26:12 I am safe, 1
and among the worshipers I will praise the Lord.
8:9 All of them are clear 2 to the discerning
and upright to those who find knowledge.
15:19 The way of the sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, 3
but the path of the upright is like 4 a highway. 5
35:8 A thoroughfare will be there –
it will be called the Way of Holiness. 6
The unclean will not travel on it;
it is reserved for those authorized to use it 7 –
fools 8 will not stray into it.
3:4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice 9 of one shouting in the wilderness: 10
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make 11 his paths straight.
3:5 Every valley will be filled, 12
and every mountain and hill will be brought low,
and the crooked will be made straight,
and the rough ways will be made smooth,
3:6 and all humanity 13 will see the salvation of God.’” 14
1 tn Heb “my foot stands in a level place.”
2 tn Heb “front of.” Describing the sayings as “right in front” means they are open, obvious, and clear, as opposed to words that might be twisted or perverse. The parallel word “upright” means “straight, smooth, right.” Wisdom’s teachings are in plain view and intelligible for those who find knowledge.
3 tn Heb “like an overgrowth”; NRSV “overgrown with thorns”; cf. CEV “like walking in a thorn patch.” The point of the simile is that the path of life taken by the lazy person has many obstacles that are painful – it is like trying to break through a hedge of thorns. The LXX has “strewn with thorns.”
4 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.
5 sn The contrast to the “thorny way” is the highway, the Hebrew word signifying a well built-up road (סָלַל, salal, “to heap up”). The upright have no reason to swerve, duck, or detour, but may expect “clear sailing.” Other passages pair these two concepts, e.g., Prov 6:10; 10:26; 28:19.
6 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and there will be there a road and a way, and the Way of Holiness it will be called.” וְדֶרֶךְ (vÿderekh, “and a/the way”) is accidentally duplicated; the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa does not reflect the repetition of the phrase.
7 tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The text reads literally “and it is for them, the one who walks [on the] way.” In this context those authorized to use the Way of Holiness would be morally upright people who are the recipients of God’s deliverance, in contrast to the morally impure and foolish who are excluded from the new covenant community.
8 tn In this context “fools” are those who are morally corrupt, not those with limited intellectual capacity.
9 tn Or “A voice.”
10 tn Or “desert.” The syntactic position of the phrase “in the wilderness” is unclear in both Luke and the LXX. The MT favors taking it with “Prepare a way,” while the LXX takes it with “a voice shouting.” If the former, the meaning would be that such preparation should be done “in the wilderness.” If the latter, the meaning would be that the place from where John’s ministry went forth was “in the wilderness.” There are Jewish materials that support both renderings: 1QS 8:14 and 9.19-20 support the MT while certain rabbinic texts favor the LXX (see D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:290-91). While it is not absolutely necessary that a call in the wilderness led to a response in the wilderness, it is not unlikely that such would be the case. Thus, in the final analysis, the net effect between the two choices may be minimal. In any case, a majority of commentators and translations take “in the wilderness” with “The voice of one shouting” (D. L. Bock; R. H. Stein, Luke [NAC], 129; I. H. Marshall, Luke [NIGTC], 136; NIV, NRSV, NKJV, NLT, NASB, REB).
11 tn This call to “make paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance as the verb ποιέω (poiew) reappears in vv. 8, 10, 11, 12, 14.
12 sn The figurative language of this verse speaks of the whole creation preparing for the arrival of a major figure, so all obstacles to his approach are removed.
13 tn Grk “all flesh.”
14 sn A quotation from Isa 40:3-5. Though all the synoptic gospels use this citation from Isaiah, only Luke cites the material of vv. 5-6. His goal may well be to get to the declaration of v. 6, where all humanity (i.e., all nations) see God’s salvation (see also Luke 24:47).