Isaiah 12:2

12:2 Look, God is my deliverer! ¹ 

I will trust in him ²  and not fear.

For the Lord gives me strength and protects me; ³ 

he has become my deliverer.” ⁴ 

Luke 1:47

1:47 and my spirit has begun to rejoice ⁵  in God my Savior,

Titus 2:13

2:13 as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing ⁶  of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. ⁷ 

[12:2]  ¹ tn Or “salvation” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[12:2]  ² tn The words “in him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[12:2]  ³ tc The Hebrew text has, “for my strength and protection [is] the Lord, the Lord (Heb “Yah, Yahweh).” The word יְהוָה (yehvah) is probably dittographic or explanatory here (note that the short form of the name [יָהּ, yah] precedes, and that the graphically similar וַיְהִי [vayÿhi] follows). Exod 15:2, the passage from which the words of v. 2b are taken, has only יָהּ. The word זִמְרָת (zimrat) is traditionally understood as meaning “song,” in which case one might translate, “for the Lord gives me strength and joy” (i.e., a reason to sing); note that in v. 5 the verb זָמַר (zamar, “sing”) appears. Many recent commentators, however, have argued that the noun is here instead a homonym, meaning “protection” or “strength.” See HALOT 274 s.v. III *זמר.

[12:2]  ⁴ tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions, e.g., KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “my savior.”

[1:47]  ⁵ tn Or “rejoices.” The translation renders this aorist, which stands in contrast to the previous line’s present tense, as ingressive, which highlights Mary’s joyous reaction to the announcement. A comprehensive aorist is also possible here.

[2:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “the blessed hope and glorious appearing.”

[2:13]  ⁷ tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, qeos) and “savior” (σωτήρ, swthr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4.