Discovery BoxLuke 1:68-72 
Context1:68 “Blessed 1 be the Lord God of Israel,
because he has come to help 2 and has redeemed 3 his people.
1:69 For 4 he has raised up 5 a horn of salvation 6 for us in the house of his servant David, 7
1:70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, 8
1:71 that we should be saved 9 from our enemies, 10
and from the hand of all who hate us.
1:72 He has done this 11 to show mercy 12 to our ancestors, 13
and to remember his holy covenant 14 –
1 sn The traditional name of this psalm, the “Benedictus,” comes from the Latin wording of the start of the hymn (“Blessed be…”).
2 sn The verb come to help can refer to a visit, but can also connote concern or assistance (L&N 85.11).
3 tn Or “has delivered”; Grk “has accomplished redemption.”
sn Has redeemed is a reference to redemption, but it anticipates the total release into salvation that the full work of Messiah will bring for Israel. This involves both spiritual and material benefits eventually.
4 tn Grk “and,” but specifying the reason for the praise in the psalm.
5 sn The phrase raised up means for God to bring someone significant onto the scene of history.
6 sn The horn of salvation is a figure that refers to the power of Messiah and his ability to protect, as the horn refers to what an animal uses to attack and defend (Ps 75:4-5, 10; 148:14; 2 Sam 22:3). Thus the meaning of the figure is “a powerful savior.”
7 sn In the house of his servant David is a reference to Messiah’s Davidic descent. Zechariah is more interested in Jesus than his own son John at this point.
8 tn Grk “from the ages,” “from eternity.”
9 tn Grk “from long ago, salvation.”
10 sn The theme of being saved from our enemies is like the release Jesus preached in Luke 4:18-19. Luke’s narrative shows that one of the enemies in view is Satan and his cohorts, with the grip they have on humanity.
11 tn The words “He has done this” (referring to the raising up of the horn of salvation from David’s house) are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to allow a new sentence to be started in the translation. The Greek sentence is lengthy and complex at this point, while contemporary English uses much shorter sentences.
12 sn Mercy refers to God’s loyal love (steadfast love) by which he completes his promises. See Luke 1:50.
13 tn Or “our forefathers”; Grk “our fathers.” This begins with the promise to Abraham (vv. 55, 73), and thus refers to many generations of ancestors.
14 sn The promises of God can be summarized as being found in the one promise (the oath that he swore) to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3).
