And John gave this testimony renders the Greek “and John testified saying that” (see 1.7). As already noted under 1.7, the term “testimony” or “testify” indicates a clear pronouncement about what one has personally experienced. It would not be sufficient in this instance to translate merely “John said,” but one could use such an expression as “John related clearly” or “John described just what had happened” or “… what he had seen.”
I saw is the same verb discussed in 1.14. The Greek verb is in the perfect tense, which focuses attention on the continuing effect of a past action, that is, John saw the Spirit come on Jesus at his baptism, and the Spirit stayed on him.
As Good News Translation makes clear, the verb stay on refers to the Spirit, and not to the dove. A translation such as New English Bible (“I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and resting upon him”) may be taken to imply that it was the dove that was remaining on Jesus. The translator should not try to force this account of Jesus’ baptism to conform with the accounts in the Synoptic Gospels, which have differences among themselves.
Like a dove can be understood either “in the form of a dove” or “in the manner of a dove,” that is, fluttering down as a dove would flutter down. In this context it is better to adopt the second of these interpretations, namely, the manner in which the Holy Spirit came down, rather than the form the Holy Spirit assumed.
There are certain problems implied in the expression “stay on him.” It would suggest that the Holy Spirit perched on Jesus, which, of course, is not what is meant. Therefore, it may be necessary to adopt such an expression as “remained with him” or “continued to be with him.”
One of the problems involved in translating verses 32-33 is the temporal sequence of events. First, there is the statement that John saw the Spirit coming down like a dove from heaven and staying on Jesus. Then there is the statement from God saying that John the Baptist would see the Spirit come down and stay on a particular person, as a sign that this individual would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Finally, in verse 34, John the Baptist states that he has seen this event and therefore can declare that such a person is the Son of God. From this rather confusing sequence, it is difficult to determine whether God spoke to John the Baptist concerning the sign before or after he actually saw the Spirit descend. Therefore, it may be necessary to restructure the order of material in verses 32-33 to read as follows: “This is the way John described what happened: I did not know who this one would be, but God, who sent me to baptize with water, said to me, ‘You will see the Holy Spirit come down and stay on a man; he is the one who baptizes with the Spirit.’ And I did see the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and stay on him”; or, to translate verse 32 as the Good News Translation has done, and begin verse 33 as “Previously I did not know who he would be, but God….” But for a language such as English the sequence can be made clear by the use of a pluperfect tense: “I did not know him, but God … had said to me….”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .