Bible Review

Some Bibles, such as the popular Revised Standard Version, refer to the Song of Songs as the Song of Solomon, its traditional title, based on its customary attribution to Solomon. See Jack M. Sasson, “Unlocking the Poetry of Love in the Song of Songs,” BR 01:01.

Unlike theories that attribute different parts of the heavenly voice in the baptism story to different parts of the Old Testament, the theory suggested here has the advantage of simplicity. Both parts of the statement are derived from the same story, the binding of Isaac.

See 1 Corinthians 5:7: “For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed.” In John 1:29 Jesus is referred to as the “lamb of God.”

Some commentators argue that the Gospel phrase “with thee I am well pleased” is a quotation from Isaiah 42:1. Again, however, the verb in Isaiah is different: “Behold my servant … in whom my soul delights.”

Some commentators suggest that the phrase “Thou art my beloved Son” is a quotation from Psalm 2:7, applied to Jesus by the heavenly voice. But the Psalm says, referring to Israel’s king, “You are my son,” not “my beloved son.” The absence of “beloved” is a serious objection to this view.

In the parallel synoptic accounts, where Mark uses “Spirit,” Luke uses “Holy Spirit” (Luke 3:22) and Matthew uses “Spirit of God” (Matthew 3:16).

The Revised Standard Version says the “heavens opened”; a more accurate translation is that the heavens “split.”

In Matthew and Luke, the account of Jesus’ baptism follows directly after the account of his birth and infancy and is, in effect, introduced by the birth and infancy narratives. Mark does not contain a birth and infancy section; the story of Jesus’ baptism in Mark therefore serves a somewhat different function and plays a somewhat different role.

My special thanks are due Hershel Shanks for his editorial labours in combining material from two of my unpublished papers and one of my recently published papers to put together a first draft of this series of articles.