Psalms 69:33

69:33 For the Lord listens to the needy;

he does not despise his captive people. ¹ 

Psalms 102:19-21

102:19 For he will look down from his sanctuary above; ² 

from heaven the Lord will look toward earth, ³ 

102:20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,

and to set free those condemned to die, ⁴ 

102:21 so they may proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion,

and praise him ⁵  in Jerusalem, ⁶ 

Psalms 107:10-16

107:10 They sat in utter darkness, ⁷ 

bound in painful iron chains, ⁸ 

107:11 because they had rebelled against God’s commands, ⁹ 

and rejected the instructions of the sovereign king. ¹⁰ 

107:12 So he used suffering to humble them; ¹¹ 

they stumbled and no one helped them up.

107:13 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;

he delivered them from their troubles.

107:14 He brought them out of the utter darkness, ¹² 

and tore off their shackles.

107:15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,

and for the amazing things he has done for people! ¹³ 

107:16 For he shattered the bronze gates,

and hacked through the iron bars. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 42:7

42:7 to open blind eyes, ¹⁵ 

to release prisoners ¹⁶  from dungeons,

those who live in darkness from prisons.

Isaiah 42:22

42:22 But these people are looted and plundered;

all of them are trapped in pits ¹⁷ 

and held captive ¹⁸  in prisons.

They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them;

they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!” ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 49:9

49:9 You will say ²⁰  to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

and to those who are in dark dungeons, ²¹  ‘Emerge.’ ²² 

They will graze beside the roads;

on all the slopes they will find pasture.

Isaiah 51:14

51:14 The one who suffers ²³  will soon be released;

he will not die in prison, ²⁴ 

he will not go hungry. ²⁵ 

Isaiah 58:12

58:12 Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt; ²⁶ 

you will reestablish the ancient foundations.

You will be called, ‘The one who repairs broken walls,

the one who makes the streets inhabitable again.’ ²⁷ 

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 ²⁸  me. ²⁹ 

He has commissioned ³⁰  me to encourage ³¹  the poor,

to help ³²  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

Luke 4:18

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

because he has anointed ³³  me to proclaim good news ³⁴  to the poor. ³⁵ 

He has sent me ³⁶  to proclaim release ³⁷  to the captives

and the regaining of sight ³⁸  to the blind,

to set free ³⁹  those who are oppressed, ⁴⁰ 

Acts 26:17-18

26:17 I will rescue ⁴¹  you from your own people ⁴²  and from the Gentiles, to whom ⁴³  I am sending you 26:18 to open their eyes so that they turn ⁴⁴  from darkness to light and from the power ⁴⁵  of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share ⁴⁶  among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Colossians 1:13-14

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ⁴⁷  1:14 in whom we have redemption, ⁴⁸  the forgiveness of sins.

[69:33]  ¹ tn Heb “his prisoners he does not despise.”

[102:19]  ² tn Heb “from the height of his sanctuary.”

[102:19]  ³ tn The perfect verbal forms in v. 19 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 18.

[102:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.

[102:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “his praise.”

[102:21]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[107:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “those who sat in darkness and deep darkness.” Synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of “darkness” experienced by the exiles. The Hebrew term צַלְמָוֶת (tsalmavet, “deep darkness”) has traditionally been understood as a compound noun, meaning “shadow of death” (צֵל + מָוֶת [tsel + mavet]; see BDB 853 s.v. צַלְמָוֶת; cf. NASB). Other authorities prefer to vocalize the form צַלְמוּת (tsalmut) and understand it as an abstract noun (from the root צלם) meaning “darkness.” An examination of the word’s usage favors the latter derivation. It is frequently associated with darkness/night and contrasted with light/morning (see Job 3:5; 10:21-22; 12:22; 24:17; 28:3; 34:22; Ps 107:10, 14; Isa 9:1; Jer 13:16; Amos 5:8). In some cases the darkness described is associated with the realm of death (Job 10:21-22; 38:17), but this is a metaphorical application of the word and does not reflect its inherent meaning. In Ps 107:10 the word refers metonymically to a dungeon, which in turn metaphorically depicts the place of Israel’s exile (see vv. 2-3).

[107:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “those bound in suffering and iron.” “Suffering and iron” is a hendiadys (like English “good and angry”), where both words contribute to one idea. In this case the first word characterizes the second; the iron (chains) contribute to the prisoners’ pain and suffering.

[107:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “the words of God.”

[107:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the counsel of the Most High.”

[107:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he subdued with suffering their heart.”

[107:14]  ¹² tn Heb “darkness and deep darkness.” See the note on the word “darkness” in v. 10.

[107:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.

[107:16]  ¹⁴ sn The language of v. 16 recalls Isa 45:2.

[42:7]  ¹⁵ sn This does not refer to literal physical healing of the blind. As the next two lines suggest, this refers metonymically to freeing captives from their dark prisons where their eyes have grown unaccustomed to light.

[42:7]  ¹⁶ sn This does not refer to hardened, dangerous criminals, who would have been executed for their crimes in ancient Near Eastern society. This verse refers to political prisoners or victims of social injustice.

[42:22]  ¹⁷ tc The Hebrew text has בַּחוּרִים (bakhurim, “young men”), but the text should be emended to בְּהוֹרִים (bÿhorim, “in holes”).

[42:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and made to be hidden”; NAB, NASB, NIV, TEV “hidden away in prisons.”

[42:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they became loot and there was no one rescuing, plunder and there was no one saying, ‘Bring back’.”

[49:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to say.” In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct is subordinated to what precedes.

[49:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “in darkness” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “the prisoners of darkness.”

[49:9]  ²² tn Heb “show yourselves” (so ASV, NAB, NASB).

[51:14]  ²³ tn Heb “who is stooped over” (under a burden).

[51:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the pit” (so KJV); ASV, NAB “die and go down into the pit”; NASB, NIV “dungeon”; NCV “prison.”

[51:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he will not lack his bread.”

[58:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and they will build from you ancient ruins.”

[58:12]  ²⁷ tc The Hebrew text has “the one who restores paths for dwelling.” The idea of “paths to dwell in” is not a common notion. Some have proposed emending נְתִיבוֹת (nÿtivot, “paths”) to נְתִיצוֹת (nÿtitsot, “ruins”), a passive participle from נָתַץ (natats, “tear down”; see HALOT 732 s.v. *נְתִיצָה), because tighter parallelism with the preceding line is achieved. However, none of the textual sources support this emendation. The line may mean that paths must be repaired in order to dwell in the land.

[61:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ³¹ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ³² tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[4:18]  ³³ sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.

[4:18]  ³⁴ tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”

[4:18]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ 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).

[26:17]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “rescuing.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle ἐξαιρούμενος (exairoumeno") has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 17.

[26:17]  ⁴² tn That is, from the Jewish people. Grk “the people”; the words “your own” have been supplied to clarify the meaning.

[26:17]  ⁴³ tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is probably both the Jews (“your own people”) and the Gentiles, indicating the comprehensive commission Paul received.

[26:18]  ⁴⁴ sn To open their eyes so that they turn… Here is Luke’s most comprehensive report of Paul’s divine calling. His role was to call humanity to change their position before God and experience God’s forgiveness as a part of God’s family. The image of turning is a key one in the NT: Luke 1:79; Rom 2:19; 13:12; 2 Cor 4:6; 6:14; Eph 5:8; Col 1:12; 1 Thess 5:5. See also Luke 1:77-79; 3:3; 24:47.

[26:18]  ⁴⁵ tn BDAG 352-53 s.v. ἐξουσία 2 states, “Also of Satan’s power Ac 26:18.” It is also possible to translate this “the domain of Satan” (cf. BDAG 353 s.v. 6)

[26:18]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “and an inheritance.”

[1:13]  ⁴⁷ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).

[1:14]  ⁴⁸ tc διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ (dia tou {aimato" autou, “through his blood”) is read at this juncture by several minuscule mss (614 630 1505 2464 al) as well as a few, mostly secondary, versional and patristic witnesses. But the reading was prompted by the parallel in Eph 1:7 where the wording is solid. If these words had been in the original of Colossians, why would scribes omit them here but not in Eph 1:7? Further, the testimony on behalf of the shorter reading is quite overwhelming: {א A B C D F G Ψ 075 0150 6 33 1739 1881 Ï latt co as well as several other versions and fathers}. The conviction that “through his blood” is not authentic in Col 1:14 is as strong as the conviction that these words are authentic in Eph 1:7.