Luke 15:23-24

15:23 Bring ¹  the fattened calf ²  and kill it! Let us eat ³  and celebrate, 15:24 because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again – he was lost and is found!’ ⁴  So ⁵  they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:32

15:32 It was appropriate ⁶  to celebrate and be glad, for your brother ⁷  was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’” ⁸ 

Isaiah 53:10-11

53:10 Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill,

once restitution is made, ⁹ 

he will see descendants and enjoy long life, ¹⁰ 

and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.

53:11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work,

he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. ¹¹ 

“My servant ¹²  will acquit many, ¹³ 

for he carried their sins. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 62:5

62:5 As a young man marries a young woman,

so your sons ¹⁵  will marry you.

As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,

so your God will rejoice over you.

Jeremiah 32:41-42

32:41 I will take delight in doing good to them. I will faithfully and wholeheartedly plant them ¹⁶  firmly in the land.’

32:42 “For I, the Lord, say: ¹⁷  ‘I will surely bring on these people all the good fortune that I am hereby promising them. I will be just as sure to do that as I have been in bringing all this great disaster on them. ¹⁸ 

Ezekiel 18:23

18:23 Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the sovereign Lord? Do I not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live?

Ezekiel 33:11

33:11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior ¹⁹  and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! ²⁰  Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

Micah 7:18

7:18 There is no other God like you! ²¹ 

You ²²  forgive sin

and pardon ²³  the rebellion

of those who remain among your people. ²⁴ 

You do not remain angry forever, ²⁵ 

but delight in showing loyal love.

Zephaniah 3:17

3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst;

he is a warrior who can deliver.

He takes great delight in you; ²⁶ 

he renews you by his love; ²⁷ 

he shouts for joy over you.” ²⁸ 

John 15:11

15:11 I have told you these things ²⁹  so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.

Hebrews 12:2

12:2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ³⁰ 

[15:23]  ¹ tn Grk “And bring.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[15:23]  ² tn Or “the prize calf” (L&N 65.8). See also L&N 44.2, “grain-fattened.” Such a calf was usually reserved for religious celebrations.

[15:23]  ³ tn The participle φαγόντες (fagontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[15:24]  ⁴ sn This statement links the parable to the theme of 15:6, 9.

[15:24]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the father’s remarks in the preceding verses.

[15:32]  ⁶ tn Or “necessary.”

[15:32]  ⁷ sn By referring to him as your brother, the father reminded the older brother that the younger brother was part of the family.

[15:32]  ⁸ sn The theme he was lost and is found is repeated from v. 24. The conclusion is open-ended. The reader is left to ponder with the older son (who pictures the scribes and Pharisees) what the response will be. The parable does not reveal the ultimate response of the older brother. Jesus argued that sinners should be pursued and received back warmly when they returned.

[53:10]  ⁹ tn The meaning of this line is uncertain. It reads literally, “if you/she makes, a reparation offering, his life.” The verb תָּשִׂים (tasim) could be second masculine singular,in which case it would have to be addressed to the servant or to God. However, the servant is only addressed once in this servant song (see 52:14a), and God either speaks or is spoken about in this servant song; he is never addressed. Furthermore, the idea of God himself making a reparation offering is odd. If the verb is taken as third feminine singular, then the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) at the end of the line is the likely subject. In this case one can take the suffixed form of the noun as equivalent to a pronoun and translate, “if he [literally, “his life”] makes a reparation offering.”

[53:10]  ¹⁰ sn The idiomatic and stereotypical language emphasizes the servant’s restoration to divine favor. Having numerous descendants and living a long life are standard signs of divine blessing. See Job 42:13-16.

[53:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he will be satisfied by his knowledge,” i.e., “when he knows.” The preposition is understood as temporal and the suffix as a subjective genitive. Some take בְּדַעְתּוֹ (bÿda’to, “by his knowledge”) with what follows and translate “by knowledge of him,” understanding the preposition as instrumental and the suffix as objective.

[53:11]  ¹² sn The song ends as it began (cf. 52:13-15), with the Lord announcing the servant’s vindication and exaltation.

[53:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “he will acquit, a righteous one, my servant, many.” צַדִּיק (tsadiq) may refer to the servant, but more likely it is dittographic (note the preceding verb יַצְדִּיק, yatsdiq). The precise meaning of the verb (the Hiphil of צָדַק, tsadaq) is debated. Elsewhere the Hiphil is used at least six times in the sense of “make righteous” in a legal sense, i.e., “pronounce innocent, acquit” (see Exod 23:7; Deut 25:1; 1 Kgs 8:32 = 2 Chr 6:23; Prov 17:15; Isa 5:23). It can also mean “render justice” (as a royal function, see 2 Sam 15:4; Ps 82:3), “concede” (Job 27:5), “vindicate” (Isa 50:8), and “lead to righteousness” (by teaching and example, Dan 12:3). The preceding context and the next line suggest a legal sense here. Because of his willingness to carry the people’s sins, the servant is able to “acquit” them.

[53:11]  ¹⁴ tn The circumstantial clause (note the vav [ו] + object + subject + verb pattern) is understood as causal here. The prefixed verb form is either a preterite or an imperfect used in a customary manner.

[62:5]  ¹⁵ tc The Hebrew text has “your sons,” but this produces an odd metaphor and is somewhat incongruous with the parallelism. In the context (v. 4b, see also 54:5-7) the Lord is the one who “marries” Zion. Therefore several prefer to emend “your sons” to בֹּנָיִךְ (bonayikh, “your builder”; e.g., NRSV). In Ps 147:2 the Lord is called the “builder of Jerusalem.” However, this emendation is not the best option for at least four reasons. First, although the Lord is never called the “builder” of Jerusalem in Isaiah, the idea of Zion’s children possessing the land does occur (Isa 49:20; 54:3; cf. also 14:1; 60:21). Secondly, all the ancient versions support the MT reading. Thirdly, although the verb בָּעַל (ba’al) can mean “to marry,” its basic idea is “to possess.” Consequently, the verb stresses a relationship more than a state. All the ancient versions render this verb “to dwell in” or “to dwell with.” The point is not just that the land will be reinhabited, but that it will be in a relationship of “belonging” to the Israelites. Hence a relational verb like בָּעַל is used (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:581). Finally, “sons” is a well-known metaphor for “inhabitants” (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 208).

[32:41]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will plant them in the land with faithfulness with all my heart and with all my soul.” The latter expressions are, of course, anthropomorphisms (see Deut 6:5).

[32:42]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “For thus says the Lord.” See the translator’s notes on 32:27, 36.

[32:42]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “As I have brought all this great disaster on these people so I will bring upon them all the good fortune which I am promising them.” The translation has broken down the longer Hebrew sentence to better conform to English style.

[33:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “turn from his way.”

[33:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “ways.” This same word is translated “behavior” earlier in the verse.

[7:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “Who is a God like you?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!”

[7:18]  ²² tn Heb “one who.” The prayer moves from direct address (second person) in v. 18a to a descriptive (third person) style in vv. 18b-19a and then back to direct address (second person) in vv. 19b-20. Due to considerations of English style and the unfamiliarity of the modern reader with alternation of persons in Hebrew poetry, the entire section has been rendered as direct address (second person) in the translation.

[7:18]  ²³ tn Heb “pass over.”

[7:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “of the remnant of his inheritance.”

[7:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he does not keep hold of his anger forever.”

[3:17]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with joy.”

[3:17]  ²⁷ tc The MT reads, “he is silent in his love,” but this makes no sense in light of the immediately preceding and following lines. Some take the Hiphil verb form as causative (see Job 11:3) rather than intransitive and translate, “he causes [you] to be silent by his love,” that is, “he soothes [you] by his love.” The present translation follows the LXX and assumes an original reading יְחַדֵּשׁ (yÿkhaddesh, “he renews”) with ellipsis of the object (“you”).

[3:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with a shout of joy.”

[15:11]  ²⁹ tn Grk “These things I have spoken to you.”

[12:2]  ³⁰ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.