Luke 1:68-69

1:68 “Blessed ¹  be the Lord God of Israel,

because he has come to help ²  and has redeemed ³  his people.

1:69 For ⁴  he has raised up ⁵  a horn of salvation ⁶  for us in the house of his servant David, ⁷ 

Acts 15:14

15:14 Simeon ⁸  has explained ⁹  how God first concerned himself ¹⁰  to select ¹¹  from among the Gentiles ¹²  a people for his name.

[1:68]  ¹ sn The traditional name of this psalm, the “Benedictus,” comes from the Latin wording of the start of the hymn (“Blessed be…”).

[1:68]  ² sn The verb come to help can refer to a visit, but can also connote concern or assistance (L&N 85.11).

[1:68]  ³ tn Or “has delivered”; Grk “has accomplished redemption.”

[1:69]  ⁴ tn Grk “and,” but specifying the reason for the praise in the psalm.

[1:69]  ⁵ sn The phrase raised up means for God to bring someone significant onto the scene of history.

[1:69]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[15:14]  ⁸ sn Simeon is a form of the apostle Peter’s Aramaic name. James uses Peter’s “Jewish” name here.

[15:14]  ⁹ tn Or “reported,” “described.”

[15:14]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 378 s.v. ἐπισκέπτομαι 3 translates this phrase in Acts 15:14, “God concerned himself about winning a people fr. among the nations.”

[15:14]  ¹¹ tn Grk “to take,” but in the sense of selecting or choosing (accompanied by the preposition ἐκ [ek] plus a genitive specifying the group selected from) see Heb 5:1; also BDAG 584 s.v. λαμβάνω 6.

[15:14]  ¹² sn In the Greek text the expression “from among the Gentiles” is in emphatic position.