Luke 1:77-79

1:77 to give his people knowledge of salvation ¹  through the forgiveness ²  of their sins.

1:78 Because of ³  our God’s tender mercy ⁴ 

the dawn ⁵  will break ⁶  upon us from on high

1:79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, ⁷ 

to guide our feet into the way ⁸  of peace.”

Luke 2:10-14

2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, ⁹  for I proclaim to you good news ¹⁰  that brings great joy to all the people: 2:11 Today ¹¹  your Savior is born in the city ¹²  of David. ¹³  He is Christ ¹⁴  the Lord. 2:12 This ¹⁵  will be a sign ¹⁶  for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹⁷  2:13 Suddenly ¹⁸  a vast, heavenly army ¹⁹  appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

2:14 “Glory ²⁰  to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among people ²¹  with whom he is pleased!” ²² 

Luke 10:5-6

10:5 Whenever ²³  you enter a house, ²⁴  first say, ‘May peace ²⁵  be on this house!’ 10:6 And if a peace-loving person ²⁶  is there, your peace will remain on him, but if not, it will return to you. ²⁷ 

Acts 10:36

10:36 You know ²⁸  the message ²⁹  he sent to the people ³⁰  of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace ³¹  through ³²  Jesus Christ ³³  (he is Lord ³⁴  of all) –

Acts 13:46

13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, ³⁵  “It was necessary to speak the word of God ³⁶  to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy ³⁷  of eternal life, we ³⁸  are turning to the Gentiles. ³⁹ 

Hebrews 3:7

Exposition of Psalm 95: Hearing God’s Word in Faith

3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, ⁴⁰ 

“Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! ⁴¹ 

Hebrews 3:13

3:13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception.

Hebrews 3:15

3:15 As it says, ⁴²  “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! ⁴³  Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” ⁴⁴ 

Hebrews 10:26-29

10:26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, ⁴⁵  10:27 but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury ⁴⁶  of fire that will consume God’s enemies. ⁴⁷  10:28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death ⁴⁸  without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ⁴⁹  10:29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for ⁵⁰  the Son of God, and profanes ⁵¹  the blood of the covenant that made him holy, ⁵²  and insults the Spirit of grace?

Hebrews 12:24-26

12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator ⁵³  of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does. ⁵⁴ 

12:25 Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven? 12:26 Then his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven too.” ⁵⁵ 

[1:77]  ¹ 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]  ² sn Forgiveness is another major Lukan theme (Luke 4:18; 24:47; Acts 10:37).

[1:78]  ³ tn For reasons of style, a new sentence has been started in the translation at this point. God’s mercy is ultimately seen in the deliverance John points to, so v. 78a is placed with the reference to Jesus as the light of dawning day.

[1:78]  ⁴ sn God’s loyal love (steadfast love) is again the topic, reflected in the phrase tender mercy; see Luke 1:72.

[1:78]  ⁵ sn The Greek term translated dawn (ἀνατολή, anatolh) can be a reference to the morning star or to the sun. The Messiah is pictured as a saving light that shows the way. The Greek term was also used to translate the Hebrew word for “branch” or “sprout,” so some see a double entendre here with messianic overtones (see Isa 11:1-10; Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12).

[1:78]  ⁶ tn Grk “shall visit us.”

[1:79]  ⁷ sn On the phrases who sit in darkness…and…death see Isa 9:1-2; 42:7; 49:9-10.

[1:79]  ⁸ tn Or “the path.”

[2:10]  ⁹ tn Grk “behold.”

[2:10]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “I evangelize to you great joy.”

[2:11]  ¹¹ sn The Greek word for today (σήμερον, shmeron) occurs eleven times in the Gospel of Luke (2:11; 4:21; 5:26; 12:28; 13:32-33; 19:5, 9; 22:34, 61; 23:43) and nine times in Acts. Its use, especially in passages such as 2:11, 4:21, 5:26; 19:5, 9, signifies the dawning of the era of messianic salvation and the fulfillment of the plan of God. Not only does it underscore the idea of present fulfillment in Jesus’ ministry, but it also indicates salvific fulfillment present in the church (cf. Acts 1:6; 3:18; D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:412; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 873).

[2:11]  ¹² tn Or “town.” See the note on “city” in v. 4.

[2:11]  ¹³ tn This is another indication of a royal, messianic connection.

[2:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:12]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And this.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:12]  ¹⁶ sn The sign functions for the shepherds like Elizabeth’s conception served for Mary in 1:36.

[2:12]  ¹⁷ tn Or “a feeding trough,” see Luke 2:7.

[2:13]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “And suddenly.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:13]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “a multitude of the armies of heaven.”

[2:14]  ²⁰ sn Glory here refers to giving honor to God.

[2:14]  ²¹ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") referring to both males and females.

[2:14]  ²² tc Most witnesses (א² B² L Θ Ξ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï sy bo) have ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία (en anqrwpoi" eudokia, “good will among people”) instead of ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας (en anqrwpoi" eudokia", “among people with whom he is pleased”), a reading attested by א* A B* D W pc (sa). Most of the Itala witnesses and some other versional witnesses reflect a Greek text which has the genitive εὐδοκίας but drops the preposition ἐν. Not only is the genitive reading better attested, but it is more difficult than the nominative. “The meaning seems to be, not that divine peace can be bestowed only where human good will is already present, but that at the birth of the Saviour God’s peace rests on those whom he has chosen in accord with his good pleasure” (TCGNT 111).

[10:5]  ²³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:5]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Into whatever house you enter.” This acts as a distributive, meaning every house they enter; this is expressed more naturally in English as “whenever you enter a house.”

[10:5]  ²⁵ sn The statement ‘May peace be on this house!’ is really a benediction, asking for God’s blessing. The requested shalom (peace) is understood as coming from God.

[10:6]  ²⁶ tn Grk “a son of peace,” a Hebrew idiom for a person of a certain class or kind, as specified by the following genitive construction (in this case, “of peace”). Such constructions are discussed further in L&N 9.4. Here the expression refers to someone who responds positively to the disciples’ message, like “wisdom’s child” in Luke 7:30.

[10:6]  ²⁷ sn The response to these messengers determines how God’s blessing is bestowed – if they are not welcomed with peace, their blessing will return to them. Jesus shows just how important their mission is by this remark.

[10:36]  ²⁸ tn The subject and verb (“you know”) do not actually occur until the following verse, but have been repeated here because of the requirements of English word order.

[10:36]  ²⁹ tn Grk “the word.”

[10:36]  ³⁰ tn Grk “to the sons.”

[10:36]  ³¹ sn Peace is a key OT concept: Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15; also for Luke: Luke 1:79; 2:14; Acts 9:31. See also the similar phrase in Eph 2:17.

[10:36]  ³² tn Or “by.”

[10:36]  ³³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[10:36]  ³⁴ sn He is Lord of all. Though a parenthetical remark, this is the theological key to the speech. Jesus is Lord of all, so the gospel can go to all. The rest of the speech proclaims Jesus’ authority.

[13:46]  ³⁵ tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.

[13:46]  ³⁶ tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.

[13:46]  ³⁷ tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”

[13:46]  ³⁸ tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.

[13:46]  ³⁹ sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.

[3:7]  ⁴⁰ sn The following quotation is from Ps 95:7b-11.

[3:7]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”

[3:15]  ⁴² tn Grk “while it is said.”

[3:15]  ⁴³ tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”

[3:15]  ⁴⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 95:7b-8.

[10:26]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “is left,” with “for us” implied by the first half of the verse.

[10:27]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “zeal,” recalling God’s jealous protection of his holiness and honor (cf. Exod 20:5).

[10:27]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “the enemies.”

[10:28]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “dies.”

[10:28]  ⁴⁹ sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.

[10:29]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “tramples under foot.”

[10:29]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “regarded as common.”

[10:29]  ⁵² tn Grk “by which he was made holy.”

[12:24]  ⁵³ tn The Greek word μεσίτης (mesith", “mediator”) in this context does not imply that Jesus was a mediator in the contemporary sense of the word, i.e., he worked for compromise between opposing parties. Here the term describes his function as the one who was used by God to enact a new covenant which established a new relationship between God and his people, but entirely on God’s terms.

[12:24]  ⁵⁴ sn Abel’s shed blood cried out to the Lord for justice and judgment, but Jesus’ blood speaks of redemption and forgiveness, something better than Abel’s does (Gen 4:10; Heb 9:11-14; 11:4).

[12:26]  ⁵⁵ sn A quotation from Hag 2:6.