Chapter XIV.—Of the Words or the Voice that Came from Heaven Upon Him When
He Had Been Baptized.
31. Thereafter Matthew proceeds thus: “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up
straightway out of the water; and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him; and, lo, a voice from heaven
saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This incident is also recorded
in a similar manner by two of the others, namely Mark and Luke. But at the same time,
while preserving the sense intact, they use different modes of expression in reproducing the
terms of the voice which came from heaven. For although Matthew tells us that the words
were, “This is my beloved Son,” while the other two put them in this form, “Thou art my
beloved Son,” these different methods of speech serve but to convey the same sense, according
to the principle which has been discussed above. For the heavenly voice gave utterance only
to one of these sentences; but by the form of words thus adopted, namely, “This is my beloved
Son,” it was the evangelist’s intention to show that the saying was meant to intimate specially
to the hearers there [and not to Jesus] the fact that He was the Son of God. With this view,
he chose to give the sentence, “Thou art my beloved Son,” this turn, “This is my beloved
Son,” as if it were addressed directly to the people. For it was not meant to intimate to Christ
a fact which He knew already; but the object was to let the people who were present hear it,
for whose sakes indeed the voice itself was given. But furthermore now, with regard to the
circumstance that the first of them puts the saying thus, “In whom I am well pleased,”804
the second thus, “In Thee I am well pleased;”805 and the third thus, “In Thee it has pleased
me;”806—if you ask which of these different modes represents what was actually expressed
by the voice, you may fix on whichever you will, provided only that you understand that
those of the writers who have not reproduced the self-same form of speech have still repro-
duced the identical sense intended to be conveyed. And these variations in the modes of
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expression are also useful in this way, that they make it possible for us to reach a more ad-
equate conception of the saying than might have been the case with only one form, and that
they also secure it against being interpreted in a sense not consonant with the real state of
the case. For as to the sentence, “In whom I am well pleased,”807 if any one thinks of taking
it as if it meant that God is pleased with Himself in the Son, he is taught a lesson of prudence
by the other turn which is given to the saying, “In Thee I am well pleased.”808 And on the
804 In quo mihi complacui—well pleased with myself.
805 In te complacui.
806 In te complacuit mihi. Matt. iii. 16, 17; Mark i. 10, 11; Luke iii. 22. [The Greek mss., of most weight, show
no variation between Mark and Luke in the last clause.—R.]
807 In quo mihi complacui—as if = "in" whom I am well pleased with myself.
808 In te complacui.
Of the Words or the Voice that Came from Heaven Upon Him When He Had Been Baptized.
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Of the Words or the Voice that Came from Heaven Upon Him When He Had Been…