40:11 Scatter abroad 1 the abundance 2 of your anger.
Look at every proud man 3 and bring him low;
40:12 Look at every proud man and abase him;
crush the wicked on the spot! 4
5:22 “But you, his son 12 Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, 13 although you knew all this. 5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods 14 that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control 15 your very breath and all your ways!
2:1 Now 29 in those days a decree 30 went out from Caesar 31 Augustus 32 to register 33 all the empire 34 for taxes.
1 tn The verb was used for scattering lightning (Job 37:11). God is challenging Job to unleash his power and judge wickedness in the world.
2 tn Heb “the overflowings.”
3 tn The word was just used in the positive sense of excellence or majesty; now the exalted nature of the person refers to self-exaltation, or pride.
4 tn The expression translated “on the spot” is the prepositional phrase תַּחְתָּם (takhtam, “under them”). “Under them” means in their place. But it can also mean “where someone stands, on the spot” (see Exod 16:29; Jos 6:5; Judg 7:21, etc.).
5 tn Aram “house.”
6 tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”
7 tn Aram “walk.”
8 tn Aram “heart.”
9 sn The point of describing Nebuchadnezzar as arrogant is that he had usurped divine prerogatives, and because of his immense arrogance God had dealt decisively with him.
10 tn Aram “heart.”
11 tn Aram “his dwelling.”
12 tn Or “descendant”; or “successor.”
13 tn Aram “your heart.”
14 tn Aram “which.”
15 tn Aram “in whose hand [are].”
16 sn The prayer that was heard and honored was the one given with humility; in a surprising reversal it was the tax collector who went down to his home justified.
17 tn Grk “the other”; the referent (the Pharisee, v. 10) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 sn Everyone who exalts himself. See Luke 14:11. Jesus often called for humility and condemned those who sought honor.
19 tn Grk “lose heart, saying.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronominal subject “He.”
20 tn Or “town.”
21 sn The judge here is apparently portrayed as a civil judge who often handled financial cases.
22 tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.
23 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the action.
24 sn On Nazareth see Luke 1:26.
25 tn Or “town.” The translation “city” is used here because of its collocation with “of David,” suggesting its importance, though not its size.
26 sn The journey from Nazareth to the city of David called Bethlehem was a journey of about 90 mi (150 km). Bethlehem was a small village located about 7 miles south-southwest of Jerusalem.
27 sn Luke’s use of the term “house” probably alludes to the original promise made to David outlined in the Nathan oracle of 2 Sam 7:12-16, especially in light of earlier connections between Jesus and David made in Luke 1:32. Further, the mention of Bethlehem reminds one of the promise of Mic 5:2, namely, that a great king would emerge from Bethlehem to rule over God’s people.
28 tn Or “family,” “lineage.”
29 tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
30 sn This decree was a formal decree from the Roman Senate.
31 tn Or “from the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).
32 sn Caesar Augustus refers to Octavian, who was Caesar from 27
33 tn Grk “that all the empire should be registered for taxes.” The passive infinitive ἀπογράφεσθαι (apografesqai) has been rendered as an active in the translation to improve the English style. The verb is regarded as a technical term for official registration in tax lists (BDAG 108 s.v. ἀπογράφω a).
34 tn Grk “the whole (inhabited) world,” but this was a way to refer to the Roman empire (L&N 1.83).
35 tn Grk “And Simon.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
36 tn Grk “answering, Simon said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation to “Simon answered.”
37 tn The word ἐπιστάτης is a term of respect for a person of high status (see L&N 87.50).
38 tn The expression “at your word,” which shows Peter’s obedience, stands first in the Greek clause for emphasis.
39 tn Or “let down.”