Genesis 50:24

50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you ¹  and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give ²  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Exodus 4:31

4:31 and the people believed. When they heard ³  that the Lord had attended to ⁴  the Israelites and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed down close to the ground. ⁵ 

Luke 1:68

1:68 “Blessed ⁶  be the Lord God of Israel,

because he has come to help ⁷  and has redeemed ⁸  his people.

Luke 7:16

7:16 Fear ⁹  seized them all, and they began to glorify ¹⁰  God, saying, “A great prophet ¹¹  has appeared ¹²  among us!” and “God has come to help ¹³  his people!”

[50:24]  ¹ tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” i.e., to intervene for blessing or cursing; here Joseph announces that God would come to fulfill the promises by delivering them from Egypt. The statement is emphasized by the use of the infinitive absolute with the verb: “God will surely visit you.”

[50:24]  ² tn The words “to give” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[4:31]  ³ tc The LXX (Greek OT) has “and they rejoiced,” probably reading וַיִּשְׂמְחוּ (vayyismÿkhu) instead of what the MT reading, וַיִּשְׂמְעוּ (vayyismÿ’u, “and they heard”). To rejoice would have seemed a natural response of the people at the news, and the words sound similar in Hebrew.

[4:31]  ⁴ tn Or “intervened for.” The word פָּקַד (paqad) has traditionally been translated “visited,” which is open to many interpretations. It means that God intervened in the life of the Israelites to bless them with the fulfillment of the promises. It says more than that he took notice of them, took pity on them, or remembered them. He had not yet fulfilled the promises, but he had begun to act by calling Moses and Aaron. The translation “attended to” attempts to capture that much.

[4:31]  ⁵ tn The verb וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲוּוּ (vayyishtakhavu) is usually rendered “worshiped.” More specifically, the verbal root חָוָה (khava) in the hishtaphel stem means “to cause oneself to be low to the ground.” While there is nothing wrong with giving it a general translation of “worship,” it may be better in a passage like this to take it in conjunction with the other verb (“bow”) as a verbal hendiadys, using it as an adverb to that verb. The implication is certainly that they prayed, or praised, and performed some other aspect of worship, but the text may just be describing it from their posture of worship. With this response, all the fears of Moses are swept aside – they believed and they were thankful to God.

[1:68]  ⁶ sn The traditional name of this psalm, the “Benedictus,” comes from the Latin wording of the start of the hymn (“Blessed be…”).

[1:68]  ⁷ sn The verb come to help can refer to a visit, but can also connote concern or assistance (L&N 85.11).

[1:68]  ⁸ tn Or “has delivered”; Grk “has accomplished redemption.”

[7:16]  ⁹ tn Or “Awe.” Grk “fear,” but the context and the following remark show that it is mixed with wonder; see L&N 53.59. This is a reaction to God’s work; see Luke 5:9.

[7:16]  ¹⁰ tn This imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[7:16]  ¹¹ sn That Jesus was a great prophet was a natural conclusion for the crowd to make, given the healing; but Jesus is more than this. See Luke 9:8, 19-20.

[7:16]  ¹² tn Grk “arisen.”

[7:16]  ¹³ tn Grk “visited,” but this conveys a different impression to a modern reader. L&N 85.11 renders the verb, “to be present, with the implication of concern – ‘to be present to help, to be on hand to aid.’ … ‘God has come to help his people’ Lk 7:16.” The language recalls Luke 1:68, 78.