Psalms 106:4

106:4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people!

Pay attention to me, when you deliver,

Genesis 21:1

The Birth of Isaac

21:1 The Lord visited ¹  Sarah just as he had said he would and did ²  for Sarah what he had promised. ³ 

Exodus 4:31

4:31 and the people believed. When they heard ⁴  that the Lord had attended to ⁵  the Israelites and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed down close to the ground. ⁶ 

Luke 1:68

1:68 “Blessed ⁷  be the Lord God of Israel,

because he has come to help ⁸  and has redeemed ⁹  his people.

Luke 19:44

19:44 They will demolish you ¹⁰  – you and your children within your walls ¹¹  – and they will not leave within you one stone ¹²  on top of another, ¹³  because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” ¹⁴ 

Luke 19:1

Jesus and Zacchaeus

19:1 Jesus ¹⁵  entered Jericho ¹⁶  and was passing through it.

Luke 2:12

2:12 This ¹⁷  will be a sign ¹⁸  for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹⁹ 

[21:1]  ¹ sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad ) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the Lord “visits.” For a more detailed study of the term, see G. André, Determining the Destiny (ConBOT).

[21:1]  ² tn Heb “and the Lord did.” The divine name has not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:1]  ³ tn Heb “spoken.”

[4:31]  ⁴ tc The LXX (Greek OT) has “and they rejoiced,” probably reading וַיִּשְׂמְחוּ (vayyismÿkhu) instead of what the MT reading, וַיִּשְׂמְעוּ (vayyismÿ’u, “and they heard”). To rejoice would have seemed a natural response of the people at the news, and the words sound similar in Hebrew.

[4:31]  ⁵ tn Or “intervened for.” The word פָּקַד (paqad) has traditionally been translated “visited,” which is open to many interpretations. It means that God intervened in the life of the Israelites to bless them with the fulfillment of the promises. It says more than that he took notice of them, took pity on them, or remembered them. He had not yet fulfilled the promises, but he had begun to act by calling Moses and Aaron. The translation “attended to” attempts to capture that much.

[4:31]  ⁶ tn The verb וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲוּוּ (vayyishtakhavu) is usually rendered “worshiped.” More specifically, the verbal root חָוָה (khava) in the hishtaphel stem means “to cause oneself to be low to the ground.” While there is nothing wrong with giving it a general translation of “worship,” it may be better in a passage like this to take it in conjunction with the other verb (“bow”) as a verbal hendiadys, using it as an adverb to that verb. The implication is certainly that they prayed, or praised, and performed some other aspect of worship, but the text may just be describing it from their posture of worship. With this response, all the fears of Moses are swept aside – they believed and they were thankful to God.

[1:68]  ⁷ sn The traditional name of this psalm, the “Benedictus,” comes from the Latin wording of the start of the hymn (“Blessed be…”).

[1:68]  ⁸ sn The verb come to help can refer to a visit, but can also connote concern or assistance (L&N 85.11).

[1:68]  ⁹ tn Or “has delivered”; Grk “has accomplished redemption.”

[19:44]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “They will raze you to the ground.”

[19:44]  ¹¹ tn Grk “your children within you.” The phrase “[your] walls” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the city of Jerusalem, metaphorically pictured as an individual, is spoken of here.

[19:44]  ¹² sn (Not) one stone on top of another is an idiom for total destruction.

[19:44]  ¹³ tn Grk “leave stone on stone.”

[19:44]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the time of your visitation.” To clarify what this refers to, the words “from God” are supplied at the end of the verse, although they do not occur in the Greek text.

[19:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And entering, he passed through”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:1]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[2:12]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And this.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:12]  ¹⁸ sn The sign functions for the shepherds like Elizabeth’s conception served for Mary in 1:36.

[2:12]  ¹⁹ tn Or “a feeding trough,” see Luke 2:7.