Luke 1:70-73

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

1:71 that we should be saved ²  from our enemies, ³ 

and from the hand of all who hate us.

1:72 He has done this ⁴  to show mercy ⁵  to our ancestors, ⁶ 

and to remember his holy covenant ⁷  –

1:73 the oath ⁸  that he swore to our ancestor ⁹  Abraham.

This oath grants ¹⁰ 

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

[1:71]  ² tn Grk “from long ago, salvation.”

[1:71]  ³ 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ sn Mercy refers to God’s loyal love (steadfast love) by which he completes his promises. See Luke 1:50.

[1:72]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁴ tn This is linked back grammatically by apposition to “covenant” in v. 72, specifying which covenant is meant.

[1:73]  ⁵ tn Or “forefather”; Grk “father.”

[1:73]  ⁶ 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.