Luke 1:75-77

1:75 in holiness and righteousness ¹  before him for as long as we live. ² 

1:76 And you, child, ³  will be called the prophet ⁴  of the Most High. ⁵ 

For you will go before ⁶  the Lord to prepare his ways, ⁷ 

1:77 to give his people knowledge of salvation ⁸  through the forgiveness ⁹  of their sins.

[1:75]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Grk “all our days.”

[1:76]  ³ sn Now Zechariah describes his son John (you, child) through v. 77.

[1:76]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ sn In other words, John is a prophet of God; see 1:32 and 7:22-23, 28.

[1:76]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ sn Forgiveness is another major Lukan theme (Luke 4:18; 24:47; Acts 10:37).