Luke 1:54-55

1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering ¹  his mercy, ² 

1:55 as he promised ³  to our ancestors, ⁴  to Abraham and to his descendants ⁵  forever.”

Luke 1:69-75

1:69 For ⁶  he has raised up ⁷  a horn of salvation ⁸  for us in the house of his servant David, ⁹ 

1:70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, ¹⁰ 

1:71 that we should be saved ¹¹  from our enemies, ¹² 

and from the hand of all who hate us.

1:72 He has done this ¹³  to show mercy ¹⁴  to our ancestors, ¹⁵ 

and to remember his holy covenant ¹⁶  –

1:73 the oath ¹⁷  that he swore to our ancestor ¹⁸  Abraham.

This oath grants ¹⁹ 

1:74 that we, being rescued from the hand of our ²⁰  enemies,

may serve him without fear, ²¹ 

1:75 in holiness and righteousness ²²  before him for as long as we live. ²³ 

[1:54]  ¹ tn Or “because he remembered mercy,” understanding the infinitive as causal.

[1:54]  ² tn Or “his [God’s] loyal love.”

[1:55]  ³ tn Grk “as he spoke.” Since this is a reference to the covenant to Abraham, ἐλάλησεν (elalhsen) can be translated in context “as he promised.” God keeps his word.

[1:55]  ⁴ tn Grk “fathers.”

[1:55]  ⁵ tn Grk “his seed” (an idiom for offspring or descendants).

[1:69]  ⁶ tn Grk “and,” but specifying the reason for the praise in the psalm.

[1:69]  ⁷ sn The phrase raised up means for God to bring someone significant onto the scene of history.

[1:69]  ⁸ sn The horn of salvation is a figure that refers to the power of Messiah and his ability to protect, as the horn refers to what an animal uses to attack and defend (Ps 75:4-5, 10; 148:14; 2 Sam 22:3). Thus the meaning of the figure is “a powerful savior.”

[1:69]  ⁹ sn In the house of his servant David is a reference to Messiah’s Davidic descent. Zechariah is more interested in Jesus than his own son John at this point.

[1:70]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “from the ages,” “from eternity.”

[1:71]  ¹¹ tn Grk “from long ago, salvation.”

[1:71]  ¹² sn The theme of being saved from our enemies is like the release Jesus preached in Luke 4:18-19. Luke’s narrative shows that one of the enemies in view is Satan and his cohorts, with the grip they have on humanity.

[1:72]  ¹³ tn The words “He has done this” (referring to the raising up of the horn of salvation from David’s house) are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to allow a new sentence to be started in the translation. The Greek sentence is lengthy and complex at this point, while contemporary English uses much shorter sentences.

[1:72]  ¹⁴ sn Mercy refers to God’s loyal love (steadfast love) by which he completes his promises. See Luke 1:50.

[1:72]  ¹⁵ tn Or “our forefathers”; Grk “our fathers.” This begins with the promise to Abraham (vv. 55, 73), and thus refers to many generations of ancestors.

[1:72]  ¹⁶ sn The promises of God can be summarized as being found in the one promise (the oath that he swore) to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3).

[1:73]  ¹⁷ tn This is linked back grammatically by apposition to “covenant” in v. 72, specifying which covenant is meant.

[1:73]  ¹⁸ tn Or “forefather”; Grk “father.”

[1:73]  ¹⁹ tn Again for reasons of English style, the infinitival clause “to grant us” has been translated “This oath grants” and made the beginning of a new sentence in the translation.

[1:74]  ²⁰ tc Many important early mss (א B L W [0130] Ë^1,13 565 892 pc) lack “our,” while most (A C D [K] Θ Ψ 0177 33 Ï pc) supply it. Although the addition is most likely not authentic, “our” has been included in the translation due to English stylistic requirements.

[1:74]  ²¹ tn This phrase in Greek is actually thrown forward to the front of the verse to give it emphasis.

[1:75]  ²² sn The phrases that we…might serve him…in holiness and righteousness from Luke 1:74-75 well summarize a basic goal for a believer in the eyes of Luke. Salvation frees us up to serve God without fear through a life full of ethical integrity.

[1:75]  ²³ tn Grk “all our days.”