8:5 He said to me, “Son of man, look up toward 1 the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and I noticed to the north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy at the entrance.
8:6 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing – the great abominations that the people 2 of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!”
8:7 He brought me to the entrance of the court, and as I watched, I noticed a hole in the wall. 8:8 He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and discovered a doorway.
8:9 He said to me, “Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.” 8:10 So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure 3 of creeping thing and beast – detestable images 4 – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. 5 8:11 Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel 6 (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant 7 vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward.
8:12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? 8 For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’” 8:13 He said to me, “You will see them practicing even greater abominations!”
8:14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed 9 women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 10 8:15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!”
8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there 11 at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, 12 were about twenty-five 13 men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, 14 facing east – they were worshiping the sun 15 toward the east!
12:1 Meanwhile, 23 when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus 24 began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against 25 the yeast of the Pharisees, 26 which is hypocrisy. 27
4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed 30 me to proclaim good news 31 to the poor. 32
He has sent me 33 to proclaim release 34 to the captives
and the regaining of sight 35 to the blind,
to set free 36 those who are oppressed, 37
1 tn Heb “lift your eyes (to) the way of.”
2 tn Heb “house.”
3 tn Or “pattern.”
4 tn Heb “detestable.” The word is often used to describe the figures of foreign gods.
5 sn These engravings were prohibited in the Mosaic law (Deut 4:16-18).
6 sn Note the contrast between these seventy men who represented Israel and the seventy elders who ate the covenant meal before God, inaugurating the covenant relationship (Exod 24:1, 9).
7 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
8 tn Heb “the room of his images.” The adjective “idolatrous” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Given the context this could be understood as a shock, e.g., idiomatically “Good grief! I saw….”
10 sn The worship of Tammuz included the observation of the annual death and descent into the netherworld of the god Dumuzi. The practice was observed by women in the ancient Near East over a period of centuries.
11 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.
12 sn The priests prayed to God between the porch and the altar on fast days (Joel 2:17). This is the location where Zechariah was murdered (Matt 23:35).
13 tc The LXX reads “twenty” instead of twenty-five, perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash.
14 sn The temple faced east.
15 tn Or “the sun god.”
16 tn Heb “which is called by my name.” See translator’s note on 7:10 for support.
17 tn This is an example of a question without the formal introductory particle following a conjunctive vav introducing an opposition. (See Joüon 2:609 §161.a.) It is also an example of the use of the infinitive before the finite verb in a rhetorical question involving doubt or denial. (See Joüon 2:422-23 §123.f, and compare usage in Gen 37:8.)
18 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
19 tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.”
20 tn Heb “You only have I known.” The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’) is used here in its covenantal sense of “recognize in a special way.”
21 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
22 tn Grk “or do according to his will”; the referent (the master) has been specified in the translation for clarity. This example deals with the slave who knew what the command was and yet failed to complete it.
23 tn The phrase ἐν οἷς (en Jois) can be translated “meanwhile.”
24 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 tn According to L&N 27.59, “to pay attention to, to keep on the lookout for, to be alert for, to be on your guard against.” This is another Lukan present imperative calling for constant vigilance.
26 sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.
27 sn The pursuit of popularity can lead to hypocrisy, if one is not careful.
28 tn Grk “And unrolling the scroll he found.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Instead a new sentence has been started in the translation.
29 tn Grk “opening,” but a scroll of this period would have to be unrolled. The participle ἀναπτύξας (anaptuxa") has been translated as a finite verb due to the requirements of contemporary English style.
30 sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.
31 tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”
32 sn The poor is a key term in Luke. It refers to the pious poor and indicates Jesus’ desire to reach out to those the world tends to forget or mistreat. It is like 1:52 in force and also will be echoed in 6:20 (also 1 Pet 2:11-25). Jesus is commissioned to do this.
33 tc The majority of
34 sn The release in view here is comprehensive, both at a physical level and a spiritual one, as the entire ministry of Jesus makes clear (Luke 1:77-79; 7:47; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43).
35 sn Again, as with the previous phrase, regaining of sight may well mean more than simply miraculously restoring physical sight, which itself pictures a deeper reality (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).
36 sn The essence of Jesus’ messianic work is expressed in the phrase to set free. This line from Isa 58 says that Jesus will do what the nation had failed to do. It makes the proclamation messianic, not merely prophetic, because Jesus doesn’t just proclaim the message – he brings the deliverance. The word translated set free is the same Greek word (ἄφεσις, afesi") translated release earlier in the verse.
37 sn Again, as with the previous phrases, oppressed may well mean more than simply political or economic oppression, but a deeper reality of oppression by sin (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).