Luke 4:18

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

because he has anointed ¹  me to proclaim good news ²  to the poor. ³ 

He has sent me ⁴  to proclaim release ⁵  to the captives

and the regaining of sight ⁶  to the blind,

to set free ⁷  those who are oppressed, ⁸ 

Luke 9:12

9:12 Now the day began to draw to a close, ⁹  so ¹⁰  the twelve came and said to Jesus, ¹¹  “Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging ¹²  and food, because we are in an isolated place.” ¹³ 

Luke 10:21

10:21 On that same occasion ¹⁴  Jesus ¹⁵  rejoiced ¹⁶  in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise ¹⁷  you, Father, Lord ¹⁸  of heaven and earth, because ¹⁹  you have hidden these things from the wise ²⁰  and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will. ²¹ 

Luke 11:31

11:31 The queen of the South ²²  will rise up at the judgment ²³  with the people ²⁴  of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, ²⁵  something greater ²⁶  than Solomon is here!

Luke 13:14

13:14 But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ²⁷  should be done! ²⁸  So come ²⁹  and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.”

---

¹ sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.

² tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”

³ 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 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.

⁵ 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).

⁶ 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).

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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).

⁹ tn Grk “the day began to decline,” looking to the approach of sunset.

¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that the disciples’ request was related to the approach of sunset.

¹¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn That is, find someone to show them hospitality. L&N 34.61 has “find lodging,” using this verse as an example.

¹³ tn Or “in a desert” (meaning a deserted or desolate area with sparse vegetation). Here ὧδε (Jwde) has not been translated.

¹⁴ tn Grk “In that same hour” (L&N 67.1).

¹⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ sn Jesus rejoiced. The account of the mission in 10:1-24 ends with several remarks about joy.

¹⁷ tn Or “thank.”

¹⁸ sn The title Lord is an important name for God, showing his sovereignty, but it is interesting that it comes next to a reference to the Father, a term indicative of God’s care. The two concepts are often related in the NT; see Eph 1:3-6.

¹⁹ tn Or “that.”

²⁰ sn See 1 Cor 1:26-31.

²¹ tn Grk “for (to do) thus was well pleasing before you,” BDAG 325 s.v. ἔμπροσθεν 1.δ; speaking of something taking place “before” God is a reverential way of avoiding direct connection of the action to him.

²² sn On the queen of the South see 1 Kgs 10:1-3 and 2 Chr 9:1-12, as well as Josephus, Ant. 8.6.5-6 (8.165-175). The South most likely refers to modern southwest Arabia, possibly the eastern part of modern Yemen, although there is an ancient tradition reflected in Josephus which identifies this geo-political entity as Ethiopia.

²³ sn For the imagery of judgment, see Luke 10:13-15 and 11:19. The warnings are coming consistently now.

²⁴ tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anhr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as is the case here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1, 2). The same term, translated the same way, occurs in v. 32.

²⁵ tn Grk “behold.”

²⁶ sn The message of Jesus was something greater than what Solomon offered. On Jesus and wisdom, see Luke 7:35; 10:21-22; 1 Cor 1:24, 30.

²⁷ sn The irony is that Jesus’ “work” consisted of merely touching the woman. There is no sense of joy that eighteen years of suffering was reversed with his touch.

²⁸ tn Grk “on which it is necessary to work.” This has been simplified in the translation.

²⁹ tn The participle ἐρχόμενοι (ercomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.