doulosChristou
Puritan Board Freshman
Originally posted by fredtgrecoThe Spirit is described in how He comes to Christ (i.e. descends) as a dove. It is not the shape or form of a dove, but the manner in which He descends. Thus in all three accounts:
Matthew 3:16
w`sei. peristera.n "like a dove"
Mark 1:10
w`j peristera.n "like/as a dove"
Luke 3:22
w`j peristera.n "like/as a dove"
John 1:32
w`j peristera.n "like/as a dove"
with w`j and w`sei. each being adverbial conjunctions, generally describing the manner in which something is done.
Actually, Fred, an older (thus, more authentic) manuscript discovered last summer in a Vatican dust bin presents the true rendering of Mat 3:16 as will be authoritatively reflected in the upcoming NA29 critical edition of the NT. It reads:
evn o`moiw,mati peristera/j "in the likeness of a dove"
(KIDDING!) :bigsmile: