Psalms 2:2

2:2 The kings of the earth ¹  form a united front; ² 

the rulers collaborate ³ 

against the Lord and his anointed king. ⁴ 

Psalms 45:7

45:7 You love ⁵  justice and hate evil. ⁶ 

For this reason God, your God ⁷  has anointed you ⁸ 

with the oil of joy, ⁹  elevating you above your companions. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 89:20

89:20 I have discovered David, my servant.

With my holy oil I have anointed him as king. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 11:2

11:2 The Lord’s spirit will rest on him ¹²  –

a spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom, ¹³ 

a spirit that provides the ability to execute plans, ¹⁴ 

a spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ¹⁶  me. ¹⁷ 

He has commissioned ¹⁸  me to encourage ¹⁹  the poor,

to help ²⁰  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

Luke 4:18-21

4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed ²¹  me to proclaim good news ²²  to the poor. ²³ 

He has sent me ²⁴  to proclaim release ²⁵  to the captives

and the regaining of sight ²⁶  to the blind,

to set free ²⁷  those who are oppressed, ²⁸ 

4:19 to proclaim the year ²⁹  of the Lord’s favor.” ³⁰ 

4:20 Then ³¹  he rolled up ³²  the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on ³³  him. 4:21 Then ³⁴  he began to tell them, “Today ³⁵  this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.” ³⁶ 

Acts 4:27

4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against ³⁷  your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ³⁸ 

Acts 10:38

10:38 with respect to Jesus from Nazareth, ³⁹  that ⁴⁰  God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He ⁴¹  went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, ⁴²  because God was with him. ⁴³ 

Hebrews 1:8-9

1:8 but of ⁴⁴  the Son he says, ⁴⁵ 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ⁴⁶ 

and a righteous scepter ⁴⁷  is the scepter of your kingdom.

1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions ⁴⁸  with the oil of rejoicing.” ⁴⁹ 

[2:2]  ¹ sn The expression kings of the earth refers somewhat hyperbolically to the kings who had been conquered by and were subject to the Davidic king.

[2:2]  ² tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.

[2:2]  ³ tn Or “conspire together.” The verbal form is a Niphal from יָסַד (yasad). BDB 413-14 s.v. יָסַד defines the verb as “establish, found,” but HALOT 417 s.v. II יסד proposes a homonym meaning “get together, conspire” (an alternate form of סוּד, sud).

[2:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).

[45:7]  ⁵ sn To love justice means to actively promote it.

[45:7]  ⁶ sn To hate evil means to actively oppose it.

[45:7]  ⁷ tn For other examples of the repetition of Elohim, “God,” see Pss 43:4; 48:8, 14; 50:7; 51:14; 67:7. Because the name Yahweh (“Lord”) is relatively rare in Pss 42-83, where the name Elohim (“God”) predominates, this compounding of Elohim may be an alternative form of the compound name “the Lord my/your/our God.”

[45:7]  ⁸ sn Anointed you. When read in the light of the preceding context, the anointing is most naturally taken as referring to the king’s coronation. However, the following context (vv. 8-9) focuses on the wedding ceremony, so some prefer to see this anointing as part of the king’s preparations for the wedding celebration. Perhaps the reference to his anointing at his coronation facilitates the transition to the description of the wedding, for the king was also anointed on this occasion.

[45:7]  ⁹ sn The phrase oil of joy alludes to the fact that the coronation of the king, which was ritually accomplished by anointing his head with olive oil, was a time of great celebration and renewed hope. (If one understands the anointing in conjunction with the wedding ceremony, the “joy” would be that associated with the marriage.) The phrase “oil of joy” also appears in Isa 61:3, where mourners are granted “oil of joy” in conjunction with their deliverance from oppression.

[45:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from your companions.” The “companions” are most naturally understood as others in the royal family or, more generally, as the king’s countrymen.

[89:20]  ¹¹ tn The words “as king” are supplied in the translation for clarification, indicating that a royal anointing is in view.

[11:2]  ¹² sn Like David (1 Sam 16:13), this king will be energized by the Lord’s spirit.

[11:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “a spirit of wisdom and understanding.” The synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of wisdom he will possess. His wisdom will enable him to make just legal decisions (v. 3). A very similar phrase occurs in Eph 1:17.

[11:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a spirit of counsel [or “strategy”] and strength.” The construction is a hendiadys; the point is that he will have the strength/ability to execute the plans/strategies he devises. This ability will enable him to suppress oppressors and implement just policies (v. 4).

[11:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.” “Knowledge” is used here in its covenantal sense and refers to a recognition of God’s authority and a willingness to submit to it. See Jer 22:16. “Fear” here refers to a healthy respect for God’s authority which produces obedience. Taken together the two terms emphasize the single quality of loyalty to the Lord. This loyalty guarantees that he will make just legal decisions and implement just policies (vv. 4-5).

[61:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ¹⁷ sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ¹⁸ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[4:18]  ²¹ sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.

[4:18]  ²² tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”

[4:18]  ²³ sn The poor is a key term in Luke. It refers to the pious poor and indicates Jesus’ desire to reach out to those the world tends to forget or mistreat. It is like 1:52 in force and also will be echoed in 6:20 (also 1 Pet 2:11-25). Jesus is commissioned to do this.

[4:18]  ²⁴ tc The majority of mss, especially the later Byzantines, include the phrase “to heal the brokenhearted” at this point (A Θ Ψ 0102 ˹ Ï). The phrase is lacking in several weighty mss (א B D L W Ξ Ë¹³ 33 579 700 892* pc lat sy^s co), including representatives from both the Alexandrian and Western texttypes. From the standpoint of external evidence, the omission of the phrase is more likely original. When internal evidence is considered, the shorter reading becomes almost certain. Scribes would be much more prone to add the phrase here to align the text with Isa 61:1, the source of the quotation, than to remove it from the original.

[4:18]  ²⁵ sn The release in view here is comprehensive, both at a physical level and a spiritual one, as the entire ministry of Jesus makes clear (Luke 1:77-79; 7:47; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43).

[4:18]  ²⁶ sn Again, as with the previous phrase, regaining of sight may well mean more than simply miraculously restoring physical sight, which itself pictures a deeper reality (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

[4:18]  ²⁷ sn The essence of Jesus’ messianic work is expressed in the phrase to set free. This line from Isa 58 says that Jesus will do what the nation had failed to do. It makes the proclamation messianic, not merely prophetic, because Jesus doesn’t just proclaim the message – he brings the deliverance. The word translated set free is the same Greek word (ἄφεσις, afesi") translated release earlier in the verse.

[4:18]  ²⁸ sn Again, as with the previous phrases, oppressed may well mean more than simply political or economic oppression, but a deeper reality of oppression by sin (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

[4:19]  ²⁹ sn The year of the Lord’s favor (Grk “the acceptable year of the Lord”) is a description of the year of Jubilee (Lev 25:10). The year of the total forgiveness of debt is now turned into a metaphor for salvation. Jesus had come to proclaim that God was ready to forgive sin totally.

[4:19]  ³⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 61:1-2a. Within the citation is a line from Isa 58:6, with its reference to setting the oppressed free.

[4:20]  ³¹ tn Grk “And closing.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[4:20]  ³² tn Grk “closing,” but a scroll of this period would have to be rolled up. The participle πτύξας (ptuxas) has been translated as a finite verb due to the requirements of contemporary English style.

[4:20]  ³³ tn Or “gazing at,” “staring at.”

[4:21]  ³⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[4:21]  ³⁵ sn See the note on today in 2:11.

[4:21]  ³⁶ tn Grk “in your hearing.”

[4:27]  ³⁷ sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.

[4:27]  ³⁸ sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”

[10:38]  ³⁹ sn The somewhat awkward naming of Jesus as from Nazareth here is actually emphatic. He is the key subject of these key events.

[10:38]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “how.” The use of ὡς (Jws) as an equivalent to ὅτι (Joti) to introduce indirect or even direct discourse is well documented. BDAG 1105 s.v. ὡς 5 lists Acts 10:28 in this category.

[10:38]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “power, who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he,” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.

[10:38]  ⁴² tn The translation “healing all who were oppressed by the devil” is given in L&N 22.22.

[10:38]  ⁴³ sn See Acts 7:9.

[1:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ⁴⁵ tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Or possibly, “Your throne is God forever and ever.” This translation is quite doubtful, however, since (1) in the context the Son is being contrasted to the angels and is presented as far better than they. The imagery of God being the Son’s throne would seem to be of God being his authority. If so, in what sense could this not be said of the angels? In what sense is the Son thus contrasted with the angels? (2) The μέν…δέ (men…de) construction that connects v. 7 with v. 8 clearly lays out this contrast: “On the one hand, he says of the angels…on the other hand, he says of the Son.” Thus, although it is grammatically possible that θεός (qeos) in v. 8 should be taken as a predicate nominative, the context and the correlative conjunctions are decidedly against it. Hebrews 1:8 is thus a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.

[1:8]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.

[1:9]  ⁴⁸ sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.

[1:9]  ⁴⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.