37:36 The Lord’s messenger 1 went out and killed 185,000 troops 2 in the Assyrian camp. When they 3 got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses! 4
45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence! 5
Let them consult with one another!
Who predicted this in the past?
Who announced it beforehand?
Was it not I, the Lord?
I have no peer, there is no God but me,
a God who vindicates and delivers; 6
there is none but me.
45:22 Turn to me so you can be delivered, 7
all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!
For I am God, and I have no peer.
1 tn Traditionally, “the angel of the Lord” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
2 tn The word “troops” is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.
3 tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.
4 tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies”; NLT “they found corpses everywhere.”
5 tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.
6 tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”
7 tn The Niphal imperative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The Niphal probably has a tolerative sense, “allow yourselves to be delivered, accept help.”
8 sn The Greek word for today (σήμερον, shmeron) occurs eleven times in the Gospel of Luke (2:11; 4:21; 5:26; 12:28; 13:32-33; 19:5, 9; 22:34, 61; 23:43) and nine times in Acts. Its use, especially in passages such as 2:11, 4:21, 5:26; 19:5, 9, signifies the dawning of the era of messianic salvation and the fulfillment of the plan of God. Not only does it underscore the idea of present fulfillment in Jesus’ ministry, but it also indicates salvific fulfillment present in the church (cf. Acts 1:6; 3:18; D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:412; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 873).
9 tn Or “town.” See the note on “city” in v. 4.
10 tn This is another indication of a royal, messianic connection.
11 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
12 tn Grk “the blessed hope and glorious appearing.”
13 tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, qeos) and “savior” (σωτήρ, swthr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4.