Isaiah 11:1

An Ideal King Establishes a Kingdom of Peace

11:1 A shoot will grow out of Jesse’s ¹  root stock,

a bud will sprout ²  from his roots.

Isaiah 53:2

53:2 He sprouted up like a twig before God, ³ 

like a root out of parched soil; ⁴ 

he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, ⁵ 

no special appearance that we should want to follow him. ⁶ 

Ezekiel 17:22-24

17:22 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘I will take a sprig ⁷  from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it. ⁸ 

I will pluck from the top one of its tender twigs;

I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

17:23 I will plant it on a high mountain of Israel,

and it will raise branches and produce fruit and become a beautiful cedar.

Every bird will live under it;

Every winged creature will live in the shade of its branches.

17:24 All the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord.

I make the high tree low; I raise up the low tree.

I make the green tree wither, and I make the dry tree sprout.

I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!’”

Amos 9:11

The Restoration of the Davidic Dynasty

9:11 “In that day I will rebuild the collapsing hut ⁹  of David.

I will seal its ¹⁰  gaps,

repair its ¹¹  ruins,

and restore it to what it was like in days gone by. ¹² 

Luke 2:4-7

2:4 So ¹³  Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth ¹⁴  in Galilee to Judea, to the city ¹⁵  of David called Bethlehem, ¹⁶  because he was of the house ¹⁷  and family line ¹⁸  of David. 2:5 He went ¹⁹  to be registered with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him, ²⁰  and who was expecting a child. 2:6 While ²¹  they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ²²  2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth ²³  and laid him in a manger, ²⁴  because there was no place for them in the inn. ²⁵ 

Luke 2:1

The Census and the Birth of Jesus

2:1 Now ²⁶  in those days a decree ²⁷  went out from Caesar ²⁸  Augustus ²⁹  to register ³⁰  all the empire ³¹  for taxes.

Colossians 1:27-28

1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ³²  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 1:28 We proclaim him by instructing ³³  and teaching ³⁴  all people ³⁵  with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature ³⁶  in Christ.

[11:1]  ¹ sn The text mentions David’s father Jesse, instead of the great king himself. Perhaps this is done for rhetorical reasons to suggest that a new David, not just another disappointing Davidic descendant, will arise. Other prophets call the coming ideal Davidic king “David” or picture him as the second coming of David, as it were. See Jer 30:9; Ezek 34:23-24; 37:24-25; Hos 3:5; and Mic 5:2 (as well as the note there).

[11:1]  ² tc The Hebrew text has יִפְרֶה (yifreh, “will bear fruit,” from פָּרָה, parah), but the ancient versions, as well as the parallelism suggest that יִפְרַח (yifrakh, “will sprout”, from פָּרַח, parakh) is the better reading here. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:276, n. 2.

[53:2]  ³ tn Heb “before him.” Some suggest an emendation to “before us.” If the third singular suffix of the Hebrew text is retained, it probably refers to the Lord (see v. 1b). For a defense of this reading, see R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 173-74.

[53:2]  ⁴ sn The metaphor in this verse suggests insignificance.

[53:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “that we might see him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.

[53:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “that we should desire him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.

[17:22]  ⁷ sn The language is analogous to messianic imagery in Isa 11:1; Zech 3:8; 6:4 although the technical terminology is not the same.

[17:22]  ⁸ tc The LXX lacks “and plant it.”

[9:11]  ⁹ tn The phrase translated “collapsing hut” refers to a temporary shelter (cf. NASB, NRSV “booth”) in disrepair and emphasizes the relatively weakened condition of the once powerful Davidic dynasty. Others have suggested that the term refers to Jerusalem, while still others argue that it should be repointed to read “Sukkoth,” a garrison town in Transjordan. Its reconstruction would symbolize the rebirth of the Davidic empire and its return to power (e.g., M. E. Polley, Amos and the Davidic Empire, 71-74).

[9:11]  ¹⁰ tc The MT reads a third feminine plural suffix, which could refer to the two kingdoms (Judah and Israel) or, more literally, to the breaches in the walls of the cities that are mentioned in v. 4 (cf. 4:3). Some emend to third feminine singular, since the “hut” of the preceding line (a feminine singular noun) might be the antecedent. In that case, the final nun (ן) is virtually dittographic with the vav (ו) that appears at the beginning of the following word.

[9:11]  ¹¹ tc The MT reads a third masculine singular suffix, which could refer back to David. However, it is possible that an original third feminine singular suffix (יה-, yod-hey) has been misread as masculine (יו-, yod-vav). In later Hebrew script a ה (he) resembles a יו- (yod-vav) combination.

[9:11]  ¹² tn Heb “and I will rebuild as in days of antiquity.”

[2:4]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the action.

[2:4]  ¹⁴ sn On Nazareth see Luke 1:26.

[2:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “town.” The translation “city” is used here because of its collocation with “of David,” suggesting its importance, though not its size.

[2:4]  ¹⁶ 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.

[2:4]  ¹⁷ 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.

[2:4]  ¹⁸ tn Or “family,” “lineage.”

[2:5]  ¹⁹ tn The words “He went” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to begin a new sentence in the translation. The Greek sentence is longer and more complex than normal contemporary English usage.

[2:5]  ²⁰ tn Traditionally, “Mary, his betrothed.” Although often rendered in contemporary English as “Mary, who was engaged to him,” this may give the modern reader a wrong impression, since Jewish marriages in this period were typically arranged marriages. The term ἐμνηστευμένῃ (emnhsteumenh) may suggest that the marriage is not yet consummated, not necessarily that they are not currently married. Some mss read “the betrothed to him wife”; others, simply “his wife.” These readings, though probably not original, may give the right sense.

[2:6]  ²¹ 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. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:6]  ²² tn The words “her child” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to clarify what was being delivered. The wording here is like Luke 1:57. Grk “the days for her to give birth were fulfilled.”

[2:7]  ²³ sn The strips of cloth (traditionally, “swaddling cloths”) were strips of linen that would be wrapped around the arms and legs of an infant to keep the limbs protected.

[2:7]  ²⁴ tn Or “a feeding trough.”

[2:7]  ²⁵ tn The Greek word κατάλυμα is flexible, and usage in the LXX and NT refers to a variety of places for lodging (see BDAG 521 s.v.). Most likely Joseph and Mary sought lodging in the public accommodations in the city of Bethlehem (see J. Nolland, Luke [WBC], 1:105), which would have been crude shelters for people and animals. However, it has been suggested by various scholars that Joseph and Mary were staying with relatives in Bethlehem (e.g., C. S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 194; B. Witherington, “Birth of Jesus,” DJG, 69-70); if that were so the term would refer to the guest room in the relatives’ house, which would have been filled beyond capacity with all the other relatives who had to journey to Bethlehem for the census.

[2:1]  ²⁶ 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.

[2:1]  ²⁷ sn This decree was a formal decree from the Roman Senate.

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “from the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[2:1]  ²⁹ sn Caesar Augustus refers to Octavian, who was Caesar from 27 b.c. to a.d. 14. He was known for his administrative prowess.

[2:1]  ³⁰ 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).

[2:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “the whole (inhabited) world,” but this was a way to refer to the Roman empire (L&N 1.83).

[1:27]  ³² tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”

[1:28]  ³³ tn Or “admonishing,” or “warning.” BDAG 679 s.v. νουθετέω states, “to counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct,, admonish, warn, instruct.” After the participle νουθετοῦντες (nouqetounte", “instructing”) the words πάντα ἄνθρωπον (panta anqrwpon, “all men”) occur in the Greek text, but since the same phrase appears again after διδάσκοντες (didaskontes) it was omitted in translation to avoid redundancy in English.

[1:28]  ³⁴ tn The two participles “instructing” (νουθετοῦντες, nouqetounte") and “teaching” (διδάσκοντες, didaskonte") are translated as participles of means (“by”) related to the finite verb “we proclaim” (καταγγέλλομεν, katangellomen).

[1:28]  ³⁵ tn Here ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon) is twice translated as a generic (“people” and “person”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[1:28]  ³⁶ tn Since Paul’s focus is on the present experience of the Colossians, “mature” is a better translation of τέλειον (teleion) than “perfect,” since the latter implies a future, eschatological focus.