Matthew 3:16

3:16 After ¹  Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the ²  heavens ³  opened ⁴  and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove ⁵  and coming on him.

Luke 3:21

The Baptism of Jesus

3:21 Now when ⁶  all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. And while he was praying, ⁷  the heavens ⁸  opened,

John 1:51

1:51 He continued, ⁹  “I tell all of you the solemn truth ¹⁰  – you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” ¹¹ 

Acts 7:56

7:56 “Look!” he said. ¹²  “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Acts 10:11

10:11 He ¹³  saw heaven ¹⁴  opened ¹⁵  and an object something like a large sheet ¹⁶  descending, ¹⁷  being let down to earth ¹⁸  by its four corners.

Revelation 4:1

The Amazing Scene in Heaven

4:1 After these things I looked, and there was ¹⁹  a door standing open in heaven! ²⁰  And the first voice I had heard speaking to me ²¹  like a trumpet ²²  said: “Come up here so that ²³  I can show you what must happen after these things.”

Revelation 19:11

The Son of God Goes to War

19:11 Then ²⁴  I saw heaven opened and here came ²⁵  a white horse! The ²⁶  one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice ²⁷  he judges and goes to war.

[3:16]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[3:16]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.

[1:51]  ⁹ tn Grk “and he said to him.”

[1:51]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[1:51]  ¹¹ sn The title Son of Man appears 13 times in John’s Gospel. It is associated especially with the themes of crucifixion (3:14; 8:28), revelation (6:27; 6:53), and eschatological authority (5:27; 9:35). The title as used in John’s Gospel has for its background the son of man figure who appears in Dan 7:13-14 and is granted universal regal authority. Thus for the author, the emphasis in this title is not on Jesus’ humanity, but on his heavenly origin and divine authority.

[7:56]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

[10:11]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Or “a large linen cloth” (the term was used for the sail of a ship; BDAG 693 s.v. ὀθόνη).

[10:11]  ¹⁷ tn Or “coming down.”

[10:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or “to the ground.”

[4:1]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Or “in the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

[4:1]  ²¹ 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]  ²² sn The phrase speaking to me like a trumpet refers back to Rev 1:10.

[4:1]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:11]  ²⁵ tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[19:11]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Or “in righteousness,” but since the context here involves the punishment of the wicked and the vindication of the saints, “justice” was preferred.