Mark 1:9-11, Study of Mark Highlights

Μάρκον 1·9 Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις ἦλθεν Ἰησοῦς ἀπὸ Ναζαρὲτ τῆς Γαλιλαίας καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη εἰς τὸν Ἰορδάνην ὑπὸ Ἰωάννου.  10 καὶ εὐθὺς ἀναβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος εἶδεν σχιζομένους τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ὡς περιστερὰν καταβαῖνον εἰς αὐτόν·  11 καὶ φωνὴ ἐγένετο ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν· σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν σοὶ εὐδόκησα. 

And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.  And immediately, while coming up from the water, he saw the sky split and the spirit, as a dove, came down on him.  And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved son.  In you, I am most pleased.”  Mark 1:9-11

Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις (And it came to pass in those days)

This phrase is used to introduce a new subject or a new event.

ἀναβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος εἶδεν σχιζομένους τοὺς οὐρανοὺς (coming up from the water, he saw the sky split)

Who saw the sky split?  According to the greek grammar, Jesus is the one who saw the sky split.  We know that the participle ἀναβαίνων (coming) is referring to Jesus as he is the one being baptized.  In greek, participles were verbal forms that carried personal endings from nouns.  In this case, ἀναβαίνων is a present singular masculine participle and indicates that the sky split while Jesus was coming up from the water.  Since ἀναβαίνων is singular masculine (noun part), it is referring to Jesus.   εἶδεν (he saw) doesn’t have the pronoun provided, but it is inferred in greek and it refers to ἀναβαίνων, which indicates the person coming out of the water, which is Jesus.

τοὺς οὐρανοὺς  (the sky or heaven)

In this text, οὐρανὸς is in the plural, but it is common in the NT for it to be stated both singular and plural.  It could be translated “the skies” or “the heavens”. but normally it is just translated as “the sky”.

σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν σοὶ εὐδόκησα. (You are my beloved son, in you, I am most pleased)

The actual greek says “in you, I was most pleased”.  The verb is in an aorist form which puts it in a past tense”  It most likely means that God was  pleased with Jesus from the beginning.