61:5 7 “Foreigners will take care of 8 your sheep;
foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards.
61:6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,
servants of our God.’ 9
You will enjoy 10 the wealth of nations
and boast about 11 the riches you receive from them. 12
1 tn Heb “all the people who were left from the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not from the sons of Israel.”
2 tn Heb “their sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel were unable to wipe out, and Solomon raised them up for a crew of labor to this day.”
3 sn In the same way he had appeared to him at Gibeon. See 1 Kgs 3:5.
4 tn Heb “Say to Solomon the king, for he will not turn back your face, that he might give to me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife.”
5 sn And its poles. These poles were used to carry the ark. See Exod 25:13-15.
6 tn Heb “they could not be seen outside.”
7 sn The Lord speaks in vv. 7-8 (and possibly v. 9). It is not clear where the servant’s speech (see vv. 1-3a) ends and the Lord’s begins. Perhaps the direct address to the people signals the beginning of the Lord’s speech.
8 tn Heb “will stand [in position] and shepherd.”
8 tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”
9 tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”
10 tc The form in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yit’ammÿru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (’amar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).
11 tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).
9 tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”
10 tn Or “covenants of the promise.”
10 tn Grk “having been built.”
11 sn Apostles and prophets. Because the prophets appear after the mention of the apostles and because they are linked together in 3:5 as recipients of revelation about the church, they are to be regarded not as Old Testament prophets, but as New Testament prophets.
12 tn Grk “while Christ Jesus himself is” or “Christ Jesus himself being.”
13 tn Or perhaps “capstone” (NAB). The meaning of ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogwniaio") is greatly debated. The meaning “capstone” is proposed by J. Jeremias (TDNT 1:792), but the most important text for this meaning (T. Sol. 22:7-23:4) is late and possibly not even an appropriate parallel. The only place ἀκρογωνιαῖος is used in the LXX is Isa 28:16, and there it clearly refers to a cornerstone that is part of a foundation. Furthermore, the imagery in this context has the building growing off the cornerstone upward, whereas if Christ were the capstone, he would not assume his position until the building was finished, which vv. 21-22 argue against.
11 tn Grk “in whom” (v. 21 is a relative clause, subordinate to v. 20).
12 tc Although several important witnesses (א1 A C P 6 81 326 1739c 1881) have πᾶσα ἡ οἰκοδομή (pasa Jh oikodomh), instead of πᾶσα οἰκοδομή (the reading of א* B D F G Ψ 33 1739* Ï), the article is almost surely a scribal addition intended to clarify the meaning of the text, for with the article the meaning is unambiguously “the whole building.”