Isaiah 61:1-3

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ¹  me. ² 

He has commissioned ³  me to encourage ⁴  the poor,

to help ⁵  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

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

the day when our God will seek vengeance, ⁶ 

to console all who mourn,

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ⁷  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ⁸  instead of discouragement. ⁹ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ¹⁰ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ¹¹ 

Matthew 4:23

Jesus’ Healing Ministry

4:23 Jesus ¹²  went throughout all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, ¹³  preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of disease and sickness among the people.

Matthew 9:35

Workers for the Harvest

9:35 Then Jesus went throughout all the towns ¹⁴  and villages, teaching in their synagogues, ¹⁵  preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. ¹⁶ 

Luke 4:17-19

4:17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He ¹⁷  unrolled ¹⁸  the scroll and found the place where it was written,

4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed ¹⁹  me to proclaim good news ²⁰  to the poor. ²¹ 

He has sent me ²²  to proclaim release ²³  to the captives

and the regaining of sight ²⁴  to the blind,

to set free ²⁵  those who are oppressed, ²⁶ 

4:19 to proclaim the year ²⁷  of the Lord’s favor.” ²⁸ 

Luke 4:43-44

4:43 But Jesus ²⁹  said to them, “I must ³⁰  proclaim the good news of the kingdom ³¹  of God to the other towns ³²  too, for that is what I was sent ³³  to do.” ³⁴  4:44 So ³⁵  he continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea. ³⁶ 

Luke 8:1

Jesus’ Ministry and the Help of Women

8:1 Some time ³⁷  afterward ³⁸  he went on through towns ³⁹  and villages, preaching and proclaiming the good news ⁴⁰  of the kingdom of God. ⁴¹  The ⁴²  twelve were with him,

Acts 20:25

20:25 “And now ⁴³  I know that none ⁴⁴  of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom ⁴⁵  will see me ⁴⁶  again.

Acts 28:23

28:23 They set ⁴⁷  a day to meet with him, ⁴⁸  and they came to him where he was staying ⁴⁹  in even greater numbers. ⁵⁰  From morning until evening he explained things ⁵¹  to them, ⁵²  testifying ⁵³  about the kingdom of God ⁵⁴  and trying to convince ⁵⁵  them about Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets.

Ephesians 2:17

2:17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near,

[61:1]  ¹ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ² sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ³ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ⁴ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[61:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “to announce the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance.

[61:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[4:23]  ¹² tn Grk “And he.”

[4:23]  ¹³ sn Synagogues were places for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (cf. Luke 8:41). Though the origin of the synagogue is not entirely clear, it seems to have arisen in the postexilic community during the intertestamental period. A town could establish a synagogue if there were at least ten men. In normative Judaism of the NT period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present (see the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2).

[9:35]  ¹⁴ tn Or “cities.”

[9:35]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[9:35]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and every [kind of] sickness.” Here “every” was not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[4:17]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And unrolling the scroll he found.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Instead a new sentence has been started in the translation.

[4:17]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “opening,” but a scroll of this period would have to be unrolled. The participle ἀναπτύξας (anaptuxa") has been translated as a finite verb due to the requirements of contemporary English style.

[4:18]  ¹⁹ sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.

[4:18]  ²⁰ tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”

[4:18]  ²¹ sn The poor is a key term in Luke. It refers to the pious poor and indicates Jesus’ desire to reach out to those the world tends to forget or mistreat. It is like 1:52 in force and also will be echoed in 6:20 (also 1 Pet 2:11-25). Jesus is commissioned to do this.

[4:18]  ²² tc The majority of mss, especially the later Byzantines, include the phrase “to heal the brokenhearted” at this point (A Θ Ψ 0102 ˹ Ï). The phrase is lacking in several weighty mss (א B D L W Ξ Ë¹³ 33 579 700 892* pc lat sy^s co), including representatives from both the Alexandrian and Western texttypes. From the standpoint of external evidence, the omission of the phrase is more likely original. When internal evidence is considered, the shorter reading becomes almost certain. Scribes would be much more prone to add the phrase here to align the text with Isa 61:1, the source of the quotation, than to remove it from the original.

[4:18]  ²³ sn The release in view here is comprehensive, both at a physical level and a spiritual one, as the entire ministry of Jesus makes clear (Luke 1:77-79; 7:47; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43).

[4:18]  ²⁴ sn Again, as with the previous phrase, regaining of sight may well mean more than simply miraculously restoring physical sight, which itself pictures a deeper reality (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

[4:18]  ²⁵ sn The essence of Jesus’ messianic work is expressed in the phrase to set free. This line from Isa 58 says that Jesus will do what the nation had failed to do. It makes the proclamation messianic, not merely prophetic, because Jesus doesn’t just proclaim the message – he brings the deliverance. The word translated set free is the same Greek word (ἄφεσις, afesi") translated release earlier in the verse.

[4:18]  ²⁶ sn Again, as with the previous phrases, oppressed may well mean more than simply political or economic oppression, but a deeper reality of oppression by sin (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

[4:19]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ 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.

[4:43]  ²⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:43]  ³⁰ tn Here δεῖ (dei, “it is necessary”) indicates divine commission (cf. Luke 2:49).

[4:43]  ³¹ sn The good news of the kingdom, the kingdom of the rule of God through the Messiah, is the topic of Jesus’ preaching.

[4:43]  ³² tn Or “cities.”

[4:43]  ³³ sn Jesus was sent by God for this purpose. This is the language of divine commission.

[4:43]  ³⁴ tn Grk “because for this purpose I was sent.”

[4:44]  ³⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the summarization.

[4:44]  ³⁶ tc Most mss (A D Θ Ψ Ë¹³ 33 Ï latt) have “of Galilee”; others, “of the Jews” (W). “Judea” (read by Ì⁷⁵ א B Q 579 892 pc sa, and [with minor variation] C L ˹ 1241) is probably the original reading since it is both the harder reading and supported by the best witnesses. “Galilee” is an assimilation to Mark 1:39 and Matt 4:23.

[8:1]  ³⁷ tn Grk “And it happened that some time.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[8:1]  ³⁸ tn Καθεξῆς (Kaqexh") is a general temporal term and need not mean “soon afterward”; see Luke 1:3; Acts 3:24; 11:4; 18:23 and L&N 61.1.

[8:1]  ³⁹ tn Or “cities.”

[8:1]  ⁴⁰ sn The combination of preaching and proclaiming the good news is a bit emphatic, stressing Jesus’ teaching ministry on the rule of God.

[8:1]  ⁴¹ 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. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[8:1]  ⁴² tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[20:25]  ⁴³ tn Grk “And now, behold.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.

[20:25]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “all of you…will not see.” Greek handles its negation somewhat differently from English, and the translation follows English grammatical conventions.

[20:25]  ⁴⁵ sn Note how Paul’s usage of the expression proclaiming the kingdom is associated with (and intertwined with) his testifying to the good news of God’s grace in v. 24. For Paul the two concepts were interrelated.

[20:25]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “will see my face” (an idiom for seeing someone in person).

[28:23]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “Having set.” The participle ταξάμενοι (taxamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[28:23]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “Having set a day with him”; the words “to meet” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[28:23]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “came to him in his rented quarters.”

[28:23]  ⁵⁰ tn BDAG 848 s.v. πολύς 1.b.β.ב states, “(even) more πλείονες in even greater numbers Ac 28:23.”

[28:23]  ⁵¹ tn The word “things” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[28:23]  ⁵² tn Grk “to whom he explained.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun at this point in the translation.

[28:23]  ⁵³ tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 1 has “to make a solemn declaration about the truth of someth. testify of, bear witness to (orig. under oath)…God’s kingdom 28:23.”

[28:23]  ⁵⁴ sn Testifying about the kingdom of God. The topic is important. Paul’s preaching was about the rule of God and his promise in Jesus. Paul’s text was the Jewish scriptures.

[28:23]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “persuade.”