John 1:7

1:7 He came as a witness ¹  to testify ²  about the light, so that everyone ³  might believe through him.

Isaiah 40:3-5

40:3 A voice cries out,

“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;

construct in the desert a road for our God.

40:4 Every valley must be elevated,

and every mountain and hill leveled.

The rough terrain will become a level plain,

the rugged landscape a wide valley.

40:5 The splendor ⁴  of the Lord will be revealed,

and all people ⁵  will see it at the same time.

For ⁶  the Lord has decreed it.” ⁷ 

Malachi 3:1

3:1 “I am about to send my messenger, ⁸  who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord ⁹  you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger ¹⁰  of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 4:2-5

4:2 But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication ¹¹  will rise with healing wings, ¹²  and you will skip about ¹³  like calves released from the stall. 4:3 You will trample on the wicked, for they will be like ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Restoration through the Lord

4:4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb ¹⁴  I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey. ¹⁵  4:5 Look, I will send you Elijah ¹⁶  the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.

Luke 1:17

1:17 And he will go as forerunner before the Lord ¹⁷  in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ¹⁸  to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”

Luke 1:76-79

1:76 And you, child, ¹⁹  will be called the prophet ²⁰  of the Most High. ²¹ 

For you will go before ²²  the Lord to prepare his ways, ²³ 

1:77 to give his people knowledge of salvation ²⁴  through the forgiveness ²⁵  of their sins.

1:78 Because of ²⁶  our God’s tender mercy ²⁷ 

the dawn ²⁸  will break ²⁹  upon us from on high

1:79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, ³⁰ 

to guide our feet into the way ³¹  of peace.”

[1:7]  ¹ tn Grk “came for a testimony.”

[1:7]  ² tn Or “to bear witness.”

[1:7]  ³ tn Grk “all.”

[40:5]  ⁴ tn Or “glory.” The Lord’s “glory” is his theophanic radiance and royal splendor (see Isa 6:3; 24:23; 35:2; 60:1; 66:18-19).

[40:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); NAB, NIV “mankind”; TEV “the whole human race.”

[40:5]  ⁶ tn Or “indeed.”

[40:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[3:1]  ⁸ tn In Hebrew the phrase “my messenger” is מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi), the same form as the prophet’s name (see note on the name “Malachi” in 1:1). However, here the messenger appears to be an eschatological figure who is about to appear, as the following context suggests. According to 4:5, this messenger is “Elijah the prophet,” whom the NT identifies as John the Baptist (Matt 11:10; Mark 1:2) because he came in the “spirit and power” of Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:11-12; Lk 1:17).

[3:1]  ⁹ tn Here the Hebrew term הָאָדוֹן (ha’adon) is used, not יְהוָה (yÿhvah, typically rendered Lord). Thus the focus is not on the Lord as the covenant God, but on his role as master.

[3:1]  ¹⁰ sn This messenger of the covenant may be equated with my messenger (that is, Elijah) mentioned earlier in the verse, or with the Lord himself. In either case the messenger functions as an enforcer of the covenant. Note the following verses, which depict purifying judgment on a people that has violated the Lord’s covenant.

[4:2]  ¹¹ tn Here the Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah), usually translated “righteousness” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT; cf. NAB “justice”), has been rendered as “vindication” because it is the vindication of God’s people that is in view in the context. Cf. BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 6; “righteousness as vindicated, justification, salvation, etc.”

[4:2]  ¹² sn The point of the metaphor of healing wings is unclear. The sun seems to be compared to a bird. Perhaps the sun’s “wings” are its warm rays. “Healing” may refer to a reversal of the injury done by evildoers (see Mal 3:5).

[4:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “you will go out and skip about.”

[4:4]  ¹⁴ sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (cf. Exod 3:1).

[4:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “which I commanded him in Horeb concerning all Israel, statutes and ordinances.”

[4:5]  ¹⁶ sn I will send you Elijah the prophet. In light of the ascension of Elijah to heaven without dying (2 Kgs 2:11), Judaism has always awaited his return as an aspect of the messianic age (see, e.g., John 1:19-28). Jesus identified John the Baptist as Elijah, because he came in the “spirit and power” of his prototype Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36).

[1:17]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “before him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ¹⁸ sn These two lines cover all relationships: Turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children points to horizontal relationships, while (turn) the disobedient to the wisdom of the just shows what God gives from above in a vertical manner.

[1:76]  ¹⁹ sn Now Zechariah describes his son John (you, child) through v. 77.

[1:76]  ²⁰ tn Or “a prophet”; but since Greek nouns can be definite without the article, and since in context this is a reference to the eschatological forerunner of the Messiah (cf. John 1:17), the concept is better conveyed to the English reader by the use of the definite article “the.”

[1:76]  ²¹ sn In other words, John is a prophet of God; see 1:32 and 7:22-23, 28.

[1:76]  ²² tc Most mss, especially the later ones (A C D L Θ Ψ 0130 Ë^1,13 33 Ï sy), have πρὸ προσώπου κυρίου (pro proswpou kuriou, “before the face of the Lord”), but the translation follows the reading ἐνώπιον κυρίου (enwpion kuriou, “before the Lord”), which has earlier and better ms support (Ì⁴ א B W 0177 pc) and is thus more likely to be authentic.

[1:76]  ²³ tn This term is often translated in the singular, looking specifically to the forerunner role, but the plural suggests the many elements in that salvation.

[1:77]  ²⁴ sn John’s role, to give his people knowledge of salvation, is similar to that of Jesus (Luke 3:1-14; 5:31-32).

[1:77]  ²⁵ sn Forgiveness is another major Lukan theme (Luke 4:18; 24:47; Acts 10:37).

[1:78]  ²⁶ tn For reasons of style, a new sentence has been started in the translation at this point. God’s mercy is ultimately seen in the deliverance John points to, so v. 78a is placed with the reference to Jesus as the light of dawning day.

[1:78]  ²⁷ sn God’s loyal love (steadfast love) is again the topic, reflected in the phrase tender mercy; see Luke 1:72.

[1:78]  ²⁸ sn The Greek term translated dawn (ἀνατολή, anatolh) can be a reference to the morning star or to the sun. The Messiah is pictured as a saving light that shows the way. The Greek term was also used to translate the Hebrew word for “branch” or “sprout,” so some see a double entendre here with messianic overtones (see Isa 11:1-10; Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12).

[1:78]  ²⁹ tn Grk “shall visit us.”

[1:79]  ³⁰ sn On the phrases who sit in darkness…and…death see Isa 9:1-2; 42:7; 49:9-10.

[1:79]  ³¹ tn Or “the path.”