Luke 1:51-53

1:51 He has demonstrated power ¹  with his arm; he has scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance ²  of their hearts.

1:52 He has brought down the mighty ³  from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position; ⁴ 

1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things, ⁵  and has sent the rich away empty. ⁶ 

Isaiah 2:11-17

2:11 Proud men will be brought low,

arrogant men will be humiliated; ⁷ 

the Lord alone will be exalted ⁸ 

in that day.

2:12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment, ⁹ 

for ¹⁰  all the high and mighty,

for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;

2:13 for all the cedars of Lebanon,

that are so high and mighty,

for all the oaks of Bashan; ¹¹ 

2:14 for all the tall mountains,

for all the high hills, ¹² 

2:15 for every high tower,

for every fortified wall,

2:16 for all the large ships, ¹³ 

for all the impressive ¹⁴  ships. ¹⁵ 

2:17 Proud men will be humiliated,

arrogant men will be brought low; ¹⁶ 

the Lord alone will be exalted ¹⁷ 

in that day.

Isaiah 35:6-8

35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,

the mute tongue will shout for joy;

for water will flow ¹⁸  in the desert,

streams in the wilderness. ¹⁹ 

35:7 The dry soil will become a pool of water,

the parched ground springs of water.

Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,

grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.

35:8 A thoroughfare will be there –

it will be called the Way of Holiness. ²⁰ 

The unclean will not travel on it;

it is reserved for those authorized to use it ²¹  –

fools ²²  will not stray into it.

Isaiah 40:4

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.

Isaiah 49:11

49:11 I will make all my mountains into a road;

I will construct my roadways.”

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 ²³  me. ²⁴ 

He has commissioned ²⁵  me to encourage ²⁶  the poor,

to help ²⁷  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, ²⁸ 

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, ²⁹  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ³⁰  instead of discouragement. ³¹ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ³² 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ³³ 

Ezekiel 17:24

17:24 All the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord.

I make the high tree low; I raise up the low tree.

I make the green tree wither, and I make the dry tree sprout.

I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!’”

James 1:9

1:9 Now the believer ³⁴  of humble means ³⁵  should take pride ³⁶  in his high position. ³⁷ 

[1:51]  ¹ tn Or “shown strength,” “performed powerful deeds.” The verbs here switch to aorist tense through 1:55. This is how God will act in general for his people as they look to his ultimate deliverance.

[1:51]  ² tn Grk “in the imaginations of their hearts.” The psalm rebukes the arrogance of the proud, who think that power is their sovereign right. Here διανοίᾳ (dianoia) can be understood as a dative of sphere or reference/respect.

[1:52]  ³ tn Or “rulers.”

[1:52]  ⁴ tn Or “those of humble position”

[1:53]  ⁵ sn Good things refers not merely to material blessings, but blessings that come from knowing God.

[1:53]  ⁶ sn Another fundamental contrast of Luke’s is between the hungry and the rich (Luke 6:20-26).

[2:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the eyes of the pride of men will be brought low, and the arrogance of men will be brought down.” The repetition of the verbs שָׁפַל (shafal) and שָׁחָח (shakhakh) from v. 9 draws attention to the appropriate nature of the judgment. Those proud men who “bow low” before idols will be forced to “bow low” before God when he judges their sin.

[2:11]  ⁸ tn Or “elevated”; CEV “honored.”

[2:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] has a day.”

[2:12]  ¹⁰ tn Or “against” (NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:13]  ¹¹ sn The cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan were well-known for their size and prominence. They make apt symbols here for powerful men who think of themselves as prominent and secure.

[2:14]  ¹² sn The high mountains and hills symbolize the apparent security of proud men, as do the high tower and fortified wall of v. 15.

[2:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.

[2:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “desirable”; NAB, NIV “stately”; NRSV “beautiful.”

[2:16]  ¹⁵ tn On the meaning of this word, which appears only here in the Hebrew Bible, see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 41-42.

[2:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the pride of men will be brought down, and the arrogance of men will be brought low.” As in v. 11, the repetition of the verbs שָׁפַל (shafal) and שָׁחָח (shakhakh) from v. 9 draws attention to the appropriate nature of the judgment. Those proud men who “bow low” before idols will be forced to “bow low” before God when he judges their sin.

[2:17]  ¹⁷ tn Or “elevated”; NCV “praised”; CEV “honored.”

[35:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “burst forth” (so NAB); KJV “break out.”

[35:6]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT “desert.”

[35:8]  ²⁰ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and there will be there a road and a way, and the Way of Holiness it will be called.” וְדֶרֶךְ (vÿderekh, “and a/the way”) is accidentally duplicated; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a does not reflect the repetition of the phrase.

[35:8]  ²¹ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The text reads literally “and it is for them, the one who walks [on the] way.” In this context those authorized to use the Way of Holiness would be morally upright people who are the recipients of God’s deliverance, in contrast to the morally impure and foolish who are excluded from the new covenant community.

[35:8]  ²² tn In this context “fools” are those who are morally corrupt, not those with limited intellectual capacity.

[61:1]  ²³ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[61:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “to announce the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance.

[61:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[1:9]  ³⁴ tn Grk “brother.” Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. TEV, NLT “Christians”; CEV “God’s people”). The term broadly connotes familial relationships within the family of God (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a).

[1:9]  ³⁵ tn Grk “the lowly brother,” but “lowly/humble” is clarified in context by the contrast with “wealthy” in v. 10.

[1:9]  ³⁶ tn Grk “let him boast.”

[1:9]  ³⁷ tn Grk “his height,” “his exaltation.”