Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and resting on Him.
32. I saw the Spirit, descending like a dove. This is not a literal but a figurative mode of expression; for with what eyes could he see the Spirit? But as the dove was a certain and infallible sign of the presence of the Spirit, it is called the Spirit, by a figure of speech in which one name is substituted for another; not that...
We have in these verses an account of John's testimony concerning Jesus Christ, which he witnessed to his own disciples that followed him. As soon as ever Christ was baptized he was immediately hurried into the wilderness, to be tempted; and there he was forty days.
Commenting on John 1:29-36
And John bare record,.... The same day that he said the above things, and at the same time: saying, I saw the Spirit; that is, of God, as is said in Mat 3:16 and which Nonnus here expresses; and the Ethiopic version reads, "the Holy Ghost", descending from heaven like a dove; at the time of his baptism; see Gill on Mat 3:16.