4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed 1 me to proclaim good news 2 to the poor. 3
He has sent me 4 to proclaim release 5 to the captives
and the regaining of sight 6 to the blind,
to set free 7 those who are oppressed, 8
1 sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.
2 tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”
3 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.
4 tc The majority of
5 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).
6 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).
7 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.
8 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).
9 tn Or “in return.”
10 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the outcome or result. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation at this point.
11 sn The character of these actions reflects the grace and kindness of God, bearing witness to a “line of descent” or relationship of the individual to God (sons of the Most High). There is to be a unique kind of ethic at work with disciples. Jesus refers specifically to sons here because in the ancient world sons had special privileges which were rarely accorded to daughters. However, Jesus is most likely addressing both men and women in this context, so women too would receive these same privileges.
12 sn That is, “sons of God.”
13 tn Or “to the ungrateful and immoral.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
17 sn On the queen of the South see 1 Kgs 10:1-3 and 2 Chr 9:1-12, as well as Josephus, Ant. 8.6.5-6 (8.165-175). The South most likely refers to modern southwest Arabia, possibly the eastern part of modern Yemen, although there is an ancient tradition reflected in Josephus which identifies this geo-political entity as Ethiopia.
18 sn For the imagery of judgment, see Luke 10:13-15 and 11:19. The warnings are coming consistently now.
19 tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anhr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as is the case here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1, 2). The same term, translated the same way, occurs in v. 32.
20 tn Grk “behold.”
21 sn The message of Jesus was something greater than what Solomon offered. On Jesus and wisdom, see Luke 7:35; 10:21-22; 1 Cor 1:24, 30.
25 tn Grk “the one who invited you.”
26 tn Grk “Go up higher.” This means to move to a more important place.
33 tn Grk “but answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “but he answered.”
34 tn Or simply, “have served,” but in the emotional context of the older son’s outburst the translation given is closer to the point.
35 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to bring out the contrast indicated by the context.
36 sn You never gave me even a goat. The older son’s complaint was that the generous treatment of the younger son was not fair: “I can’t get even a little celebration with a basic food staple like a goat!”