Discovery BoxIsaiah 42:6-7
Context42:6 “I, the Lord, officially commission you; 1
I take hold of your hand.
I protect you 2 and make you a covenant mediator for people, 3
and a light 4 to the nations, 5
to release prisoners 7 from dungeons,
those who live in darkness from prisons.
Isaiah 49:25-26
Context49:25 Indeed,” says the Lord,
“captives will be taken from a warrior;
spoils will be rescued from a conqueror.
I will oppose your adversary
and I will rescue your children.
49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;
they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine. 8
Then all humankind 9 will recognize that
I am the Lord, your deliverer,
your protector, 10 the powerful ruler of Jacob.” 11
Isaiah 53:12
Context53:12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, 12
he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, 13
because he willingly submitted 14 to death
and was numbered with the rebels,
when he lifted up the sin of many
and intervened 15 on behalf of the rebels.”
Matthew 12:28-29
Context12:28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God 16 has already overtaken 17 you. 12:29 How 18 else can someone enter a strong man’s 19 house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can thoroughly plunder the house. 20
Luke 11:21
Context11:21 When a strong man, 21 fully armed, guards his own palace, 22 his possessions are safe. 23
Luke 11:2
Context11:2 So he said to them, “When you pray, 24 say:
Father, 25 may your name be honored; 26
may your kingdom come. 27
Luke 2:18-20
Context2:18 and all who heard it were astonished 28 at what the shepherds said. 2:19 But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering in her heart what they might mean. 29 2:20 So 30 the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising 31 God for all they had heard and seen; everything was just as they had been told. 32
[42:6] 1 tn Heb “call you in righteousness.” The pronoun “you” is masculine singular, referring to the servant. See the note at 41:2.
[42:6] 2 tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצַר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצַר (yatsar, “form”).
[42:6] 3 tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. The precise identity of עָם (’am, “people”) is uncertain. In v. 5 עָם refers to mankind, and the following reference to “nations” also favors this. But in 49:8, where the phrase בְּרִית עָם occurs again, Israel seems to be in view.
[42:6] 4 sn Light here symbolizes deliverance from bondage and oppression; note the parallelism in 49:6b and in 51:4-6.
[42:6] 5 tn Or “the Gentiles” (so KJV, ASV, NIV); the same Hebrew word can be translated “nations” or “Gentiles” depending on the context.
[42:7] 6 sn This does not refer to literal physical healing of the blind. As the next two lines suggest, this refers metonymically to freeing captives from their dark prisons where their eyes have grown unaccustomed to light.
[42:7] 7 sn This does not refer to hardened, dangerous criminals, who would have been executed for their crimes in ancient Near Eastern society. This verse refers to political prisoners or victims of social injustice.
[49:26] 8 sn Verse 26a depicts siege warfare and bloody defeat. The besieged enemy will be so starved they will their own flesh. The bloodstained bodies lying on the blood-soaked battle site will look as if they collapsed in drunkenness.
[49:26] 9 tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB).
[49:26] 10 tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
[49:26] 11 tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Jacob.” See 1:24.
[53:12] 12 tn Scholars have debated the precise meaning of the term רַבִּים (rabbim) that occurs five times in this passage (Isa 52:14, 15; 53:11, 12 [2x]). Its two broad categories of translation are “much”/“many” and “great” (HALOT 1171-72 s.v. I רַב). Unlike other Hebrew terms for might or strength, this term is linked with numbers or abundance. In all sixteen uses outside of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (articular and plural) it signifies an inclusive meaning: “the majority” or “the multitude” (J. Jeremias, TDNT 6:536-37). This term occurs in parallelism with עֲצוּמִים (’atsumim), which normally signifies “numerous” or “large” or “powerful” (through large numbers). Like רַבִּים (rabbim), it refers to greatness in numbers (cf. Deut 4:38; 7:1; 9:1; 11:34). It emphasizes the multitudes with whom the Servant will share the spoil of his victory. As J. Olley wrote: “Yahweh has won the victory and vindicates his Servant, giving to him many subservient people, together with their spoils. These numerous peoples in turn receive blessing, sharing in the “peace” resulting from Yahweh’s victory and the Servant’s suffering” (John W. Olley, “‘The Many’: How Is Isa 53,12a to Be Understood,” Bib 68 [1987]: 330-56).
[53:12] 13 sn The servant is compared here to a warrior who will be richly rewarded for his effort and success in battle.
[53:12] 14 tn Heb “because he laid bare his life”; traditionally, ASV “because he (+ hath KJV) poured out his soul (life NIV) unto death.”
[53:12] 15 tn The Hiphil of פָּגַע (paga’) can mean “cause to attack” (v. 6), “urge, plead verbally” (Jer 15:11; 36:25), or “intervene militarily” (Isa 59:16). Perhaps the third nuance fits best here, for military imagery is employed in the first two lines of the verse.
[12:28] 16 sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong.
[12:28] 17 tn The phrase ἔφθασεν ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς (efqasen ef’ Juma") is quite important. Does it mean merely “approach” (which would be reflected in a translation like “has come near to you”) or actually “come upon” (as in the translation given above, “has already overtaken you,” which has the added connotation of suddenness)? Is the arrival of the kingdom merely anticipated or already in process? Two factors favor arrival over anticipation here. First, the prepositional phrase ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς (ef’ Jumas, “upon you”) in the Greek text suggests arrival (Dan 4:24, 28 Theodotion). Second, the following illustration in v. 29 looks at the healing as portraying Satan being overrun. So the presence of God’s authority has arrived. See also L&N 13.123 for the translation of φθάνω (fqanw) as “to happen to already, to come upon, to come upon already.”
[12:29] 18 tn Grk “Or how can.”
[12:29] 19 sn The strong man here pictures Satan.
[12:29] 20 sn Some see the imagery here as similar to Eph 4:7-10, although no opponents are explicitly named in that passage. Jesus has the victory over Satan. Jesus’ acts of healing mean that the war is being won and the kingdom is coming.
[11:21] 21 tn The referent of the expression “a strong man” is Satan.
[11:21] 22 tn The word αὐλή (aulh) describes any building large and elaborate enough to have an interior courtyard, thus “dwelling, palace, mansion” (L&N 7.6).
[11:21] 23 tn Grk “his goods are in peace.”
[11:2] 24 sn When you pray. What follows, although traditionally known as the Lord’s prayer, is really the disciples’ prayer. It represents how they are to approach God, by acknowledging his uniqueness and their need for his provision and protection.
[11:2] 25 tc Most
[11:2] 26 tn Grk “hallowed be your name.”
[11:2] 27 tc Most
[2:18] 28 tn Grk “marveled.” It is a hard word to translate with one term in this context. There is a mixture of amazement and pondering at work in considering the surprising events here. See Luke 1:21, 63; 2:33.
[2:19] 29 tn The term συμβάλλουσα (sumballousa) suggests more than remembering. She is trying to put things together here (Josephus, Ant. 2.5.3 [2.72]). The words “what they might mean” have been supplied in the translation to make this clear. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
[2:20] 30 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion of the topic.
[2:20] 31 sn The mention of glorifying and praising God is the second note of praise in this section; see Luke 2:13-14.
[2:20] 32 tn Grk “just as [it] had been spoken to them.” This has been simplified in the English translation by making the prepositional phrase (“to them”) the subject of the passive verb.
