Luke 4:17-19
Context4:17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He 1 unrolled 2 the scroll and found the place where it was written,
4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed 3 me to proclaim good news 4 to the poor. 5
He has sent me 6 to proclaim release 7 to the captives
and the regaining of sight 8 to the blind,
to set free 9 those who are oppressed, 10
4:19 to proclaim the year 11 of the Lord’s favor.” 12
Luke 4:43-44
Context4:43 But Jesus 13 said to them, “I must 14 proclaim the good news of the kingdom 15 of God to the other towns 16 too, for that is what I was sent 17 to do.” 18 4:44 So 19 he continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea. 20
1 tn Grk “And unrolling the scroll he found.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Instead a new sentence has been started in the translation.
2 tn Grk “opening,” but a scroll of this period would have to be unrolled. The participle ἀναπτύξας (anaptuxa") has been translated as a finite verb due to the requirements of contemporary English style.
3 sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.
4 tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”
5 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.
6 tc The majority of
7 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).
8 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).
9 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.
10 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).
11 sn The year of the Lord’s favor (Grk “the acceptable year of the Lord”) is a description of the year of Jubilee (Lev 25:10). The year of the total forgiveness of debt is now turned into a metaphor for salvation. Jesus had come to proclaim that God was ready to forgive sin totally.
12 sn A quotation from Isa 61:1-2a. Within the citation is a line from Isa 58:6, with its reference to setting the oppressed free.
13 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Here δεῖ (dei, “it is necessary”) indicates divine commission (cf. Luke 2:49).
15 sn The good news of the kingdom, the kingdom of the rule of God through the Messiah, is the topic of Jesus’ preaching.
16 tn Or “cities.”
17 sn Jesus was sent by God for this purpose. This is the language of divine commission.
18 tn Grk “because for this purpose I was sent.”
19 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the summarization.
20 tc Most