Ezekiel 1:1

A Vision of God’s Glory

1:1 In the thirtieth year, ¹  on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles ²  at the Kebar River, ³  the heavens opened ⁴  and I saw a divine vision. ⁵ 

Matthew 3:16

3:16 After ⁶  Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the ⁷  heavens ⁸  opened ⁹  and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove ¹⁰  and coming on him.

Mark 1:10

1:10 And just as Jesus ¹¹  was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens ¹²  splitting apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹³ 

Luke 3:21

The Baptism of Jesus

3:21 Now when ¹⁴  all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. And while he was praying, ¹⁵  the heavens ¹⁶  opened,

Acts 7:56

7:56 “Look!” he said. ¹⁷  “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Acts 10:11

10:11 He ¹⁸  saw heaven ¹⁹  opened ²⁰  and an object something like a large sheet ²¹  descending, ²²  being let down to earth ²³  by its four corners.

Revelation 4:1

The Amazing Scene in Heaven

4:1 After these things I looked, and there was ²⁴  a door standing open in heaven! ²⁵  And the first voice I had heard speaking to me ²⁶  like a trumpet ²⁷  said: “Come up here so that ²⁸  I can show you what must happen after these things.”

Revelation 19:11

The Son of God Goes to War

19:11 Then ²⁹  I saw heaven opened and here came ³⁰  a white horse! The ³¹  one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice ³²  he judges and goes to war.

[1:1]  ¹ sn The meaning of the thirtieth year is problematic. Some take it to mean the age of Ezekiel when he prophesied (e.g., Origen). The Aramaic Targum explains the thirtieth year as the thirtieth year dated from the recovery of the book of the Torah in the temple in Jerusalem (2 Kgs 22:3-9). The number seems somehow to be equated with the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile in 1:2, i.e., 593 b.c.

[1:1]  ² sn The Assyrians started the tactic of deportation, the large-scale forced displacement of conquered populations, in order to stifle rebellions. The task of uniting groups of deportees, gaining freedom from one’s overlords and returning to retake one’s own country would be considerably more complicated than living in one’s homeland and waiting for an opportune moment to drive out the enemy’s soldiers. The Babylonians adopted this practice also, after defeating the Assyrians. The Babylonians deported Judeans on three occasions. The practice of deportation was reversed by the Persian conquerors of Babylon, who gained favor from their subjects for allowing them to return to their homeland and, as polytheists, sought the favor of the gods of the various countries which had come under their control.

[1:1]  ³ sn The Kebar River is mentioned in Babylonian texts from the city of Nippur in the fifth century b.c. It provided artificial irrigation from the Euphrates.

[1:1]  ⁴ sn For the concept of the heavens opened in later literature, see 3 Macc 6:18; 2 Bar. 22:1; T. Levi 5:1; Matt 3:16; Acts 7:56; Rev 19:11.

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Or “saw visions from God.” References to divine visions occur also in Ezek 8:3; 40:2

[3:16]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “behold the heavens.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[3:16]  ⁸ tn Or “sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ourano") may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The same word is used in v. 17.

[3:16]  ⁹ tc ‡ αὐτῷ (autw, “to/before him”) is found in the majority of witnesses (א¹ C D^s L W 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat), perhaps added as a point of clarification or emphasis. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[3:16]  ¹⁰ sn The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.

[1:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and immediately coming up out of the water, he saw.” The present participle has been translated temporally, with the subject (Jesus) specified for clarity.

[1:10]  ¹² tn Or “sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The same word is used in v. 11.

[1:10]  ¹³ sn The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.

[3:21]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Now it happened that when.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[3:21]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and while Jesus was being baptized and praying.” The first of these participles has been translated as a finite verb to be more consistent with English style.

[3:21]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. In this context, although the word is singular, the English plural “heavens” connotes the Greek better than the singular “heaven” would, for the singular does not normally refer to the sky.

[7:56]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And he said, ‘Look!’” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

[10:11]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “And he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[10:11]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

[10:11]  ²⁰ tn On the heavens “opening,” see Matt 3:16; Luke 3:21; Rev 19:11 (cf. BDAG 84 s.v. ἀνοίγω 2). This is the language of a vision or a revelatory act of God.

[10:11]  ²¹ tn Or “a large linen cloth” (the term was used for the sail of a ship; BDAG 693 s.v. ὀθόνη).

[10:11]  ²² tn Or “coming down.”

[10:11]  ²³ tn Or “to the ground.”

[4:1]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[4:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “in the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

[4:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “with me.” The translation “with me” implies that John was engaged in a dialogue with the one speaking to him (e.g., Jesus or an angel) when in reality it was a one-sided conversation, with John doing all the listening. For this reason, μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ (met’ emou, “with me”) was translated as “to me.”

[4:1]  ²⁷ sn The phrase speaking to me like a trumpet refers back to Rev 1:10.

[4:1]  ²⁸ tn The conjunction καί (kai), much like the vav-consecutive in Hebrew, appears to be introducing a final/purpose clause here rather than a coordinate clause.

[19:11]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:11]  ³⁰ tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[19:11]  ³¹ tn A new sentence was started in the translation at this point and καί (kai) was not translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:11]  ³² tn Or “in righteousness,” but since the context here involves the punishment of the wicked and the vindication of the saints, “justice” was preferred.