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 1:72-73

1:72 He has done this ⁶  to show mercy ⁷  to our ancestors, ⁸ 

and to remember his holy covenant ⁹  –

1:73 the oath ¹⁰  that he swore to our ancestor ¹¹  Abraham.

This oath grants ¹² 

[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).

[1:72]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ sn Mercy refers to God’s loyal love (steadfast love) by which he completes his promises. See Luke 1:50.

[1:72]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn This is linked back grammatically by apposition to “covenant” in v. 72, specifying which covenant is meant.

[1:73]  ¹¹ tn Or “forefather”; Grk “father.”

[1:73]  ¹² 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.