Isaiah 51:10-11

51:10 Did you not dry up the sea,

the waters of the great deep?

Did you not make ¹  a path through the depths of the sea,

so those delivered from bondage ²  could cross over?

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

they will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ³ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ⁴  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ⁵ 

Matthew 20:28

20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom ⁶  for many.”

Matthew 20:1

Workers in the Vineyard

20:1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner ⁷  who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

Matthew 2:6

2:6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are in no way least among the rulers of Judah,

for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” ⁸ 

[51:10]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Are you not the one who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made…?”

[51:10]  ² tn Heb “the redeemed” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “the ransomed.”

[51:11]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “overtake” (so NIV); NASB “they will obtain.”

[51:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee.”

[20:28]  ⁶ sn The Greek word for ransom (λύτρον, lutron) is found here and in Mark 10:45 and refers to the payment of a price in order to purchase the freedom of a slave. The idea of Jesus as the “ransom” is that he paid the price with his own life by standing in our place as a substitute, enduring the judgment that we deserved for sin.

[20:1]  ⁷ sn The term landowner here refers to the owner and manager of a household.

[2:6]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Mic 5:2.