Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Matthew 3:17

φωνὴ ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν. Thrice during our Lord’s ministry it is recorded that a voice from heaven came to Him. The two other occasions were at the Transfiguration and in the week of the Passion (John 12:28).

ἀγαπητός, in the Gospels always in reference to Christ the beloved Son of God, (Mark 12:6 and Luke 20:13 cannot be regarded as exceptions). In this connection it is closely related to μονογενής, cp. John 1:14-18; John 3:16-18. (ἀγαπητὸς does not occur in the fourth Gospel.) Genesis 22:2, λάβε τὸν υἱόν σου τὸν�. The Scholiast on Il. VI. 401, Ἑκτορίδην�, notes the same connection. See Bp Lightfoot on Colossians 1:13.

In the Epistles the word is applied to the Christian brotherhood united by the common bond of ἀγάπη.

εὐδοκεῖν. A late word (see Sturz. de dial. Mac. 168) not found in the Attic writers, constructed (1) with the infinitive in the sense of ‘to be pleased,’ i.e. ‘to resolve,’ εὐδοκοῦμεν μᾶλλον ἐκδημῆσαι, 2 Corinthians 5:8; (2) with accusative (see ch. Matthew 12:18), ‘to be pleased with,’ ‘take delight in:’ ὁλοκαυτώματα οὐκ εὐδόκησας, Hebrews 10:8; εὐδόκησας, κύριε, τὴν γῆν σου, Psalms 84:1; (3) with εἰς and ἐν with the same meaning as (2) or ‘to be pleased in,’ i.e. to place one’s purpose, decision, or resolution in a thing or person. Here the sense is: My Son, the Beloved in whom my pleasure rests, in whom my plan for the salvation of mankind is centred. Cp. Ephesians 1:9, γνωρίσας ἡμῖν τὸ μυστήριον τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν εὐδοκίαν αὐτοῦ ἣν προέθετο ἐν αὐτῷ. εὐδοκεῖν answers to εὐδοκίαν προθέσθαι.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Matthew 3:17

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