Luke 1:54-55

1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering ¹  his mercy, ² 

1:55 as he promised ³  to our ancestors, ⁴  to Abraham and to his descendants ⁵  forever.”

Luke 1:69-75

1:69 For ⁶  he has raised up ⁷  a horn of salvation ⁸  for us in the house of his servant David, ⁹ 

1:70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, ¹⁰ 

1:71 that we should be saved ¹¹  from our enemies, ¹² 

and from the hand of all who hate us.

1:72 He has done this ¹³  to show mercy ¹⁴  to our ancestors, ¹⁵ 

and to remember his holy covenant ¹⁶  –

1:73 the oath ¹⁷  that he swore to our ancestor ¹⁸  Abraham.

This oath grants ¹⁹ 

1:74 that we, being rescued from the hand of our ²⁰  enemies,

may serve him without fear, ²¹ 

1:75 in holiness and righteousness ²²  before him for as long as we live. ²³ 

Acts 2:39

2:39 For the promise ²⁴  is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”

Acts 3:25-26

3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, ²⁵  saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants ²⁶  all the nations ²⁷  of the earth will be blessed.’ ²⁸  3:26 God raised up ²⁹  his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning ³⁰  each one of you from your iniquities.” ³¹ 

Acts 13:32-33

13:32 And we proclaim to you the good news about the promise to our ancestors, ³²  13:33 that this promise ³³  God has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising ³⁴  Jesus, as also it is written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son; ³⁵  today I have fathered you.’ ³⁶ 

Ephesians 2:12

2:12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, ³⁷  alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, ³⁸  having no hope and without God in the world.

Hebrews 6:13-17

6:13 Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, 6:14 saying, “Surely I will bless you greatly and multiply your descendants abundantly.” ³⁹  6:15 And so by persevering, Abraham ⁴⁰  inherited the promise. 6:16 For people ⁴¹  swear by something greater than themselves, ⁴²  and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute. ⁴³  6:17 In the same way ⁴⁴  God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, ⁴⁵  and so he intervened with an oath,

[1:54]  ¹ tn Or “because he remembered mercy,” understanding the infinitive as causal.

[1:54]  ² tn Or “his [God’s] loyal love.”

[1:55]  ³ tn Grk “as he spoke.” Since this is a reference to the covenant to Abraham, ἐλάλησεν (elalhsen) can be translated in context “as he promised.” God keeps his word.

[1:55]  ⁴ tn Grk “fathers.”

[1:55]  ⁵ tn Grk “his seed” (an idiom for offspring or descendants).

[1:69]  ⁶ tn Grk “and,” but specifying the reason for the praise in the psalm.

[1:69]  ⁷ sn The phrase raised up means for God to bring someone significant onto the scene of history.

[1:69]  ⁸ sn The horn of salvation is a figure that refers to the power of Messiah and his ability to protect, as the horn refers to what an animal uses to attack and defend (Ps 75:4-5, 10; 148:14; 2 Sam 22:3). Thus the meaning of the figure is “a powerful savior.”

[1:69]  ⁹ sn In the house of his servant David is a reference to Messiah’s Davidic descent. Zechariah is more interested in Jesus than his own son John at this point.

[1:70]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “from the ages,” “from eternity.”

[1:71]  ¹¹ tn Grk “from long ago, salvation.”

[1:71]  ¹² sn The theme of being saved from our enemies is like the release Jesus preached in Luke 4:18-19. Luke’s narrative shows that one of the enemies in view is Satan and his cohorts, with the grip they have on humanity.

[1:72]  ¹³ tn The words “He has done this” (referring to the raising up of the horn of salvation from David’s house) are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to allow a new sentence to be started in the translation. The Greek sentence is lengthy and complex at this point, while contemporary English uses much shorter sentences.

[1:72]  ¹⁴ sn Mercy refers to God’s loyal love (steadfast love) by which he completes his promises. See Luke 1:50.

[1:72]  ¹⁵ tn Or “our forefathers”; Grk “our fathers.” This begins with the promise to Abraham (vv. 55, 73), and thus refers to many generations of ancestors.

[1:72]  ¹⁶ sn The promises of God can be summarized as being found in the one promise (the oath that he swore) to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3).

[1:73]  ¹⁷ tn This is linked back grammatically by apposition to “covenant” in v. 72, specifying which covenant is meant.

[1:73]  ¹⁸ tn Or “forefather”; Grk “father.”

[1:73]  ¹⁹ tn Again for reasons of English style, the infinitival clause “to grant us” has been translated “This oath grants” and made the beginning of a new sentence in the translation.

[1:74]  ²⁰ tc Many important early mss (א B L W [0130] Ë^1,13 565 892 pc) lack “our,” while most (A C D [K] Θ Ψ 0177 33 Ï pc) supply it. Although the addition is most likely not authentic, “our” has been included in the translation due to English stylistic requirements.

[1:74]  ²¹ tn This phrase in Greek is actually thrown forward to the front of the verse to give it emphasis.

[1:75]  ²² sn The phrases that we…might serve him…in holiness and righteousness from Luke 1:74-75 well summarize a basic goal for a believer in the eyes of Luke. Salvation frees us up to serve God without fear through a life full of ethical integrity.

[1:75]  ²³ tn Grk “all our days.”

[2:39]  ²⁴ sn The promise refers to the promise of the Holy Spirit that Jesus received from the Father in 2:33 and which he now pours out on others. The promise consists of the Holy Spirit (see note in 2:33). Jesus is the active mediator of God’s blessing.

[3:25]  ²⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[3:25]  ²⁶ tn Or “in your offspring”; Grk “in your seed.”

[3:25]  ²⁷ tn Or “families.” The Greek word πατριά (patria) can indicate persons of succeeding generations who are related by birth (“lineage,” “family”) but it can also indicate a relatively large unit of people who make up a sociopolitical group and who share a presumed biological descent. In many contexts πατριά is very similar to ἔθνος (eqnos) and λαός (laos). In light of the context of the OT quotation, it is better to translate πατριά as “nations” here.

[3:25]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Gen 22:18.

[3:26]  ²⁹ tn Grk “God raising up his servant, sent him.” The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Some translations (e.g., NIV, NRSV) render this participle as temporal (“when God raised up his servant”).

[3:26]  ³⁰ sn The picture of turning is again seen as the appropriate response to the message. See v. 19 above. In v. 19 it was “turning to,” here it is “turning away from.” The direction of the two metaphors is important.

[3:26]  ³¹ tn For the translation of plural πονηρία (ponhria) as “iniquities,” see G. Harder, TDNT 6:565. The plural is important, since for Luke turning to Jesus means turning away from sins, not just the sin of rejecting Jesus.

[13:32]  ³² tn Or “to our forefathers”; Grk “the fathers.”

[13:33]  ³³ tn Grk “that this”; the referent (the promise mentioned in the previous verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:33]  ³⁴ tn Or “by resurrecting.” The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") is taken as instrumental here.

[13:33]  ³⁵ sn You are my Son. The key to how the quotation is used is the naming of Jesus as “Son” to the Father. The language is that of kingship, as Ps 2 indicates. Here is the promise about what the ultimate Davidic heir would be.

[13:33]  ³⁶ tn Grk “I have begotten you.” The traditional translation for γεγέννηκα (gegennhka, “begotten”) is misleading to the modern English reader because it is no longer in common use. Today one speaks of “fathering” a child in much the same way speakers of English formerly spoke of “begetting a child.”

[2:12]  ³⁷ tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”

[2:12]  ³⁸ tn Or “covenants of the promise.”

[6:14]  ³⁹ tn Grk “in blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply you,” the Greek form of a Hebrew idiom showing intensity.

[6:15]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Abraham) has been specified for clarity.

[6:16]  ⁴¹ tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, and is thus translated “people.”

[6:16]  ⁴² tn Grk “by something greater”; the rest of the comparison (“than themselves”) is implied.

[6:16]  ⁴³ tn Grk “the oath for confirmation is an end of all dispute.”

[6:17]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “in which.”

[6:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”