Psalms 71:5-6

71:5 For you give me confidence, ¹  O Lord;

O Lord, I have trusted in you since I was young. ² 

71:6 I have leaned on you since birth; ³ 

you pulled me ⁴  from my mother’s womb.

I praise you continually. ⁵ 

Isaiah 49:1

Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles

49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! ⁶ 

Pay attention, you people who live far away!

The Lord summoned me from birth; ⁷ 

he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. ⁸ 

Isaiah 49:5

49:5 So now the Lord says,

the one who formed me from birth ⁹  to be his servant –

he did this ¹⁰  to restore Jacob to himself,

so that Israel might be gathered to him;

and I will be honored ¹¹  in the Lord’s sight,

for my God is my source of strength ¹²  –

Luke 1:76

1:76 And you, child, ¹³  will be called the prophet ¹⁴  of the Most High. ¹⁵ 

For you will go before ¹⁶  the Lord to prepare his ways, ¹⁷ 

Galatians 1:15-16

1:15 But when the one ¹⁸  who set me apart from birth ¹⁹  and called me by his grace was pleased 1:16 to reveal his Son in ²⁰  me so that I could preach him ²¹  among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from ²²  any human being, ²³ 

[71:5]  ¹ tn Heb “for you [are] my hope.”

[71:5]  ² tn Heb “O Lord, my source of confidence from my youth.”

[71:6]  ³ tn Heb “from the womb.”

[71:6]  ⁴ tc The form in the MT is derived from גָזָה (gazah, “to cut off”), perhaps picturing God as the one who severed the psalmist’s umbilical cord. Many interpreters and translators prefer to emend the text to גֹחִי (gokhiy), from גוּח (gukh) or גִיח, (gikh, “pull out”; see Ps 22:9; cf. the present translation) or to עוּזִּי (’uzziy, “my strength”; cf. NEB “my protector since I left my mother’s womb”).

[71:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “in you [is] my praise continually.”

[49:1]  ⁶ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”

[49:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “called me from the womb.”

[49:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”

[49:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “from the womb” (so KJV, NASB).

[49:5]  ¹⁰ tn The words “he did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct of purpose is subordinated to the previous statement.

[49:5]  ¹¹ tn The vav (ו) + imperfect is translated here as a result clause; one might interpret it as indicating purpose, “and so I might be honored.”

[49:5]  ¹² tn Heb “and my God is [perhaps, “having been”] my strength.” The disjunctive structure (vav [ו] + subject + verb) is interpreted here as indicating a causal circumstantial clause.

[1:76]  ¹³ sn Now Zechariah describes his son John (you, child) through v. 77.

[1:76]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ sn In other words, John is a prophet of God; see 1:32 and 7:22-23, 28.

[1:76]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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.

[1:15]  ¹⁸ tc ‡ Several important witnesses have ὁ θεός (Jo qeos) after εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen; so א A D Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï co) while the shorter reading is supported by Ì⁴⁶ B F G 629 1505 pc lat. There is hardly any reason why scribes would omit the words (although the Beatty papyrus and the Western text do at times omit words and phrases), but several reasons why scribes would add the words (especially the need to clarify). The confluence of witnesses for the shorter reading (including a few fathers and versions) adds strong support for its authenticity. It is also in keeping with Paul’s style to refrain from mentioning God by name as a rhetorical device (cf. ExSyn 437 [although this section deals with passive constructions, the principle is the same]). NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating some doubts as to their authenticity.

[1:15]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “from my mother’s womb.”

[1:16]  ²⁰ tn Or “to me”; the Greek preposition ἐν (en) can mean either, depending on the context.

[1:16]  ²¹ tn This pronoun refers to “his Son,” mentioned earlier in the verse.

[1:16]  ²² tn Or “I did not consult with.” For the translation “I did not go to ask advice from” see L&N 33.175.

[1:16]  ²³ tn Grk “from flesh and blood.”