John 20:21

20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

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 23:34

23:34 “For this reason I ¹²  am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, ¹³  some of whom you will kill and crucify, ¹⁴  and some you will flog ¹⁵  in your synagogues ¹⁶  and pursue from town to town,

Matthew 23:2

23:2 “The ¹⁷  experts in the law ¹⁸  and the Pharisees ¹⁹  sit on Moses’ seat.

Colossians 1:20

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ²⁰  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Ephesians 3:7

3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ²¹  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ²²  the exercise of his power. ²³ 

[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.”

[23:34]  ¹² tn Grk “behold I am sending.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[23:34]  ¹³ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:34]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[23:34]  ¹⁵ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

[23:34]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[23:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[23:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “The scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:2]  ¹⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[1:20]  ²⁰ tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[3:7]  ²¹ tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

[3:7]  ²² tn Grk “according to.”

[3:7]  ²³ sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.