Isaiah 49:8

49:8 This is what the Lord says:

“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;

in the day of deliverance I will help you;

I will protect you ¹  and make you a covenant mediator for people, ² 

to rebuild ³  the land ⁴ 

and to reassign the desolate property.

Isaiah 61:2

61:2 to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor,

the day when our God will seek vengeance, ⁵ 

to console all who mourn,

Psalms 69:13

69:13 O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me! ⁶ 

O God, because of your great loyal love,

answer me with your faithful deliverance! ⁷ 

Luke 4:19

4:19 to proclaim the year ⁸  of the Lord’s favor.” ⁹ 

Romans 12:2

12:2 Do not be conformed ¹⁰  to this present world, ¹¹  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve ¹²  what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ¹³  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ¹⁴  – which is your reasonable service.

Romans 2:5

2:5 But because of your stubbornness ¹⁵  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ¹⁶ 

[49:8]  ¹ tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצָר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצָר (yatsar, “form”).

[49:8]  ² tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (’am, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.

[49:8]  ³ tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”

[49:8]  ⁴ tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.

[61:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “to announce the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance.

[69:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “as for me, [may] my prayer be to you, O Lord, [in] a time of favor.”

[69:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “O God, in the abundance of your loyal love, answer me in the faithfulness of your deliverance.”

[4:19]  ⁸ sn The year of the Lord’s favor (Grk “the acceptable year of the Lord”) is a description of the year of Jubilee (Lev 25:10). The year of the total forgiveness of debt is now turned into a metaphor for salvation. Jesus had come to proclaim that God was ready to forgive sin totally.

[4:19]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 61:1-2a. Within the citation is a line from Isa 58:6, with its reference to setting the oppressed free.

[12:2]  ¹⁰ tn Although συσχηματίζεσθε (suschmatizesqe) could be either a passive or middle, the passive is more likely since it would otherwise have to be a direct middle (“conform yourselves”) and, as such, would be quite rare for NT Greek. It is very telling that being “conformed” to the present world is viewed as a passive notion, for it may suggest that it happens, in part, subconsciously. At the same time, the passive could well be a “permissive passive,” suggesting that there may be some consciousness of the conformity taking place. Most likely, it is a combination of both.

[12:2]  ¹¹ tn Grk “to this age.”

[12:2]  ¹² sn The verb translated test and approve (δοκιμάζω, dokimazw) carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.”

[12:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[12:1]  ¹⁴ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

[2:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.

[2:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”