John 7:27

7:27 But we know where this man ¹  comes from. ²  Whenever the Christ ³  comes, no one will know where he comes from.” ⁴ 

Psalms 132:11

132:11 The Lord made a reliable promise to David; ⁵ 

he will not go back on his word. ⁶ 

He said, ⁷  “I will place one of your descendants ⁸  on your throne.

Isaiah 11:1

An Ideal King Establishes a Kingdom of Peace

11:1 A shoot will grow out of Jesse’s ⁹  root stock,

a bud will sprout ¹⁰  from his roots.

Jeremiah 23:5

23:5 “I, the Lord, promise ¹¹  that a new time will certainly come ¹² 

when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, ¹³  a descendant of David.

He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding ¹⁴ 

and will do what is just and right in the land. ¹⁵ 

Micah 5:2

A King Will Come and a Remnant Will Prosper

5:2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, ¹⁶ 

seemingly insignificant ¹⁷  among the clans of Judah –

from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, ¹⁸ 

one whose origins ¹⁹  are in the distant past. ²⁰ 

Matthew 2:5

2:5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said, “for it is written this way by the prophet:

Luke 2:4

2:4 So ²¹  Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth ²²  in Galilee to Judea, to the city ²³  of David called Bethlehem, ²⁴  because he was of the house ²⁵  and family line ²⁶  of David.

Luke 2:11

2:11 Today ²⁷  your Savior is born in the city ²⁸  of David. ²⁹  He is Christ ³⁰  the Lord.

[7:27]  ¹ tn Grk “this one.”

[7:27]  ² sn We know where this man comes from. The author apparently did not consider this objection worth answering. The true facts about Jesus’ origins were readily available for any reader who didn’t know already. Here is an instance where the author assumes knowledge about Jesus that is independent from the material he records.

[7:27]  ³ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[7:27]  ⁴ sn The view of these people regarding the Messiah that no one will know where he comes from reflects the idea that the origin of the Messiah is a mystery. In the Talmud (b. Sanhedrin 97a) Rabbi Zera taught: “Three come unawares: Messiah, a found article, and a scorpion.” Apparently OT prophetic passages like Mal 3:1 and Dan 9:25 were interpreted by some as indicating a sudden appearance of Messiah. It appears that this was not a universal view: The scribes summoned by Herod at the coming of the Magi in Matt 2 knew that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. It is important to remember that Jewish messianic expectations in the early 1st century were not monolithic.

[132:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord swore an oath to David [in] truth.”

[132:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “he will not turn back from it.”

[132:11]  ⁷ tn The words “he said” are supplied in the translation to clarify that what follows are the Lord’s words.

[132:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “the fruit of your body.”

[11:1]  ⁹ sn The text mentions David’s father Jesse, instead of the great king himself. Perhaps this is done for rhetorical reasons to suggest that a new David, not just another disappointing Davidic descendant, will arise. Other prophets call the coming ideal Davidic king “David” or picture him as the second coming of David, as it were. See Jer 30:9; Ezek 34:23-24; 37:24-25; Hos 3:5; and Mic 5:2 (as well as the note there).

[11:1]  ¹⁰ tc The Hebrew text has יִפְרֶה (yifreh, “will bear fruit,” from פָּרָה, parah), but the ancient versions, as well as the parallelism suggest that יִפְרַח (yifrakh, “will sprout”, from פָּרַח, parakh) is the better reading here. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:276, n. 2.

[23:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:5]  ¹² tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “a righteous sprig to David” or “a righteous shoot” (NAB).

[23:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he will reign as king and act wisely.” This is another example of the use of two verbs joined by “and” where one becomes the adverbial modifier of the other (hendiadys). For the nuance of the verb “act wisely” rather than “prosper” see Amos 5:13; Ps 2:10 (cf. BDB 968 s.v. שָׂכַל Hiph.5).

[23:5]  ¹⁵ sn This has been the constant emphasis in this section. See 22:3 for the demand, 22:15 for its fulfillment, and 22:13 for its abuse. The ideal king would follow in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestor David (2 Sam 8:15) who set this forth as an ideal for his dynasty (2 Sam 23:3) and prayed for it to be true of his son Solomon (Ps 72:1-2).

[5:2]  ¹⁶ sn Ephrathah is either an alternate name for Bethlehem or the name of the district in which Bethlehem was located. See Ruth 4:11.

[5:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “being small.” Some omit לִהְיוֹת (lihyot, “being”) because it fits awkwardly and appears again in the next line.

[5:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from you for me one will go out to be a ruler over Israel.”

[5:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his goings out.” The term may refer to the ruler’s origins (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or to his activities.

[5:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “from the past, from the days of antiquity.” Elsewhere both phrases refer to the early periods in the history of the world or of the nation of Israel. For מִקֶּדֶם (miqqedem, “from the past”) see Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10. For מִימֵי עוֹלָם (mimey ’olam, “from the days of antiquity”) see Isa 63:9, 11; Amos 9:11; Mic 7:14; Mal 3:4. In Neh 12:46 and Amos 9:11 the Davidic era is in view.

[2:4]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the action.

[2:4]  ²² sn On Nazareth see Luke 1:26.

[2:4]  ²³ tn Or “town.” The translation “city” is used here because of its collocation with “of David,” suggesting its importance, though not its size.

[2:4]  ²⁴ sn The journey from Nazareth to the city of David called Bethlehem was a journey of about 90 mi (150 km). Bethlehem was a small village located about 7 miles south-southwest of Jerusalem.

[2:4]  ²⁵ sn Luke’s use of the term “house” probably alludes to the original promise made to David outlined in the Nathan oracle of 2 Sam 7:12-16, especially in light of earlier connections between Jesus and David made in Luke 1:32. Further, the mention of Bethlehem reminds one of the promise of Mic 5:2, namely, that a great king would emerge from Bethlehem to rule over God’s people.

[2:4]  ²⁶ tn Or “family,” “lineage.”

[2:11]  ²⁷ sn The Greek word for today (σήμερον, shmeron) occurs eleven times in the Gospel of Luke (2:11; 4:21; 5:26; 12:28; 13:32-33; 19:5, 9; 22:34, 61; 23:43) and nine times in Acts. Its use, especially in passages such as 2:11, 4:21, 5:26; 19:5, 9, signifies the dawning of the era of messianic salvation and the fulfillment of the plan of God. Not only does it underscore the idea of present fulfillment in Jesus’ ministry, but it also indicates salvific fulfillment present in the church (cf. Acts 1:6; 3:18; D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:412; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 873).

[2:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “town.” See the note on “city” in v. 4.

[2:11]  ²⁹ tn This is another indication of a royal, messianic connection.

[2:11]  ³⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”