Isaiah 59:16-18

The Lord Intervenes

59:16 He sees there is no advocate; ¹ 

he is shocked ²  that no one intervenes.

So he takes matters into his own hands; ³ 

his desire for justice drives him on. ⁴ 

59:17 He wears his desire for justice ⁵  like body armor, ⁶ 

and his desire to deliver is like a helmet on his head. ⁷ 

He puts on the garments of vengeance ⁸ 

and wears zeal like a robe.

59:18 He repays them for what they have done,

dispensing angry judgment to his adversaries

and punishing his enemies. ⁹ 

He repays the coastlands. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 61:3

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ¹¹  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ¹²  instead of discouragement. ¹³ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ¹⁴ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 61:6

61:6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,

servants of our God.’ ¹⁶ 

You will enjoy ¹⁷  the wealth of nations

and boast about ¹⁸  the riches you receive from them. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 61:10

61:10 I ²⁰  will greatly rejoice ²¹  in the Lord;

I will be overjoyed because of my God. ²² 

For he clothes me in garments of deliverance;

he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication. ²³ 

I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would;

I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry. ²⁴ 

Romans 13:14

13:14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires. ²⁵ 

Galatians 3:27

3:27 For all of you who ²⁶  were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Ephesians 4:22-24

4:22 You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside ²⁷  the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, 4:23 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 4:24 and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image ²⁸  – in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth. ²⁹ 

Revelation 19:8

19:8 She was permitted to be dressed in bright, clean, fine linen” ³⁰  (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints). ³¹ 

Revelation 19:14

19:14 The ³²  armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, ³³  were following him on white horses.

[59:16]  ¹ tn Heb “man” (so KJV, ASV); TEV “no one to help.”

[59:16]  ² tn Or “appalled” (NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “disgusted.”

[59:16]  ³ tn Heb “and his arm delivers for him.”

[59:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “and his justice [or “righteousness”] supports him.”

[59:17]  ⁵ tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “goodness.”

[59:17]  ⁶ tn Or “a breastplate” (traditional; so many English versions); TEV “a coat of armour.”

[59:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “and [as] a helmet deliverance on his head.”

[59:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he puts on the clothes of vengeance [as] a garment.”

[59:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “in accordance with deeds, so he repays, anger to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies.”

[59:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “islands” (KJV, NIV).

[61:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ¹² tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ¹⁴ tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

[61:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[61:6]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”

[61:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”

[61:6]  ¹⁸ tc The form in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yit’ammÿru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (’amar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).

[61:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).

[61:10]  ²⁰ sn The speaker in vv. 10-11 is not identified, but it is likely that the personified nation (or perhaps Zion) responds here to the Lord’s promise of restoration.

[61:10]  ²¹ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[61:10]  ²² tn Heb “my being is happy in my God”; NAB “in my God is the joy of my soul.”

[61:10]  ²³ tn Heb “robe of vindication”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “robe of righteousness.”

[61:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “like a bridegroom [who] acts like a priest [by wearing] a turban, and like a bride [who] wears her jewelry.” The words “I look” are supplied for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[13:14]  ²⁵ tn Grk “make no provision for the flesh unto desires.”

[3:27]  ²⁶ tn Grk “For as many of you as.”

[4:22]  ²⁷ tn An alternative rendering for the infinitives in vv. 22-24 (“to lay aside… to be renewed… to put on”) is “that you have laid aside… that you are being renewed… that you have put on.” The three infinitives of vv. 22 (ἀποθέσθαι, apoqesqai), 23 (ἀνανεοῦσθαι, ananeousqai), and 24 (ἐνδύσασθαι, endusasqai), form part of an indirect discourse clause; they constitute the teaching given to the believers addressed in the letter. The problem in translation is that one cannot be absolutely certain whether they go back to indicatives in the original statement (i.e., “you have put off”) or imperatives (i.e., “put off!”). Every other occurrence of an aorist infinitive in indirect discourse in the NT goes back to an imperative, but in all of these examples the indirect discourse is introduced by a verb that implies a command. The verb διδάσκω (didaskw) in the corpus Paulinum may be used to relate the indicatives of the faith as well as the imperatives. This translation implies that the infinitives go back to imperatives, though the alternate view that they refer back to indicatives is also a plausible interpretation. For further discussion, see ExSyn 605.

[4:24]  ²⁸ tn Or “in God’s likeness.” Grk “according to God.” The preposition κατά used here denotes a measure of similarity or equality (BDAG 513 s.v. B.5.b.α).

[4:24]  ²⁹ tn Or “in righteousness and holiness which is based on truth” or “originated from truth.”

[19:8]  ³⁰ tn On the term translated “fine linen,” BDAG 185 s.v. βύσσινος states, “made of fine linen, subst. τὸ β. fine linen, linen garment…Rv 18:12…16; 19:8, 14.”

[19:8]  ³¹ sn This phrase is treated as a parenthetical explanation by the author.

[19:14]  ³² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:14]  ³³ tn On the term translated “fine linen,” BDAG 185 s.v. βύσσινος states, “made of fine linen, subst. τὸ β. fine linen, linen garment…Rv 18:12, 16; 19:8, 14.”