Text:

Instead of ek ‘out of’ of all modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus has apo ‘from.’

Instead of eis auton ‘into him’ (see Exegesis, below) of the majority of modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus and Souter have ep’ auton ‘upon him.’

Exegesis:

euthus ‘immediately’ occurs some 47 times in Mark. Kilpatrick “Notes on Marcan Usage” concludes that “the evidence suggests that we are dealing not with an adverb of time, but with a connecting particle.” Howard (II, 446) finds the inferential meaning ‘so then’ in 1.21, 23, 29, 30 (cf. also Moulton & Milligan). Revised Standard Version rightly connects euthus ‘immediately’ with the main verb eiden ‘he saw’ and not with the participle anabainon ‘coming up.’

anabainōn (3.13; 4.7, 8, 32; 6.51; 10.32, 33; 15.8) ‘coming up’: the participle is temporal ‘as he was coming up … he saw’; Translator’s New Testament ‘just as he was coming up…’). The subject is Jesus. As Lagrange points out anabainōn ‘coming up’ presumes a previous katabainōn ‘going down.’

ek ‘out of’: not precisely the same as apo ‘from’ in Mt. 3.16. Turner notes that Mark has ek half as often again as apo, in which he sees reflected a “Semitic atmosphere.”

eiden ‘he saw’: the verb itself cannot indicate whether a vision or an objective phenomenon is meant; the verb means simply ‘he saw’ and nothing else. The author doubtlessly means to describe actual happenings. There are two direct objects: tous ouranous … kai to pneuma ‘the heavens … and the Spirit.’

schizomenous tous ouranous ‘the heavens as they were being rent.’

schizō (15.38) ‘rend,’ ‘divide,’ ‘tear’: the verb is used of garments (Isa. 36.22, Lk. 5.36, Jn. 19.24), a veil (Mk. 15.38), a net (Jn. 21.11), rocks (Isa. 48.21, Mt. 27.51), a mountain (Zech. 14.4), wood (Gen. 22.3). The present participle describes the action in progress (cf. Gould). Grammar does not decide whether the participle is middle (‘opening themselves,’ cf. Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale, Zürcher Bibel), or passive (‘being opened’): the latter, however, is probably to be preferred. The idea of violence is present in the verb; here is a breach in the firmament which separates the abode of God from earth. Bengel: “is rent open, is said of that which had not previously been open.”

tous ouranous ‘the heavens’: some hold, with Arndt & Gingrich, that the plural hoi ouranoi ‘the heavens’ refers to the abode of God; others see reference to the firmament, the sky (cf. The Modern Speech New Testament). At any rate the Voice comes from heaven, as the abode of God, not just from the sky (cf. Rawlinson on the plurality of heavens and the Voice).

to pneuma (v. 8) is ‘the (Holy) Spirit.’

katabainōn (3.22; 9.9; 13.15; 15.30, 32) eis auton ‘descending upon him.’ The meaning of eis here is debated; in the nature of the case a precise parallel to katabainon eis auton ‘descending into him’ is not to be found (Mt. 3.16 and Lk. 3.22 have epi ‘upon,’ as well as some manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark; cf. Text above). In the Septuagint the phrase katabainein eis ‘descend into’ is often used of ‘descend into Egypt’ (cf. Gen. 12.10; 26.2; 43.15; 46.3; Num. 20.15); ‘descend into Hades’ (Gen. 37.35; Num. 16.30; Job 7.9; 17.16; Ps. 54(55).5; 113.25 (115.17); 138(139).8; Isa. 14.11, 15, 19; Ezek. 31.15, 17; 32.27); ‘descend into the darkness (of death)’ (Tobit 14.10), and of water which descends into the sea (Joshua 3.16). In all these passages the meaning ‘descend into’ is the natural one, generally offering no difficulties.

So far as spirit possession is concerned, the normal way for the LXX to narrate the coming of the Spirit of God upon someone is by the use of the phrase ginesthai epi ‘to come upon’ (cf. Num. 23.7; 24.2; Judges 3.10; 11.29; 1 Sam. 19.9, 20, 23; 2 Chr. 15.1; 20.14), or hallesthai epi, ephallesthai epi ‘to leap upon,’ ‘to overpower’ (cf. Judg. 14.6; 15.14; 1 Sam. 10.6, 10; 11.6; 16.13). Other phrases less frequently used are einai epi ‘to be upon’ (1 Sam. 16.16, 23), piptein epi ‘to fall upon’ (1 Sam. 18.10), anapauein epi ‘to rest upon’ (Is. 11.2) and epelthein epi ‘to come upon’ (Is. 32.15); cf. also dounai epi ‘give upon’ (Is. 42.1).

Closer parallels to the Marcan phrase are to be found in Ezek. 37.5, 6, 14 in which God says, ‘I will put breath in you’ (dōsō pneuma mou eis humas), and 37.10 ‘the breath went into them’ (eisēlthen eis autous to pneuma); in Is. 37.7 the Lord says of the king of Assyria, ‘I will put a spirit in him’ (embalō eis autōn pneuma), while in Eccl. 3.21 the question is asked, ‘Does the spirit of an animal descend into the earth?’ (ei katabainei auto eis tēn gēn).

Attention has been called to Isa. 63.11ff. as a possible background of the Marcan language. In this passage God is spoken of as ho theis en autois to pneuma to hagion ‘he who placed in them the Holy Spirit’ (v. 11), and the statement is further made katebē pneuma para kuriou kai hōdēgēsen autous ‘the Spirit descended from the Lord and guided them’ (v. 14).

These verbal parallels in the Septuagint are sufficient to show, (1) that if Mark had meant to say ‘the Spirit descended upon him’ the preposition epi would have been used (as Mt. 3.16 and Lk. 3.22 have it), and (2) that katabainon eis means ‘descending into’ unless Marcan usage or the context clearly forbids this meaning.

So far as Marcan usage is concerned it is to be noticed that the preposition eis follows verbs of motion with ‘house’ (2.11; 3.20; 5.19), ‘mountain’ (3.13; 9.2; 13.14; 14.26), ‘region’ (7.24; 10.1) and ‘road’ (10.17): wherever the meaning ‘into’ cannot be literally pressed, the meaning ‘to’ or ‘toward’ is to be presumed. More instructive parallels are found in passages in which a person is the object: ‘the word which has been sown in them’ (4.15), ‘something that enters into a man’ (7.15, 18, 19). Passages which deal with spirit possession are particularly pertinent: the spirits of Legion request they be sent into the hogs, and they go into the hogs (5.12, 13), and Jesus commands the spirit to come out of the lad and never more enter into him (9.25). According to Marcan usage, therefore, to pneuma … katabainon eis auton may certainly mean ‘the Spirit descending (to enter) into him.’

The majority of translations render eis ‘upon,’ and Robertson cites examples of eis with the meaning of epi ‘upon’: none of the examples quoted, however, is decisive for this passage. The meaning ‘descending into’ is supported by Arndt & Gingrich who translate ‘come down and enter into him.’ Goodspeed discusses the passage at length and concludes that it means ‘coming down to enter into him’ (cf. also The Modern Speech New Testament, Appendix p. 658: “ ‘into’ i.e. ‘to enter into’ ”).

In the light of all this it seems reasonably clear that Mark does not say that the Spirit came upon Jesus at his baptism as the Spirit of God came upon the Old Testament leaders: rather he says that the Spirit entered into and possessed Jesus, who henceforth acts with the authority and power of God, as God’s Spirit-filled and Spirit-led Son.

hōs peristeran (11.15) ‘as a dove.’ There are two possible meanings: (1) ‘He saw … the Spirit descending like a dove (descends) …’ or (2) ‘He saw … the Spirit, as (though it were) a dove, descending….’ In the first case the figure modifies the mode of descent, and in the second it modifies the Spirit as such, with the meaning ‘in the appearance of’ i.e. ‘in the form of.’ Most English translations are ambiguous, even as the Greek is. Matthew (probably) and Luke (certainly) take the narrative to mean that a dove was to be seen. No significant parallels to the phrase are to be found in the Old Testament or early Jewish literature (cf. Taylor). The natural meaning of eiden … to pneuma hōs peristeran is ‘he saw … the Spirit in appearance as a dove’ (cf. 8.24), and this certainly seems to be the meaning intended here (cf. Lagrange: “it is the Spirit himself who is like a dove”).

Translation:

In order to indicate the force of the Greek word euthus ‘immediately’ as a kind of transitional temporal relator, it is possible to translate, ‘Just as … then he…’ (Balinese) or ‘Then just as … he saw’ (Shipibo-Conibo). On the other hand one may translate ‘and when he came…, right then he saw….’ In any case the force of euthus must be with the second verb, even though a temporal particle may precede the first.

In some languages (e.g. Amganad Ifugao) there are distinct expressions for ‘coming out of a stream’ and ‘coming out from underneath the surface of the water.’ The choice of one or the other expression will be determined by one’s views on the mode of baptism practiced by John. Where, however, it is possible to use a noncommittal term which will not provoke unnecessary controversy this should be employed.

A word which will properly designate the rending of the heavens is not always easy to find, for the Greek term in question does not mean merely that Jesus saw that the heavens were open, but that he saw them being rent open. In the Southern Bobo Madaré language, for example, one must choose between two words for opening: (1) one which designates the way a box is opened (whether with care or violently), and (2) one which characterizes the splitting of a goat skin. The latter term was found to fit this context more satisfactorily.

Despite the fact that the Voice comes from heaven (cf. verse 11) as the abode of God, the heavens of this verse may refer to the sky. In a language in which heaven as God’s abode is clearly distinguished from the sky (e.g. ‘God’s house’ in contrast with ‘the place of the clouds’), it would be important to use the latter in this verse, for one would not wish to give the impression that ‘God’s house’ was being destroyed.

In general there is no difficulty in finding a word for the sky. In Loma (Liberia), for example, it is simply ‘up.’ The more complex problem is discovering some expression which will convey at least some of the meaning of heaven in English. To do this various expressions have been employed, e.g. ‘God’s place’ (Loma (Liberia)), ‘God’s town’ (Yamba), ‘the up above’ (Mossi nyingeri, in contrast with saase ‘the sky’ which is regarded as lower), and ‘the home above’ (San Blas Kuna). (See also Bible Translating, pp. 161, 231).

When an indigenous word for ‘Spirit’ generally indicates a malevolent spirit, it is important that the qualifier ‘Holy’ be added if the context in question is not very plain. Of course, in this particular verse the addition of ‘Holy’ may not be required, because of the connection with ‘heaven’ and the ‘voice’ announcing the sonship of Jesus. However, in verse 12 the addition of ‘Holy’ is essential in many languages, and even in this verse it can in some instances eliminate considerable misunderstanding.

Whether one translates ‘descended upon him’ or ‘descended into him’ (see above) is somewhat related to the treatment of ‘as a dove,’ for if one says that the Spirit had the precise form of a dove (or pigeon) and then that it entered into him, the resultant impression may be confusing and disconcerting to the reader. Where, of course, one can preserve the Greek ambiguity, so that the phrase ‘as a dove’ may refer to either mode of descent or form, the problem can be readily resolved, but this is not a solution to the Matthaean and Lucan expressions. One can, however, eliminate some of the semantic difficulties by making two clauses out of one (in fact, this is often necessary) and translate as ‘the Holy Spirit appeared there like a dove and came down upon him’ (Kpelle). As in this Kpelle rendering the particle ‘as’ must often be expanded into an expression containing a verb, e.g. ‘appeared like.’

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .