Lukas 3:3

3:3 He ¹  went into all the region around the Jordan River, ²  preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ³ 

Lukas 3:21

The Baptism of Jesus

3:21 Now when ⁴  all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. And while he was praying, ⁵  the heavens ⁶  opened,

[3:3]  ¹ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:3]  ² tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

[3:3]  ³ sn A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was a call for preparation for the arrival of the Lord’s salvation. To participate in this baptism was a recognition of the need for God’s forgiveness with a sense that one needed to live differently as a response to it (Luke 3:10-14).

[3:21]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.