Psalms 34:18

34:18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted;

he delivers ¹  those who are discouraged. ² 

Psalms 147:3

147:3 He heals ³  the brokenhearted,

and bandages their wounds.

Psalms 147:2

147:2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem, ⁴ 

and gathers the exiles of Israel.

Psalms 22:19

22:19 But you, O Lord, do not remain far away!

You are my source of strength! ⁵  Hurry and help me! ⁶ 

Isaiah 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ⁷  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ⁸ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ⁹ 

Isaiah 61:1-3

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

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

because the Lord has chosen ¹⁰  me. ¹¹ 

He has commissioned ¹²  me to encourage ¹³  the poor,

to help ¹⁴  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

61:2 to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor,

the day when our God will seek vengeance, ¹⁵ 

to console all who mourn,

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ¹⁶  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ¹⁷  instead of discouragement. ¹⁸ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ¹⁹ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ²⁰ 

Isaiah 66:2

66:2 My hand made them; ²¹ 

that is how they came to be,” ²²  says the Lord.

I show special favor ²³  to the humble and contrite,

who respect what I have to say. ²⁴ 

Ezekiel 9:3-4

9:3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had rested to the threshold of the temple. ²⁵  He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. 9:4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem ²⁶  and put a mark ²⁷  on the foreheads of the people who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.”

Ezekiel 9:6

9:6 Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women – wipe them out! But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary!” So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple.

Matthew 5:3

5:3 “Blessed ²⁸  are the poor in spirit, ²⁹  for the kingdom of heaven belongs ³⁰  to them.

Luke 18:11-14

18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ³¹  ‘God, I thank ³²  you that I am not like other people: ³³  extortionists, ³⁴  unrighteous people, ³⁵  adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ³⁶  18:12 I fast twice ³⁷  a week; I give a tenth ³⁸  of everything I get.’ 18:13 The tax collector, however, stood ³⁹  far off and would not even look up ⁴⁰  to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful ⁴¹  to me, sinner that I am!’ ⁴²  18:14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified ⁴³  rather than the Pharisee. ⁴⁴  For everyone who exalts ⁴⁵  himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

[34:18]  ¹ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the oppressed and needy.

[34:18]  ² tn Heb “the crushed in spirit.”

[147:3]  ³ tn Heb “the one who heals.”

[147:2]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[22:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “O my strength.”

[22:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “hurry to my help.”

[57:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[61:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ¹³ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[61:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to announce the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance.

[61:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ¹⁹ tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

[61:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[66:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.

[66:2]  ²² tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”

[66:2]  ²³ tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).

[66:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”

[9:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[9:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem.”

[9:4]  ²⁷ tn The word translated “mark” is in Hebrew the letter ת (tav). Outside this context the only other occurrence of the word is in Job 31:35. In ancient Hebrew script this letter was written like the letter X.

[5:3]  ²⁸ sn The term Blessed introduces the first of several beatitudes promising blessing to those whom God cares for. They serve as an invitation to come into the grace God offers.

[5:3]  ²⁹ sn The poor in spirit is a reference to the “pious poor” for whom God especially cares. See Ps 14:6; 22:24; 25:16; 34:6; 40:17; 69:29.

[5:3]  ³⁰ sn The present tense (belongs) here is significant. Jesus makes the kingdom and its blessings currently available. This phrase is unlike the others in the list with the possessive pronoun being emphasized.

[18:11]  ³¹ tn Or “stood by himself and prayed like this.” The prepositional phrase πρὸς ἑαυτόν (pros eauton, “to/about himself”) could go with either the aorist participle σταθείς (staqeis, “stood”) or with the imperfect verb προσηύχετο (proshuceto, “he prayed”). If taken with the participle, then the meaning would seem at first glance to be: “stood ‘by himself’,” or “stood ‘alone’.” Now it is true that πρός can mean “by” or “with” when used with intransitive verbs such as ἵστημι ({isthmi, “I stand”; cf. BDAG 874 s.v. πρός 2.a), but πρὸς ἑαυτόν together never means “by himself” or “alone” in biblical Greek. On the other hand, if πρὸς ἑαυτόν is taken with the verb, then two different nuances emerge, both of which highlight in different ways the principal point Jesus seems to be making about the arrogance of this religious leader: (1) “prayed to himself,” but not necessarily silently, or (2) “prayed about himself,” with the connotation that he prayed out loud, for all to hear. Since his prayer is really a review of his moral résumé, directed both at advertising his own righteousness and exposing the perversion of the tax collector, whom he actually mentions in his prayer, the latter option seems preferable. If this is the case, then the Pharisee’s mention of God is really nothing more than a formality.

[18:11]  ³² sn The Pharisee’s prayer started out as a thanksgiving psalm to God, but the praise ended up not being about God.

[18:11]  ³³ tn Here the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used as a generic and can refer to both men and women (NASB, NRSV, “people”; NLT, “everyone else”; NAB, “the rest of humanity”).

[18:11]  ³⁴ tn Or “swindlers” (BDAG 134 s.v. ἅρπαξ 2); see also Isa 10:2; Josephus, J. W. 6.3.4 [6.203].

[18:11]  ³⁵ sn A general category for “sinners” (1 Cor 6:9; Lev 19:3).

[18:11]  ³⁶ sn Note what the Pharisee assumes about the righteousness of this tax collector by grouping him with extortionists, unrighteous people, and adulterers.

[18:12]  ³⁷ sn The law only required fasting on the Day of Atonement. Such voluntary fasting as this practiced twice a week by the Pharisee normally took place on Monday and Thursday.

[18:12]  ³⁸ tn Or “I tithe.”

[18:13]  ³⁹ tn Grk “standing”; the Greek participle has been translated as a finite verb.

[18:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “even lift up his eyes” (an idiom).

[18:13]  ⁴¹ tn The prayer is a humble call for forgiveness. The term for mercy (ἱλάσκομαι, Jilaskomai) is associated with the concept of a request for atonement (BDAG 473-74 s.v. 1; Ps 51:1, 3; 25:11; 34:6, 18).

[18:13]  ⁴² tn Grk “the sinner.” The tax collector views himself not just as any sinner but as the worst of all sinners. See ExSyn 222-23.

[18:14]  ⁴³ sn The prayer that was heard and honored was the one given with humility; in a surprising reversal it was the tax collector who went down to his home justified.

[18:14]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “the other”; the referent (the Pharisee, v. 10) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:14]  ⁴⁵ sn Everyone who exalts himself. See Luke 14:11. Jesus often called for humility and condemned those who sought honor.