Isaiah 41:8-9

The Lord Encourages His People

41:8 “You, my servant Israel,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

offspring of Abraham my friend, ¹ 

41:9 you whom I am bringing back ²  from the earth’s extremities,

and have summoned from the remote regions –

I told you, “You are my servant.”

I have chosen you and not rejected you.

Isaiah 41:14

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ³ 

men of ⁴  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ⁵  the Holy One of Israel. ⁶ 

Isaiah 44:21-23

44:21 Remember these things, O Jacob,

O Israel, for you are my servant.

I formed you to be my servant;

O Israel, I will not forget you! ⁷ 

44:22 I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,

the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. ⁸ 

Come back to me, for I protect ⁹  you.”

44:23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes; ¹⁰ 

shout out, you subterranean regions ¹¹  of the earth.

O mountains, give a joyful shout;

you too, O forest and all your trees! ¹² 

For the Lord protects ¹³  Jacob;

he reveals his splendor through Israel. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 51:2

51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,

and Sarah, who gave you birth. ¹⁵ 

When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ¹⁶ 

but I blessed him ¹⁷  and gave him numerous descendants. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 51:11

51:11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;

they will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ¹⁹ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ²⁰  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ²¹ 

Isaiah 54:4

54:4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame!

Don’t be intimidated, ²²  for you will not be humiliated!

You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;

you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment. ²³ 

Genesis 48:16

48:16 the Angel ²⁴  who has protected me ²⁵ 

from all harm –

bless these boys.

May my name be named in them, ²⁶ 

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

Joshua 24:2-5

24:2 Joshua told all the people, “Here is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘In the distant past your ancestors ²⁷  lived beyond the Euphrates River, ²⁸  including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshiped ²⁹  other gods, 24:3 but I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates ³⁰  and brought him into ³¹  the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous; I gave him Isaac, 24:4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I assigned Mount Seir, ³²  while Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. 24:5 I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt down when I intervened in their land. ³³  Then I brought you out.

Nehemiah 9:7-8

9:7 “You are the LORD God who chose Abram and brought him forth from Ur of the Chaldeans. You changed his name to Abraham. 9:8 When you perceived that his heart was faithful toward you, you established a ³⁴  covenant with him to give his descendants ³⁵  the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. You have fulfilled your promise, ³⁶  for you are righteous.

Luke 1:68

1:68 “Blessed ³⁷  be the Lord God of Israel,

because he has come to help ³⁸  and has redeemed ³⁹  his people.

Luke 1:1

Explanatory Preface

1:1 Now ⁴⁰  many have undertaken to compile an account ⁴¹  of the things ⁴²  that have been fulfilled ⁴³  among us,

Luke 1:18-19

1:18 Zechariah ⁴⁴  said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? ⁴⁵  For I am an old man, and my wife is old as well.” ⁴⁶  1:19 The ⁴⁷  angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands ⁴⁸  in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring ⁴⁹  you this good news.

Revelation 5:9

5:9 They were singing a new song: ⁵⁰ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ⁵¹ 

and at the cost of your own blood ⁵²  you have purchased ⁵³  for God

persons ⁵⁴  from every tribe, language, ⁵⁵  people, and nation.

[41:8]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “covenantal partner” (see 1 Kgs 5:15 HT [5:1 ET]; 2 Chr 20:7).

[41:9]  ² tn Heb “whom I have taken hold of [i.e., to lead back].”

[41:14]  ³ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ⁴ tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”

[41:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[44:21]  ⁷ tc The verb in the Hebrew text is a Niphal imperfect with a pronominal suffix. Although the Niphal ordinarily has the passive sense, it can have a reflexive nuance as well (see above translation). Some have suggested an emendation to a Qal form: “Do not forget me” (all the ancient versions, NEB, REB; see GKC 369 §117.x). “Do not forget me” would make a good parallel with “remember these things” in the first line. Since the MT is the harder reading and fits with Israel’s complaint that God had forgotten her (Isa 40:27), the MT reading should be retained (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, ESV). The passive has been rendered as an active in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style (so also NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[44:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “I blot out like a cloud your rebellious deeds, and like a cloud your sins.” “Rebellious deeds” and “sins” stand by metonymy for the guilt they produce. Both עָב (’av) and עָנָן (’anan) refer to the clouds in the sky. It is tempting for stylistic purposes to translate the second with “fog” or “mist” (cf. NAB, NRSV “cloud…mist”; NIV “cloud…morning mist”; NLT “morning mists…clouds”), but this distinction between the synonyms is unwarranted here. The point of the simile seems to be this: The Lord forgives their sins, causing them to vanish just as clouds disappear from the sky (see Job 7:9; 30:15).

[44:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “redeem.” See the note at 41:14.

[44:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “acts”; NASB, NRSV “has done it”; NLT “has done this wondrous thing.”

[44:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “lower regions.” This refers to Sheol and forms a merism with “sky” in the previous line. See Pss 63:9; 71:20.

[44:23]  ¹² tn Heb “O forest and all the trees in it”; NASB, NRSV “and every tree in it.”

[44:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.

[44:23]  ¹⁴ tn That is, by delivering Israel. Cf. NCV “showed his glory when he saved Israel”; TEV “has shown his greatness by saving his people Israel.”

[51:2]  ¹⁵ sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.

[51:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”

[51:2]  ¹⁷ tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.

[51:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”

[51:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[51:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “overtake” (so NIV); NASB “they will obtain.”

[51:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee.”

[54:4]  ²² tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”

[54:4]  ²³ tn Another option is to translate, “the disgrace of our widowhood” (so NRSV). However, the following context (vv. 6-7) refers to Zion’s husband, the Lord, abandoning her, not dying. This suggests that an אַלְמָנָה (’almanah) was a woman who had lost her husband, whether by death or abandonment.

[48:16]  ²⁴ sn The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “king” here, but the traditional reading (“angel”) may be maintained. Jacob closely associates God with an angelic protective presence. This does not mean that Jacob viewed his God as a mere angel, but it does suggest that he was aware of an angelic presence sent by God to protect him. Here he so closely associates the two that they become virtually indistinguishable. In this culture messengers typically carried the authority of the one who sent them and could even be addressed as such. Perhaps Jacob thought that the divine blessing would be mediated through this angelic messenger.

[48:16]  ²⁵ tn The verb גָּאַל (ga’al) has the basic idea of “protect” as a near relative might do. It is used for buying someone out of bondage, marrying a deceased brother’s widow, paying off debts, avenging the family, and the like. The meanings of “deliver, protect, avenge” are most fitting when God is the subject (see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of √גאל,” Congress Volume: Copenhagen, 1953 [VTSup], 67-77).

[48:16]  ²⁶ tn Or “be recalled through them.”

[24:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:2]  ²⁹ tn Or “served.”

[24:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:3]  ³¹ tn Or “through.”

[24:4]  ³² tn Heb “I gave to Esau Mount Seir to possess it.”

[24:5]  ³³ tn Heb “by that which I did in its midst.”

[9:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the” (so NAB).

[9:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “seed.”

[9:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “your words.”

[1:68]  ³⁷ sn The traditional name of this psalm, the “Benedictus,” comes from the Latin wording of the start of the hymn (“Blessed be…”).

[1:68]  ³⁸ sn The verb come to help can refer to a visit, but can also connote concern or assistance (L&N 85.11).

[1:68]  ³⁹ tn Or “has delivered”; Grk “has accomplished redemption.”

[1:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “Since” or “Because.” This begins a long sentence that extends through v. 4. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, the Greek sentence has been divided up into shorter English sentences in the translation.

[1:1]  ⁴¹ tn This is sometimes translated “narrative,” but the term itself can refer to an oral or written account. It is the verb “undertaken” which suggests a written account, since it literally is “to set one’s hand” to something (BDAG 386 s.v. ἐπιχειρέω). “Narrative” is too specific, denoting a particular genre of work for the accounts that existed in the earlier tradition. Not all of that material would have been narrative.

[1:1]  ⁴² tn Or “events.”

[1:1]  ⁴³ tn Or “have been accomplished.” Given Luke’s emphasis on divine design (e.g., Luke 24:43-47) a stronger sense (“fulfilled”) is better than a mere reference to something having taken place (“accomplished”).

[1:18]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “And Zechariah.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:18]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “How will I know this?”

[1:18]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “is advanced in days” (an idiom for old age).

[1:19]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:19]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “the one who is standing before God.”

[1:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “to announce these things of good news to you.”

[5:9]  ⁵⁰ tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

[5:9]  ⁵¹ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:9]  ⁵² tn The preposition ἐν (en) is taken to indicate price here, like the Hebrew preposition ב (bet) does at times. BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 5.b states, “The ἐν which takes the place of the gen. of price is also instrumental ἠγόρασας ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου Rv 5:9 (cp. 1 Ch 21:24 ἀγοράζω ἐν ἀργυρίῳ).”

[5:9]  ⁵³ tc The Greek text as it stands above (i.e., the reading τῷ θεῷ [tw qew] alone) is found in codex A. א 2050 2344 Ï sy add the term “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas), either before or after τῷ θεῷ, as an attempt to clarify the object of “purchased” (ἠγόρασας, hgorasa"). A few mss (1 vg^ms) delete the reference to God altogether and simply replace it with “us” (ἡμᾶς). This too is an attempt to remove ambiguity in the phrase and provide an object for “purchased.” The shorter reading, supported by the best witness for Revelation, best accounts for the other readings.

[5:9]  ⁵⁴ tn The word “persons” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:9]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “and language,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.