Luke 1:68-77

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 

1:70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, ⁸ 

1:71 that we should be saved ⁹  from our enemies, ¹⁰ 

and from the hand of all who hate us.

1:72 He has done this ¹¹  to show mercy ¹²  to our ancestors, ¹³ 

and to remember his holy covenant ¹⁴  –

1:73 the oath ¹⁵  that he swore to our ancestor ¹⁶  Abraham.

This oath grants ¹⁷ 

1:74 that we, being rescued from the hand of our ¹⁸  enemies,

may serve him without fear, ¹⁹ 

1:75 in holiness and righteousness ²⁰  before him for as long as we live. ²¹ 

1:76 And you, child, ²²  will be called the prophet ²³  of the Most High. ²⁴ 

For you will go before ²⁵  the Lord to prepare his ways, ²⁶ 

1:77 to give his people knowledge of salvation ²⁷  through the forgiveness ²⁸  of their sins.

[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.

[1:70]  ⁷ tn Grk “from the ages,” “from eternity.”

[1:71]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “from long ago, salvation.”

[1:71]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹⁶ tn This is linked back grammatically by apposition to “covenant” in v. 72, specifying which covenant is meant.

[1:73]  ¹⁷ tn Or “forefather”; Grk “father.”

[1:73]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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.”

[1:76]  ²⁵ sn Now Zechariah describes his son John (you, child) through v. 77.

[1:76]  ²⁶ tn Or “a prophet”; but since Greek nouns can be definite without the article, and since in context this is a reference to the eschatological forerunner of the Messiah (cf. John 1:17), the concept is better conveyed to the English reader by the use of the definite article “the.”

[1:76]  ²⁷ sn In other words, John is a prophet of God; see 1:32 and 7:22-23, 28.

[1:76]  ²⁸ tc Most mss, especially the later ones (A C D L Θ Ψ 0130 Ë^1,13 33 Ï sy), have πρὸ προσώπου κυρίου (pro proswpou kuriou, “before the face of the Lord”), but the translation follows the reading ἐνώπιον κυρίου (enwpion kuriou, “before the Lord”), which has earlier and better ms support (Ì⁴ א B W 0177 pc) and is thus more likely to be authentic.

[1:76]  ²⁹ tn This term is often translated in the singular, looking specifically to the forerunner role, but the plural suggests the many elements in that salvation.

[1:77]  ²⁸ sn John’s role, to give his people knowledge of salvation, is similar to that of Jesus (Luke 3:1-14; 5:31-32).

[1:77]  ²⁹ sn Forgiveness is another major Lukan theme (Luke 4:18; 24:47; Acts 10:37).