs truly and naturally to Christ alone: but yet he was declared to be the Son of God in our flesh, that the favor of Him, whom he alone has a right to call Father, may be also obtained for us. And thus when God presents Christ to us as Mediator, accompanied by the title of Son, he declares that he is the Father of us all, (Eph 4:6.)
Such, too, is the import of the epithet beloved: for in ourselves we are hateful to God, and his fatherly love must flow to us by Christ. The best expounder of this passage is the Apostle Paul, when he says
“
who hath predestinated us into adoption by Jesus Christ in himself, according to the good pleasure of his will; to the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he hath accepted us in the Beloved,” (Eph 1:5)
that is, in his beloved Son. It is still more fully expressed by these words, in whom I am well pleased They imply, that the love of God rests on Christ in such a manner, as to diffuse itself from him to us all; and not to us only, but even to the angels themselves. Not that they need reconciliation, for they never were at enmity with God: but even they become perfectly united to God, only by means of their Head, (Eph 1:22.) For the same reason, he is also called “the first-born of every creature,” (Col 1:5😉 and Paul likewise states that Christ came
“
to reconcile all things to himself, both those which are on earth, and those which are in heavens,” (Col 1:20.)
(300) “ Avec ce tesmoignage et recommandation;” — “with this testimony and recommendation.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) A voice from heaven.The words were heard, so far as the record goes, as the sign was seen, by our Lord and the Baptist only. It was a testimony to them, and not to the multitude. The precise force of the latter clause, in whom I was well pleased, points (to speak after the manner of men) rather to a definite divine act or thought, than to a continued ever-present acceptance. He who stood there was the beloved Son, in whom, in the beginning, the Father was well-pleased. To the Baptist this came as the answer to all questionings. This was none other than the King to whom had been spoken the words, Thou art my Son (Psa. 2:7), who was to the Eternal Father what Isaac was to Abraham (the very term beloved son is used in the Greek of Gen. 22:2, where the English version has only), upon whom the mind of the Father rested with infinite content. And we may venture to believe that the voice came as an attestation also to the human consciousness of the Son of Man. There had been before, as in Luk. 2:49, the sense that God was His Father. Now, with an intensity before unfelt, and followed, as the sequel shows, with entire change in life and action, there is, in His human soul, the conviction that He is the Son, the beloved.
Here, as before, it is instructive to note the legendary accretions that have gathered round the simple narrative of the Gospels. Justin (Dial. c., Tryph. p. 316) adds that a fire was kindled in Jordan. An Ebionite Gospel added to the words from heaven, This day have I begotten thee, and further adds, a great light shone around the place, and John saw it, and said, Who art thou, Lord? and again a voice from heaven, saying. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And then John fell down, and said, I beseech Thee, O Lord, baptise Thou me. But He forbade him, saying, Suffer it, for thus it is meet that all things should be accomplished.
More important and more difficult is the question, What change was actually wrought in our Lords human nature by this descent of the Spirit? The words of the Baptist, He giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him (Joh. 3:34) imply the bestowal of a real gift. The words that follow here, He was led by the Spirit (Mat. 4:1), The Spirit driveth Him (Mar. 1:12), show, in part, the nature of the change. We may venture to think even there of new gifts, new powers, a new intuition (comp. Joh. 3:11), a new constraint, as it were, bringing the human will that was before in harmony with the divine into a fuller consciousness of that harmony, and into more intense activity; above all, a new intensity of prayer, uttering itself in Him, as afterwards in His people, in the cry, Abba, Father (Mar. 14:36; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). There also we may think of the Spirit as making intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Voice from heaven Proceeding as from the firmament, just as the dove-like form came from what, in optical language, all men would call the opening firmament or sky. My beloved Son Here the whole Trinity united at the scene. The Son is consecrated by the Spirit, and proclaimed by the Father. So John passed through the three stages of ignorance, faith, and knowledge: ignorance, when he knew him not; faith, when first he saw him; knowledge, when God the Father acknowledged him from heaven. Now he could safely identify him to the world as Lamb of God.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, (or ‘My Son, the Beloved’) in whom I am well pleased.” ’
And then the Voice spoke from Heaven. Here was no whisper of a voice, the quiet ‘bath qol’ (daughter of a voice) spoken of by the Scribes and Pharisees which had replaced the resounding words of the prophets. It was the voice of God Himself, loud and clear, although who it was clear to we are not told. Perhaps to many it sounded like thunder (compare Joh 12:29). But it was clear to both John and Jesus. This is made openly apparent by the evangelists. Matthew has John in mind when he translates as, ‘This is My beloved Son’. Mark and Luke had Jesus in mind when they translated as ‘You are My beloved Son’. The Aramaic (or even possibly Hebrew) was presumably less clear, with no initial pronoun in the sentence. The Voice may well have said, “My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased,” the indicating pronoun being assumed, as it often is in Aramaic. But when God is speaking who can dogmatise as to what is heard, or how it is heard?
The Voice described Jesus in terms of two Old Testament figures. ‘You are My Son’ identifies Him with the anointed King in Psa 2:7. ‘My beloved in Whom I am well pleased’ (see Mat 12:18) identifies Him with the Servant of YHWH of Isaiah. And this is the pattern of Matthew’s Gospel. It begins and ends with great emphasis on Jesus as the Anointed One, the King, the Son of David par excellence (1-2; Mat 3:3 – the way is prepared for a king; Mat 4:15-16 in its Isaianic context; Mat 21:5; Mat 22:1-14; Mat 22:44-45; Mat 25:31-46; Mat 26:63-64; Mat 27:11; Mat 27:17; Mat 27:22; Mat 27:37; Mat 28:18). But in its central part his Gospel also lays great emphasis on Jesus as the Servant of the Lord (here, Mat 8:17; Mat 12:18-21; Mat 20:28, and the contexts in which they are found). We will expand on these themes as we go through the Gospel.
But the idea of sonship must be seen as going beyond that of just a son of David. He is ‘the beloved’, and the beloved is the Servant of YHWH (Mat 12:18) and the transfigured One (Mat 17:5). He is a unique eschatological figure. Furthermore the Devil will challenge Him with the fact of His awareness that He is the Son of God with almost limitless powers, powers that can create bread from stones, that can enable Him to throw Himself from the top of the Temple into the valley far beneath without hurt, and that can enable Him with the Devil’s assistance to conquer the world. And had Jesus not thought that He could do these things they would have been no temptation. (Most of us have never felt tempted to do any of them). And it is because He is the Son of God that evil spirits do His bidding (Mat 8:29). Add to this that He is the only Son (in Luke ‘My beloved son’) in contrast with the prophets (Mat 21:37-38, compare Mat 22:2) and David’s Lord (Mat 22:44) and we recognise that He stands alone uniquely apart as God’s Son, Whom no one knows but the Father (Mat 11:27), and Who Himself uniquely knows the Father but can reveal Him to His own (Mat 11:27), because he who has seen Him has seen the Father (Joh 14:9).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 3:17. This is my beloved Son As both St. Mark and St. Luke have it, Thou art my beloved Son, one would be inclined to follow those copies of St. Matthew which agree with them, rather than the more common reading. See Mills and Wetstein. Chemnitz, however, and some others, imagine that both sentences were pronounced, the voice uttering the words, Thou art my beloved Son, &c. while the Spirit was descending, as if they had been directed to Jesus alone; and that after the Spirit rested on Jesus, the voice, speaking to the Baptist and the multitude, said, This is my beloved Son, &c. On this supposition, which, without doubt, renders the miracle very remarkable, the words of the preceding verse may be well referred to the Baptist, as we have there observed. The Greek word ‘ is frequently used by authors to denote an only Son, and the LXX make use of it when the word in the Hebrew signifies only, Gen 22:12. Zec 12:10 and elsewhere. The original word , expresses an entire acquiescence in what we love and approve. This passage is taken from Isa 42:1 with very little variation. See Psa 2:7; Psa 43:3 and Psa 44:4. Wetstein, and Beausobre and Lenfant; and for more in the Inferences. It may be proper just to observe, that we have here a glorious manifestation of the ever-blessed Trinity; the Father speaking from heaven, the Son spoken to, and the Holy Ghost descending upon him.
Inferences.It is surely matter of unspeakable thankfulness, that the kingdom of heaven should be erected among men, and that the only-begotten Son of God is the king and governor of that kingdom: how happy are we that it is preached among us, and we are called to it! It should be our great care to become not only nominal, but real members of it.
Repentance is the true preparation for the kingdom of heaven. We should therefore every moment be prepared for it, because this kingdom is every moment approaching nearer to us. If this kingdom be a kingdom of love, the repentance which prepares us for it must likewise be a repentance of love; that is, evangelical repentance, which flows from a sight of Christ, from a sense of his love, and the hope of forgiveness through him. Kindness is conquering; abused kindness is humbling and melting. The language of the truly penitent heart is, “What a wretch was I, to sin against such grace! against the law and love of such a kingdom!”
He who preaches repentance, ought to perform it himself, and to join the outward part to the inward: this persuades more than words. All is singular in St. John the Baptist (Mat 3:4.), not to attract the esteem and praises of men, but to awaken their attention: with an awful severity of manners and of doctrine, he was sent before Christ to prepare his way. It is necessary that the law should introduce the Gospel; but the terrors of Moses and Elijah should render the mild and blessed Redeemer so much the more welcome to our souls. St. John the Baptist preaches in the wilderness: no place is so remote as to exclude us from the visits of divine grace; nay, commonly the sweetest intercourse which believers enjoy with heaven, is when they are withdrawn farthest from the noise and distractions of the world.
Behold the dreadful danger of all hypocrites, and unfruitful hearers of the word, whatever their pretences or their external privileges may be! Miserable they who shall be found in their sins! Their covenant relation to Abraham, their baptism with water, their mere external professions, will avail them nothing: God will abandon them to unquenchable flames.
Warned by this awful notice, may we forsake our sins, and bring forth the proper fruits of repentance: and that we may be prepared for the great and final trial, let us be earnest in our applications to our gracious Redeemer, that as we are baptized with water in his name, he would also baptize us with the Holy Ghost and with fire! That by the operations of his blessed Spirit, he would enkindle and quicken that divine life, that sacred love, that flaming yet well governed zeal for his glory, which distinguishes the true Christian from the hypocritical professor, and is indeed the real of God set upon the heart.
Our Lord’s submitting himself to baptism, Mat 3:13 should teach us a holy exactness and care in the observance of those positive institutions, which owe their obligation merely to a divine command; for thus also it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness, “every thing just and needful in itself, as well as every thing meet, decent, regular, exemplary, and of good report.”
We behold at this baptism, the sacred Three, distinctly appearing in characters of personal and divine glory, and concurring in the great design of salvation! How inconsiderable and unworthy are the best of men, compared with Christ! And what exalted and endearing thoughts should we have of him, as the Son of God, and a Saviour of sinners; and as the Beloved of the Father, who makes us accepted in him!
The heavens were opened when Christ was baptized; to teach us, that when we duly attend on God’s ordinances, we may expect communion with him, and communications from him. What an encomium was that which was heard from the opening heavens: This is my beloved Son, in whom I delight! How poor are all other kinds of praise! To be the delight and joy of God, this is praise indeed; this is true glory; this is the highest, brightest light that holiness and virtue can appear in.
That holiness, and the virtues which flow from that blessed source, are objects of divine complacence, as it is a most important truth, so it is obvious to every pious soul: Christ is the foundation; holiness with all its concomitant virtues is the superstructure; and therefore what the poet says of virtue, when built on this foundation, and flowing from this source, is both beautiful and true:
If there’s a Pow’r above us, (And that there is, all nature cries aloud Through all her works,) he must delight in virtue; And that which he delights in, must be happy.
ADDISON.
God must delight in holiness and its concomitant virtues, for the same reason that he delights in himself: for holiness is his own image and likeness, which, extinct in the first Adam, and revived in the second, even Jesus Christ our Lord, began her mysterious course at his incarnation, producing every virtuous fruit, and went on gradually through all her process, with the highest perfection in each degree; till she had finished the first stage, which is called the justice of the law, at his baptism by John, when the Almighty Father pronounced audibly to the lower world his approbation.
REFLECTIONS.1st, Prophesy under the Old Testament closed with the promise of the coming of Elijah, that is, of one in his spirit and temper; and here we find that prophesy accomplished in John the Baptist, so called from the ordinance of baptism which he administered to his disciples; who appeared in those days, not immediately after the events related in the preceding chapter, but at about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years distance, during which time we never but once hear any thing of our blessed Lord, who lived in obscurity, and not improbably maintained himself by manual labour. We have,
1. The place where John opened his ministry, in the wilderness of Judaea; not a place literally uninhabited, but not so populous as the other parts of the country.
2. The doctrine he preached: repentance; a change of mind and principles, and of manners and practice, in both which respects the Jewish people were exceedingly corrupt: and this he urges on that evangelical consideration, that the kingdom of heaven is at hand; the kingdom of the Messiah, the Gospel dispensation, which affords the strongest engagements to draw the minds of sinners to return to God, from the views of the riches of his grace therein revealed.
3. Herein John fulfilled the prophesy delivered concerning him, Isa 40:3-4.the voice of one crying, intimating the fervour and vehemence with which John preached, Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make his paths straight. As the harbinger, or herald, he goes before to clear the way for the King of glory, preaching that repentance which was so peculiarly needful at a time when the traditions of men had made God’s word of no effect, and the corruption of the general practice was the natural effect of their corrupt principles; and pointing them from their sinful courses to him who was the way, the truth, and the life, by whom alone they could be saved. Note; (1.) The ways of sin are crooked ways, which lead down to death and hell. (2.) Nothing can save us from them, but repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. His garb and diet were austere, as his word was piercing. He seemed an uncouth courtier to prepare the way of the eternal King. A rough garment, girt with a leathern girdle, was his clothing, as being the promised Elias; and his meat was plain and abstemious, such as the wilderness afforded, locusts and wild honey. Note; They who preach mortification and repentance to others, should themselves show a becoming indifference to this world, and the gratifications of it.
5. A numerous auditory attended his ministry, struck by the singularity of his appearance and manners, and, above all, by the power of the word he preached. Multitudes from Jerusalem, Judaea, and the country beyond Jordan, resorted to him, a general expectation of the Messiah being now raised through the land; and so far were many affected with his discourses, that they made profession of repentance, confessed their sins, and were baptized in Jordan. But among the multitude of professors, the sequel shewed there were few real penitents. Uncommon zeal and striking delivery will often collect an audience, and excite curiosity; but we must sincerely yield to the power of divine grace, before we can be really converted.
It has been a much-disputed point, respecting the manner of administering the ordinance of baptism, whether by immersion or sprinkling; and where the form is rested upon, instead of the power of godliness, there is room open for abundant debate. I must confess, for my own part, I see no reason to suppose such immense multitudes were all dipped in Jordan, nor how it would be practicable to provide dipping garments for them; nor does the word (baptizo) convey the same meaning as (bapto), but rather seems to intimate sprinkling or pouring water upon them; and the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which this baptism of John’s prefigured, would lead us strongly to that meaning of the word. But while we should avoid all rigid censures on those who differ from us in these ceremonials, and see that, in whatever manner baptism be administered, we do not rest upon the ordinance, it is an essential concern, that our souls be really partakers of the thing signified, even sprinkled with the blood of Jesus, and saved by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.
2nd, The Pharisees and Sadducees were men of very different characters; the one pretended uncommon sanctity, and were rigid observers of the rituals of religion, deriving their name from that separation of themselves from other men in which they gloried. The Sadducees, on the other hand, so denominated from their master Sadok, were the very reverse; avowedly infidel in their principles, and, it is to be feared, as licentious in their practice. Yet many of both these sects, either struck with John’s preaching, or more probably to gain the higher veneration with the people, who were strongly engaged in John’s favour as a prophet sent from God, applied to him for baptism; and to them he addresses his discourse.
1. He opens with a most severe reproof, and mortifying appellation: O generation of vipers, specious, yet venomous as a serpent, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? either from their temporal calamities which were approaching, and which their repentance might have averted; or from the eternal ruin which they had provoked by their pride, hypocrisy, infidelity, and wickedness. Note; (1.) To fly from the wrath to come, is every sinner’s great concern; but none will take the warning, till they see and feel the imminence of their danger. (2.) Ministers must deal plainly and freely with men’s consciences; nor must the self-righteous formalist be addressed with less severity than the abandoned sinner.
2. He admonishes them of their duty. Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: without which all the water in the river would never profit them any thing; for all who are baptized unto repentance must see, that in all humility and lowliness of mind, in all patience and perseverance in well-doing, in all holy conversation and godliness, they prove the truth of the grace which is in them; else shall the baptized sinner be as the heathen man and the publican.
3. He cautions them against trusting on their external privileges, on which he knew they depended for acceptance before God. Because they were Abraham’s children they flattered themselves with safety, and thought repentance in their case unnecessary: but John would undeceive them; and pointing perhaps to those stones which Joshua set up in Jordan, Jos 4:20 assured them that God could from these raise up children to Abraham, and needed not his descendants after the flesh to compose his church. Note; (1.) Many flatter themselves, that their being members of the visible church, and having partaken of baptism and the Lord’s supper, will stand them in stead in the day of God, who will find themselves woefully disappointed. (2.) Ministers must lay open those refuges of lies to which the self-righteous and the sinner betake themselves, and rouse those to a sense of their danger, who rock themselves asleep in vain imaginations. (3.) The nearer we are related to great and good men, so far from being a protection to us, it will but aggravate our guilt if we degenerate from their piety.
4. He gives them fair warning. The time was short ere judgment would begin at the house of God; the axe was now laid to the root of the tree, by the preaching of the Gospel. If they rejected the counsel of God, and refused to repent and amend their ways, then they were marked for ruin, as trees which bear no fruit, fit only for fuel. The temporal judgments of God shall consume them with their city; or, worse, the eternal wrath of God shall overwhelm them in hell, Note; The day of grace is a precious season not to be trifled with; our eternity of happiness or misery depends on our neglect or improvement of it.
5. He directs them to that glorious Personage whose forerunner he was, acknowledging his pre-eminence in all things. He could indeed call them to repentance, and administer baptism to those who made profession of it; but from a greater than himself the grace of repentance flows; concerning whom he owns that he was not worthy to perform the meanest offices to him, even to carry his shoes after him: so lowly are the saints of God in their own eyes. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire; either at the day of Pentecost, Act 2:3; Act 2:47 or his influences, like fire, should purify, warm, and enliven their souls. Or, as some suggest, this baptism may refer to the judgments that he would pour out on the impenitent, when having, like the husbandman, separated the wheat, his faithful people, from the chaff of hypocrites and unfaithful professors, he would burn up the latter with unquenchable fire. Note; (1.) The operations of God’s Spirit in the believer’s heart, like fire, illuminate his understanding, consume his vile affections, and raise him, as the flame mounts upwards, to high and heavenly things. (2.) The church is Christ’s floor; in it there is a mixed multitude of good and bad, faithful and hypocrites, as the chaff and wheat lying together: but the day is near when the separation shall be made; sometimes even here by the divine word and providence; assuredly at Christ’s appearing, when the eternal state of men shall be determined. The faithful saints of God shall then be gathered as the wheat into God’s garner in heaven, separated from all chaff for ever; and the impenitent be consigned to the everlasting burnings.
3rdly, Christ, who had hitherto lived in obscurity, began now to enter upon his glorious work; and, in order thereto, comes to John to be baptized, whose preaching had raised men’s expectations concerning the glorious Person of whom he spake. Not that Christ needed this baptism; but he would shew his approbation of it, as well as receive that public testimony which John on this occasion was appointed to bear to him.
1. John, who knew Jesus by divine revelation, Joh 1:33 appears unwilling to admit his Master to the ordinance of baptism which he administered. He who had no sin, could surely need no repentance. Besides, counting himself unworthy of pouring water upon him, from whom himself needed the greater baptism of the Spirit, he would humbly have excused himself from the office. I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? Note; (1.) The most holy souls are ever the most humble. (2.) Christ’s condescensions are so amazing, that our faith is sometimes ready to stagger at the view of them. (3.) The greatest saints and prophets have need of the baptism of Jesus; both of the sprinkling of his blood, and of the influences of his Spirit to purify their hearts, or to preserve them pure; and they are always most sensible of their wants. (4.) They who preach repentance to others, had need be deeply concerned to be baptized with the Holy Ghost themselves, lest, after having been the means of saving others, they themselves should be cast away.
2. The Lord over-rules John’s objection. In his present state of humiliation it became him to submit to this among other divine institutions, that he might in all things be a pattern of righteousness; and therefore John must for the present comply. Nor does he any longer hesitate, but admitted him to baptism accordingly, fully satisfied in the will and wisdom of his Lord. Note; (1.) It is becoming to countenance and encourage every good work; and those who may be higher in wisdom and grace than their teachers, are bound nevertheless to attend their ministry, and let an example to others. (2.) Christ fulfilled all righteousness, ceremonial as well as moral; and by his obedience to the death of the cross, is become the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (3.) There are often reasons for the divine procedure, concerning which we must be content to be ignorant. Thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.
3. God is pleased to bear a signal attestation to the glory of the Redeemer on this occasion. Immediately as he went up from the river’s brink, or from the water, where he had been baptized, the heavens were opened, a chasm being made in the firmament, as if the everlasting doors were wide unfolded; and John, as well as Jesus, beheld the visible descent of the Holy Ghost upon him, in a hovering, dove-like motion; and it rested upon or over his head. He being constituted the great prophet of his people, as the man Christ Jesus, had the Spirit without measure, bestowed upon him, to enable him for the discharge of his office; and in him, as the head of his church, all fulness dwells, that he may thence communicate both gifts and graces to his faithful members according to their wants. And besides the visible appearance here described, an audible voice was heard from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; God’s Son, not by creation as angels, or by adoption as the saints, but by a filiation peculiar to himself, being eternal as the Father, yet standing in this relation towards him;beloved, because the express image of his person, and now become incarnate for our redemption: therefore God the Father delighted in him, expressing his intire satisfaction in his undertaking: in whom I am well pleased; which he could never say in this high sense of any of the sons of men beside, all having sinned and come short of the glory of God. Jesus alone is the one glorious character on which God can look with intire approbation; and for whose sake it is, as having made the atonement, that any of the sons of men can find acceptance before God. Because he is well-pleased with Jesus, he has now opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers in him; and whosoever cometh to God by him shall be in no wise cast out. Thus, while every other character, considered in a state of nature, from the first man to the last, must be God’s abhorrence, since altogether born in sin, we may notwithstanding be sure of acceptance in this Beloved, when we by faith receive him as God hath sent him forth to us, as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; our all in all.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 3:17 . ] Here neither is to be supplied, after Luk 3:22 ; nor does the participle stand for the finite tense. See on Mat 2:18 . But literally: and lo, there, a voice from heaven which spoke . Comp. Mat 17:5 ; Luk 5:12 ; Luk 19:20 ; Act 8:27 ; Rev 4:1 ; Rev 6:2 ; Rev 7:9 .
] dilectus , not unicus (Loesner, Fischer, Michaelis, and others). The article , however, does not express the strengthened conception ( dilectissimus ), as Wetstein and Rosenmller assert, but is required by grammar; for the emphasis lies on , to which the characteristic attribute is added by way of distinction. Comp. Khner, II. 1, p. 529 f. Exactly so in the same voice from heaven, Mat 17:5 .
] Hebraistic construction imitative of . See Winer, p. 218 [E. T. 291]. Fritzsche, ad Rom. II. p. 371 (Polybius ii. 12. 13 does not apply here); frequently in LXX. and Apocrypha.
The aorist denotes: in whom I have had good pleasure (Eph 1:4 ; Joh 17:24 ), who has become the object of my good pleasure. See Hermann, ad Viger. p. 746; Bernhardy, p. 381 f.; Khner, II. 1, p. 134 f. The opposite is , Rom 9:13 ; , Hom. Il. xx. 306.
The divine voice solemnly proclaims Jesus to be the Messiah, ; which designation, derived from Psa 2:7 , [386] is in the divine and also in the Christian consciousness not merely the name of an office, but has at the same time a metaphysical meaning, having come forth from the Father’s being, , Rom 1:4 , containing the Johannine idea, (according to Mat 1:20 , Luk 1:35 , also the origin of the corporeity). That the passage in Isa 62:1 (comp. Mat 12:18 ) lies at the basis of the expression of that voice, either alone (Hilgenfeld) or with others (Keim), has this against it, that is the characteristic point , which is wanting in Isaiah l.c. , and that, moreover, the other words in the passage do not specifically correspond with those in Isaiah.
[386] In the Gospel according to the Hebrews the words of the voice ran, according to Epiphanius, Haer . xxx. 13 : , . So also substantially in Justin, c. Tr . 88. Manifestly an addition from later tradition, which had become current from the well-known passage in Psa 2 . Nevertheless, Hilgenfeld regards that form of the heavenly voice as the more original. See on the opposite side, Weisse, Evangelienfrage , p. 190 ff.
REMARK.
The fact of itself that Jesus was baptized by John, although left doubtful by Fritzsche, admitted only as possible by Weisse, who makes it rather to be a baptism of the Spirit, while relegated by Bruno Bauer to the workshop of later religious reflection, stands so firmly established by the testimony of the Gospels that it has been recognised even by Strauss, although more on priori grounds ( L. J. I. p. 418). He rejects, however, the more minute points as unhistorical, while Keim sees in it powerful and speaking figures of spiritual occurrences which then took place on the Jordan; Schenkel again introduces thoughts which are very remote; and Weizscker recognises in it the representation of the installation of Jesus into His vocation as Ruler, and that by the transformation of a vision of Jesus into an external fact, and refers the narrative to later communications probably made by the Lord to His disciples. The historical reality of the more minute details is to be distinguished from the legendary embellishments of them. The first is to be derived from Joh 1:32-34 , according to which the Baptist , after an address vouchsafed to him by God, in which was announced to him the descent of the Spirit as the Messianic of the person in question, saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descend upon Jesus, and abide upon Him, and, in accordance with this, delivered the testimony that Jesus was the Son of God. The seeing of the Baptist, and the testimony which he delivered regarding it, is accordingly to be considered as based on Joh 1:32-34 , as the source of the tradition preserved in the Synoptics, in the simplest form in Mark. According to Ewald, it was in spirit that Jesus saw (namely, the Spirit, like a dove , consequently “ in all its liveliness and fulness ,” according to Isa 11:2 ) and heard what He Himself probably related at a later time, and that the Baptist himself also observed in Jesus, as He rose up out of the water, something quite different from what he noticed in other men, and distinguished Him at once by the utterance of some extraordinary words. But, considering the deviation of John’s narrative from that of the Synoptics, and the connection in which John stood to Jesus and the Baptist, there exists no reason why we should not find the original fact in John. Comp. Neander, L. J. p. 83 f.; Schleiermacher, p. 144 ff.; Ewald, Gesch. Chr . p. 230 f. Moreover, that seeing of the Spirit in the form of a dove is a spiritual act, taking place in a vision (Act 7:55 ; Act 10:10 ff.), but which was transformed by the tradition of the apostolic age into an external manifestation, as the testimony of John (Joh 1:34 ), which was delivered on the basis of this seeing of his, was changed into a heavenly voice (which therefore is not to be taken as Bath Kol , least of all “as in the still reverberation of the thunder and in the gentle echo of the air,” as Ammon maintains, L. J. p. 273 f.). The more minute contents of the heavenly voice were suggested from Psa 2:7 , to which also the old extension of the legend in Justin, c. Tryph . 88, and in the Ev. sec. Hebr . in Epiph. Haer . xxx. 13, points. Consequently the appearance of the dove remains as an actual occurrence, but as taking place in vision (Orig. c. Cels . i. 43 48. Theodore of Mopsuestia: , , , ), as also the opening of the heavens (Jerome: “Non reseratione elementorum, sed spiritualibus oculis”). Origen designates the thing as . Comp. Grotius, Neander, Krabbe, de Wette, Bleek, Weizscker, Wittichen. Finally, the question [387] whether before the time of Christ the Jews already regarded the dove as a symbol of the Divine Spirit, is so far a matter of perfect indifference, as the Baptist could have no doubt, after the divine address vouchsafed to him , that the seeing the form of a dove descending from heaven was a symbolical manifestation of the Holy Spirit; yet it is probable, from the very circumstance that the took place precisely in the form of a dove , that this form of representation had its point of connection in an already existing emblematic mode of regarding the Spirit, and that consequently the Rabbinical traditions relating thereto reach back in their origin to the pre-Christian age, without, however (in answer to Lcke on John), having to drag in the very remote figure of the dove descending down in order to brood , according to Gen 1:2 . Here it remains undetermined in what properties of the dove (innocence, mildness, and the like; Theodore of Mopsuestia: . ) the point of comparison was originally based. Moreover, according to Joh 1:32 ff., the purpose of what took place in vision does not appear to have been the communication of the Holy Spirit to Jesus (misinterpreted by the Gnostics as the reception of the ), but the making known of Jesus as the Messiah to the Baptist on the part of God, through a of the Holy Spirit. In this the difficulty disappears which is derived from the divine nature of Jesus, according to which He could not need the bestowal of the Spirit, whether we understand the Spirit in itself, or as the communicator of a nova virtus (Calvin), or as (Thomasius), or as the Spirit of the divine for the work of the Messiah (Hofmann), as the spirit of office (Kahnis), which definite views are not to be separated from the already existing possession of the Spirit. The later doubts of the Baptist, Mat 11:2 ff. (in answer to Hilgenfeld, Weizscker, Keim), as a momentary darkening of his higher consciousness in human weakness amid all his prophetic greatness, are to be regarded neither as a psychological riddle nor as evidence against his recognition of Jesus as the Messiah, which was brought about in a miraculous manner; and this is the more conceivable when we take into consideration the political element in the idea of the Messiah entertained by the imprisoned John (comp. Joh 1:29 , Remark). If, however, after the baptism of Jesus, His Messianic appearance did not take place in the way in which the Baptist had conceived it, yet the continuous working of the latter, which was not given up after the baptism, can carry with it no well-founded objection to the revelation of Jesus as the Messiah, which is related in the passage before us. Comp. on Joh 3:23 .
[387] Talmudic and Rabbinical witnesses, but no pre-Christian ones, are in existence for the Jewish manner of regarding it (amongst the Syrians the dove was held sacred as the symbol of the brooding power of nature; see Creuzer, Symbol . II. p. 80). See Chagig . ii., according to which the Spirit of God, like a dove , brooded over the waters (comp. Bereshith rabba , f. iv. 4; Sohar, f. xix. 3, on Gen 1:2 , according to which the Spirit brooding on the water is the Spirit of the Messiah ). Targum on Son 2:12 : “Vox turturis, vox Spirituss.” Ir. Gibborim, ad Gen 1:2 ; Bemidb. rab . f. 250. 1. See also Sohar, Num. f. 68, 271 f., where the dove of Noah is placed in typical connection with the Messiah; in Schoettgen, II. p. 537 f. Comp. besides, Lutterbeck, neutest. Lehrbegr . I. p. 259 f.; Keim, Gesch. J. I. p. 539. The dove was also regarded as a sacred bird in many forms of worship amongst the Greeks.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Ver. 17. And, lo, a voice from heaven ] Whereupon St Peter foundeth the certainty of Christian faith and doctrine, 2Pe 1:17 , especially since we have a more sure word of prophecy; for that former might have been slandered, or suspected for an imposture.
Saying, This is my beloved ] My darling, he on whom my love resteth; a so that I will seek no further. Zep 3:17 . When the earth was founded, Christ was with his Father as his daily delight, sporting or laughing, always before him, risum captans ac consilium, Pro 8:30 . Jerome.
In whom I am well pleased ] The beloved, in whom he hath made us accepted, Eph 1:6 . God’s Hephzibah, so the Church is called,Isa 62:4Isa 62:4 ; the dearly beloved of his soul, Jer 12:7 ; or, as the Septuagint render it, b his beloved soul, over whom he rejoiceth as the bridegroom over his bride, Isa 62:5 . Yea, “he will rest in his love,” as abundantly well pleased, “he will joy therein with singing,” Zep 3:17 . So well thinketh God of his Son Christ, and of us through him, as some of the ancients rendered this word, , In quo bene sensi. So (after Irenaeus) Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine interpret it. c And yet, as well as he thought of his only Son, he spared him not, but “delivered him up for us all,” Rom 8:32 , whereupon St Bernard thus cries out, O quantum dilecte, prae quo filius ipse aut non dilectus, aut saltem neglectus? God so loved his Son, that he gave him all the world for his possession, Psa 2:6-8 ; but he so loved the world, that he gave Son and all for its redemption. One calls this a hyperbole, an excess of love, a miracle of mercy, a sic so, without a sicut. just as, God so loved the loved, so infinitely, so incomparably, so incomprehensibly, as that there is no similitude in nature whereby to express it. Joh 3:16 ; Eph 3:18-19 . Abraham (God’s friend) showed his love to him in not withholding his only son Isaac: but what was Isaac to Christ? or what was Abraham’s love to God’s? He did that freely and voluntarily, that Abraham would never have done but upon a command: besides, Isaac was to be offered up after the manner of holy sacrifices, but Christ suffered after the manner of malefactors. And yet further, Isaac was in the hand of a tender and compassionate father; but Christ died by the wicked hands of barbarous and blood thirsty enemies, that thereby he might slay the enmity and reconcile us to God, Eph 2:15-16 ; so making peace, d and paving us “a new and living way,” with his blood, to the throne of grace, “wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved,” Eph 1:6 . David saw the features of his friend Jonathan in lame Mephibosheth, and therefore loved him. He forgave Nabal at Abigail’s intercession; and was pacified toward Absalom at Joab’s. Pharaoh favoured Jacob’s house for Joseph’s sake. Shall not God do as much more for Jesus’ sake? Joseph was well pleased with his brethren when they brought Benjamin; bring but the child Jesus in our arms (as Simeon did, and as Themistocles did the king of Persia’s child) and he cannot but smile upon us. Were he never so much displeased before, yet upon the sight of this his well beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased, all shall be calm and quiet, as when Jonah was cast into the sea.
a , quasi , .
b . Dedi dilectam animam meam.
c Graecis dicuntur celebres, et de quibus magnifica est opinio. Erasm.
d .
Mat 4:1-25
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
17. ] . . does not require or any word to be supplied, nor the participle to be understood as a past tense. Lo, a voice from heaven, saying. See similar constructions, Luk 5:12 ; Luk 19:20 a [27] . fr.
[27] alii = some cursive mss.
] not the usitative aorist, but declarative of the definite past of the Father in Him, Eph 1:4 : see above. On the solemn import, as regards us, of our Blessed Lord’s baptism, cf. Athanas. Or. i., contra Arianos 47, vol. i. (ii. Migne) p. 355 f.: ( Joh 17:18-19 ), , , . , , , , . What follows is well worth reading, shewing the pre-eminence of our Lord’s anointing over that of all others, Psa 45:7 ; Isa 61:1 ; Act 10:38 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
a voice. There were two voices: the first “Thou art”, &c. (Mar 1:11. Luk 3:22), while the Spirit in bodily form was descending; the second (introduced by the word “lo”), “this is”, &c, after it remained (“abode”, Joh 1:32). This latter speaking is mentioned by John for the same reason as that given in Joh 12:30. Only one voice at the Transfiguration.
from = out of. Greek. ek. App-104.
My beloved Son. Not Joseph’s or Mary’s son = My Son, the beloved [Son]. See App-99.
in. See note on “with”, Mat 3:11.
I am, well pleased = I have found delight. Hebrew idiom, as in 2Sa 22:20. Psa 51:16. Compare Isa 42:1. Isa 12:18. “This is My beloved Son” was the Divine formula of anointing Messiah for the office of Prophet (Mat 3:17); also for that of Priest (Mat 17:5. See App-149); and “Thou art My Son” for that of King (Psa 2:7. Act 13:33. Heb 1:5; Heb 5:5).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
17.] . . does not require or any word to be supplied, nor the participle to be understood as a past tense. Lo, a voice from heaven, saying. See similar constructions, Luk 5:12; Luk 19:20 a[27]. fr.
[27] alii = some cursive mss.
] not the usitative aorist, but declarative of the definite past of the Father in Him, Eph 1:4 :-see above. On the solemn import, as regards us, of our Blessed Lords baptism, cf. Athanas. Or. i., contra Arianos 47, vol. i. (ii. Migne) p. 355 f.: (Joh 17:18-19), , , . , , , , . What follows is well worth reading, shewing the pre-eminence of our Lords anointing over that of all others, Psa 45:7; Isa 61:1; Act 10:38.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 3:17. , …, a voice, etc.) A most open manifestation of God, such as those recorded in Act 2:2-3; Exo 19:4; Exo 19:9; Exo 19:16; Exo 40:34-35; Num 16:31; Num 16:42; 1Ki 8:10-11; 1Ki 18:38.- , This is) St Mark and St Luke record that it was said, , Thou art. St Matthew has expressed the meaning. The words, -, occur again in Mat 17:5. Faith assents, declaring, Thou art the Son of God, as in Mat 16:16.-, the) The article introduced twice has great emphasis.-, Son) See Joh 1:18; Joh 3:16-, beloved) This might appear to be a proper name (cf. ch. Mat 12:18), so as to produce these two predications: (1.) This is My Son; (2.) He is the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased. It is clear, however, from Luk 3:22, that Beloved is an epithet. Love is something natural, because This is the Son; good-pleasure, something, as it were, additional, because He does the things which please the Father. He is the Beloved, the only one; He shares not the Fathers love with another.- , in whom) The preposition , in, indicates especially the object, and then also the cause of the Fathers good-pleasure. The Son is of Himself the object of the Fathers good-pleasure, and in the Son, all persons and all things. A phrase of the LXX.; cf. Gnomon on Col 2:18.-, I am well pleased) The verb , to be well pleased, and the noun , good-pleasure, are employed when one is pleased either by what one has, or does oness self, or by that which another has or does. Both parts of this notion agree with the present passage concerning the good-pleasure of the Father in the Son; for there is an eternal (natural affection) towards the only-begotten, a perpetual graciousness towards the Mediator, and in Him towards us, the sons of reconciliation. In ch. Mat 27:5, are added the words, , Hear Him; for then He was about to speak of His passion: now they are not added; for, at the commencement of His ministry, He only taught that which the Father spake, This is My Son.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
lo: Joh 5:37, Joh 12:28-30, Rev 14:2
This: Mat 12:18, Mat 17:5, Psa 2:7, Isa 42:1, Isa 42:21, Mar 1:11, Mar 9:7, Luk 3:22, Luk 9:35, Eph 1:6, Col 1:13, 2Pe 1:17
Reciprocal: Gen 41:55 – Go unto Lev 3:8 – sprinkle Lev 4:31 – a sweet Lev 15:15 – an atonement Num 15:3 – a sweet Deu 4:12 – only ye heard a voice 2Sa 7:14 – I will be 2Sa 12:25 – Jedidiah 2Sa 22:20 – delighted 2Ch 7:16 – eyes Est 6:6 – whom the king Job 42:8 – him Psa 22:8 – seeing Psa 60:5 – That Psa 85:11 – righteousness Psa 89:3 – my chosen Psa 108:6 – That thy Pro 8:30 – I was daily Isa 49:5 – yet Isa 53:10 – pleased Jer 30:21 – and I Dan 4:31 – fell Mat 4:3 – if Mat 5:22 – I say Mat 12:42 – behold Mat 21:37 – last Mat 28:19 – the name Mar 12:6 – his Mar 14:61 – the Son Luk 3:21 – the heaven Luk 20:13 – I will Luk 22:70 – the Son Luk 23:35 – Christ Joh 1:34 – this Joh 3:35 – Father Joh 5:20 – the Father Joh 5:32 – is another Joh 6:27 – for him Joh 8:29 – for Rom 1:3 – his Son Rom 8:8 – please Rom 8:32 – that 2Co 1:19 – the Son Heb 1:2 – spoken Heb 10:6 – thou 1Jo 5:7 – The Father 1Jo 5:9 – for Rev 2:18 – the Son Rev 14:13 – a voice
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3:17
If only the eyes of John and Jesus saw the heavens open and the bodily shape of the dove, it would be reasonable to conclude that their ears only heard these words. It also indicates one reason why the words “hear ye him” were not added as they were at chapter 17:5. The Father here acknowledged Jesus as his Son
after he had fulfilled his righteous duty of being baptized. But his life’s work was only beginning and hence it was not time to give the command to hear him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
[And behold, a voice from heaven.] Christ was honoured with a threefold testimony, pronounced by a voice from heaven, according to his threefold office. See what we say at Mat 17:2.
You find not a voice sent from heaven between the giving of the law and the baptism of Christ. What things the Jews relate of Bath Kol; they must pardon me if I esteem them, partly, for Jewish fables, — partly, for devilish witchcrafts. They hold it for a tradition: “After the death of the last prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, the Holy Spirit departed from Israel [which was most true] but they used thenceforth the Bath Kol.” “The Bath Kol was this: When a voice (or thunder) came out of heaven, another voice came out from it.”
But why, I pray, was prophecy withdrawn, if heavenly oracles were to be continued? Why, also, was Urim and Thummim taken away? Or rather, why was it not restored after the Babylonian captivity? For “Five things (say they) were wanting under the second Temple, which were under the first; namely, the fire from heaven, the ark, Urim and Thummim, the oil of anointing, and the Holy Spirit.” It would certainly be a wonder, if God, taking away from his people his ordinary oracles, should bestow upon them a nobler oracle, or as noble; and that when the nation had degenerated, and were sunk into all kind of impiety, superstition, heresy. When the last prophets, Haggai and the rest, were dead, the Sadducean heresy, concerning the resurrection crept in, and the Pharisaical heresy also, weakening all Scripture, and making it of none effect by vain traditions. And shall I believe that God should so indulge his people, when they were guilty of so grievous apostasy, as to vouchsafe to talk familiarly with them from heaven, and to afford them oracles so sublime, so frequent, as the prophets themselves had not the like? If I may speak plainly what I think, I should reduce those numberless stories of the Bath Kol which occur everywhere under these two heads; namely, that very many are mere fables, invented for this purpose, that hence the worth of this or that Rabbin or story may be illustrated: the rest are mere magical and diabolical delusions.
When I read these and such-like passages, that the Bath Kol in Jericho gave witness to Hillel, that he was worthy to have the Holy Ghost abide upon him; that the Bath Kol in Jabneh yielded the same testimony to Samuel the Little; that the Bath Kol again in Jabneh determined the controversies between the schools of Shammai and Hillel, for those of Hillel; and innumerable other stories of that kind, I cannot but either suspect these to be tales, or that these voices were framed by art magic for the honour of the Rabbins.
It is remarkable what is related in the Jerusalem Talmud; R. Eliezer saith, They follow the hearing of Bath Kol. And a little after; “R. Jochanan, and R. Simeon Ben Lachish, desired to see the face of Samuel [the Babylonian Doctor]; Let us follow, say they, the hearing of Bath Kol. Travelling therefore, near a school, they heard a boy’s voice reading [in 1Sa 25:1] And Samuel died. They observed this, and so it came to pass, for Samuel of Babylon was dead.”
“R. Jonah and R. Josah went to visit R. Acha lying sick: Let us follow, say they, the hearing of Bath Kol. They heard the voice of a certain woman speaking to her neighbour, ‘The light is put out.’ To whom she said, ‘Let it not be put out, nor let the light of Israel be quenched.’ ”
Behold! Reader, a people very well contented to be deceived with a new kind of Bath Kol. Compare these things with Virgil’s lots; of which the Roman historians speak frequently. Not to be more tedious therefore in this matter, let two things only be observed: 1. That the nation, under the second Temple was given to magical arts beyond measure. And, 2. That it was given to an easiness of believing all manner of delusions beyond measure. And one may safely suspect, that those voices which they thought to be from heaven, and noted with the name of Bath Kol; were either formed by the devil in the air to deceive the people, or by magicians by devilish art to promote their own affairs. Hence the apostle Peter saith with good reason, that “the word of prophecy was surer than a voice from heaven”; 2Pe 1:19.
The very same which I judge of the Bath Kol; is my opinion also of the frequent appearances of Elias, with which the leaves of the Talmud do every where abound; namely, that in very many places the stories are false, and, in the rest, the apparitions of him were diabolical. See the notes on Mat 17:10.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 3:17. And lo! As a further token of the divine regard to Christ, and of the glorious dignity of his person, a voice from heaven, saying, to John, concerning Christ, This is my beloved Son, and to Christ himself, Thou art my beloved Son, Luk 3:22. For it is not improbable that both sentences were pronounced; the voice uttering the words, Thou art my beloved Son, &c. while the Spirit was descending, as if they had been directed to Jesus alone, in answer to his prayer; and, after the Spirit rested on Jesus, the voice, speaking to the Baptist and the multitude, said, This is my beloved Son, &c. St. Luke informs us, that he was praying when this happened, and it is observable that all the voices from heaven, by which the Father bore witness to Christ, were pronounced while he was praying, or quickly after. Luk 9:29; Luk 9:35; Joh 12:28. In whom I am well pleased Or, in whom I delight, That is, whose character I perfectly approve, and in whom I acquiesce as the great Mediator, through whom will I show myself favourable unto sinful creatures. See Isa 42:1. The original word properly signifies an entire acquiescence, or a special and singular complacency and satisfaction. This the Father took, in the person and undertaking of Christ; and this, through him, he takes in all true believers, who, by faith, are united to him, and made members of his body. And O, how poor, in comparison of this, are all other kinds of praise, yea, and all other pleasures! To have the approbation, and be the delight of God; this is praise, this is pleasure indeed! This is, at once, true glory and true happiness, and is the highest and brightest light that virtue can appear in.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 17
In whom I am well pleased. This English is scarcely strong enough. “I delight” comes nearer, perhaps, to that ineffable complacency which is manifestly intended; and this is rather preferable, as it would immediately carry the thoughts back to that august Messianic prophecy to which the voice from heaven plainly alluded (Isaiah 42:1), “Behold my Servant, whom I uphold; mine Elect, IN WHOM MY SOUL DELIGHTETH.” Was this voice heard by the bystanders? From Matthew’s form of it, one might suppose it so designed, but it would appear that it was and probably only John heard and saw anything peculiar in the great baptism. Accordingly the words “Hear ye Him” are not added as at the Transfiguration.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
3:17 {8} And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am {p} well pleased.
(8) Christ’s full consecration and authorization to the office of mediator is shown by the Father’s own voice and a visible sign of the Holy Spirit.
(p) The Greek word signifies a thing of great worth and such as highly pleases a man. So then the Father says that Christ is the only man whom when he beholds, looking at what opinion he had conceived of us, he lays it clean aside.