John 16:7

16:7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate ¹  will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.

Psalms 47:5-7

47:5 God has ascended his throne ²  amid loud shouts; ³ 

the Lord has ascended his throne amid the blaring of ram’s horns. ⁴ 

47:6 Sing to God! Sing!

Sing to our king! Sing!

47:7 For God is king of the whole earth!

Sing a well-written song! ⁵ 

Psalms 68:18

68:18 You ascend on high, ⁶ 

you have taken many captives. ⁷ 

You receive tribute ⁸  from ⁹  men,

including even sinful rebels.

Indeed the Lord God lives there! ¹⁰ 

Psalms 68:9

68:9 O God, you cause abundant showers to fall ¹¹  on your chosen people. ¹² 

When they ¹³  are tired, you sustain them, ¹⁴ 

Luke 24:51-53

24:51 Now ¹⁵  during the blessing ¹⁶  he departed ¹⁷  and was taken up into heaven. ¹⁸  24:52 So ¹⁹  they worshiped ²⁰  him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ²¹  24:53 and were continually in the temple courts ²²  blessing ²³  God. ²⁴ 

Luke 24:1

The Resurrection

24:1 Now on the first day ²⁵  of the week, at early dawn, the women ²⁶  went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices ²⁷  they had prepared.

Luke 1:8

1:8 Now ²⁸  while Zechariah ²⁹  was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, ³⁰ 

¹ tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). See the note on the word “Advocate” in John 14:16 for a discussion of how this word is translated.

² sn God ascended his throne. In the context of vv. 3-4, which refer to the conquest of the land under Joshua, v. 5 is best understood as referring to an historical event. When the Lord conquered the land and placed his people in it, he assumed a position of kingship, as predicted by Moses (see Exod 15:17-18, as well as Ps 114:1-2). That event is here described metaphorically in terms of a typical coronation ceremony for an earthly king (see 2 Sam 15:10; 2 Kgs 9:13). Verses 1-2, 8-9 focus on God’s continuing kingship, which extends over all nations.

³ tn Heb “God ascended amid a shout.” The words “his throne” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord’s coronation as king is described here (see v. 8). Here the perfect probably has a present perfect function, indicating a completed action with continuing effects.

⁴ tn Heb “the Lord amid the sound of the ram horn.” The verb “ascended” is understood by ellipsis; see the preceding line.

⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term also occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142. Here, in a context of celebration, the meaning “skillful, well-written” would fit particularly well.

⁶ tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.

⁷ tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”

⁸ tn Or “gifts.”

⁹ tn Or “among.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “so that the Lord God might live [there].” Many take the infinitive construct with -לְ (lamed) as indicating purpose here, but it is unclear how the offering of tribute enables the Lord to live in Zion. This may be an occurrence of the relatively rare emphatic lamed (see HALOT 510-11 s.v. II לְ, though this text is not listed as an example there). If so, the statement corresponds nicely to the final line of v. 16, which also affirms emphatically that the Lord lives in Zion.

¹¹ tn The verb נוּף (nuf, “cause rain to fall”) is a homonym of the more common נוּף (“brandish”).

¹² tn Heb “[on] your inheritance.” This refers to Israel as God’s specially chosen people (see Pss 28:9; 33:12; 74:2; 78:62, 71; 79:1; 94:5, 14; 106:40). Some take “your inheritance” with what follows, but the vav (ו) prefixed to the following word (note וְנִלְאָה, vÿnil’ah) makes this syntactically unlikely.

¹³ tn Heb “it [is],” referring to God’s “inheritance.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “it,” referring to God’s “inheritance.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” 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.

¹⁶ tn Grk “while he blessed them.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “he departed from them.”

¹⁸ tc The reference to the ascension (“and was taken up into heaven”) is lacking in א* D it sy^s, but it is found in Ì⁷⁵ and the rest of the ms tradition. The authenticity of the statement here seems to be presupposed in Acts 1:2, for otherwise it is difficult to account for Luke’s reference to the ascension there. For a helpful discussion, see TCGNT 162-63.

¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of Jesus’ ascension and the concluding summary of Luke’s Gospel.

²⁰ tc The reference to worship is lacking in the Western ms D, its last major omission in this Gospel.

²¹ sn Joy is another key theme for Luke: 1:14; 2:10; 8:13; 10:17; 15:7, 10; 24:41.

²² tn Grk “in the temple.”

²³ tc The Western text (D it) has αἰνοῦντες (ainounte", “praising”) here, while the Alexandrian mss (Ì⁷⁵ א B C* L) have εὐλογοῦντες (eulogounte", “blessing”). Most mss, especially the later Byzantine mss, evidently combine these two readings with αἰνοῦντες καὶ εὐλογοῦντες (A C² W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). It is more difficult to decide between the two earlier readings. Internal arguments can go either way, but what seems decisive in this instance are the superior witnesses for εὐλογοῦντες.

²⁴ tc The majority of Greek mss, some of which are important witnesses (A B C² Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï lat), add “Amen” to note the Gospel’s end. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, since significant witnesses lack the word (Ì⁷⁵ א C* D L W 1 33 pc it co ), it is evidently not original.

²⁵ sn The first day of the week is the day after the Sabbath.

²⁶ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the women mentioned in 23:55) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁷ tn On this term see BDAG 140-41 s.v. ἄρωμα. See also the note on “aromatic spices” in 23:56.

²⁸ 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.

²⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Zechariah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³⁰ tn Grk “serving as priest in the order of his division before God.”