Luke 3:22

“and the Holy Spirit came down in bodily form, like a dove, upon him, and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.””
Luke 3:22 · direct translation from the Greek

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With the Greek beneath

andκαὶthe Holy Spiritτὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιονcame downκαταβῆναιin bodilyσωματικῷform,εἴδειlikeὡςa dove,περιστερὰνuponἐπ’him,αὐτόνandκαὶa voiceφωνὴνcameγενέσθαιfromἐξheaven,οὐρανοῦ“YouΣὺareεἶmyμουbelovedὁ ἀγαπητόςSon;ὁ υἱόςinἐνyouσοὶI am well pleased.”εὐδόκησα

Allusion · Genesis 22:2

Go to Genesis 22:2

In the Septuagint, Genesis 22:2 calls Isaac “your son, the beloved” (τὸν υἱόν σου τὸν ἀγαπητόν), where the Hebrew says “your son, your only one.” The voice from heaven uses the same two words: “my Son, the beloved.”

They share words that are rare in the original, without a quotation.

Words of the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the OT (Genesis 22:2 in the Septuagint numbering; Swete's text, CC BY-SA 4.0):

υἱόςhuiosG5207υἱόνhuionLXX“son”
ἀγαπητόςagapētosG27ἀγαπητὸνagapētonLXX“beloved”

Luke 3:22, word by word

the Holy Spiritπνεῦμαpneuma

Spirit

God himself at work, giving life and dwelling in believers.

Where else “pneuma” appears

the Holy Spiritἅγιονhagion

Holy Spirit

God's Spirit, who is his own and sets people apart for him.

Where else “hagion” appears

came downκαταβῆναιkatabēnai

go down, come down

Go down, come down, descend.

Where else “katabēnai” appears

in bodilyσωματικῷsōmatikōi

bodily

Bodily, physical.

Where else “sōmatikōi” appears

formεἴδειeidei

appearance

The shape one sees.

Where else “eidei” appears

a doveπεριστερὰνperisteran

dove

Dove.

Where else “peristeran” appears

a voiceφωνὴνphōnēn

voice

Someone's voice, or a shout.

Where else “phōnēn” appears

cameγενέσθαιgenesthai

come

To reach a place, or fall upon someone.

Where else “genesthai” appears

heavenοὐρανοῦouranou

heaven

God's dwelling, above all that is created.

Where else “ouranou” appears

areεἶei

To be: says who or what something is.

Where else “ei” appears

belovedἀγαπητόςagapētos

beloved

Beloved, dear.

Where else “agapētos” appears

Sonυἱόςhuios

Son

Jesus, the Son of God.

Where else “huios” appears

I am well pleasedεὐδόκησαeudokēsa

be pleased

To delight in someone, as the Father in his Son.

Where else “eudokēsa” appears

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

Jesus is immersed

Matthew 3:13-17 Mark 1:9-11

See them side by side

Luke 3:21-22

²¹Now it happened, when all the people were being immersed, and Jesus too had been immersed and was praying, that heaven was opened, ²²and the Holy Spirit came down in bodily form, like a dove, upon him, and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:13-17

¹³Then Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan, to John, to be immersed by him. ¹⁴But John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be immersed by you, and you come to me?” ¹⁵But Jesus answered and said to him, “Allow it now, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allows him to do so. ¹⁶And after being immersed, Jesus at once went up from the water; and look, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and coming upon him. ¹⁷And look, a voice from the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Mark 1:9-11

⁹And it happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was immersed in the Jordan by John. ¹⁰And at once, as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit coming down like a dove to him. ¹¹And a voice came from the heavens: “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.”

The context

21Now it happened, when all the people were being immersed, and Jesus too had been immersed and was praying, that heaven was opened,

22 · This verse (above)

23And Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began, being the son, as was supposed, of Joseph, son of Heli,

Read all of Luke 3

To study Luke 3 in a group

1. What it says
What does John answer the crowds, the tax collectors and the soldiers when they ask what they should do? (vv. 10-14)
2. What it means
Why does John say it is not enough to claim “We have Abraham as our father”? What does he ask for instead? (vv. 7-9)
3. How I live it
John asked for concrete actions: sharing, being fair, being content. Which one could you practice today at work or at home?

How to use it