Study: Luke 4:18-19

Posted on July 18, 2015 by admin

This is an Addendum to Romans, Part 45.

Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”^[1]

Originally I avoided this quotation because it wasn’t exactly the NET version of the Old Testament (Isaiah 61:1, 2 NET):

The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has chosen me. He has commissioned me to encourage the poor, to help the brokenhearted, to decree the release of captives, and the freeing of prisoners, to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor…

Nor was it exactly the Septuagint:

Jesus (NET)	Septuagint	NET (Parallel Greek Text)
*The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.*	πνεῦμα κυρίου ἐπ᾽ ἐμέ οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέν με εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς ἀπέσταλκέν με	πνεῦμα κυρίου ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισεν με εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς,ἀπέσταλκεν με,
	ἰάσασθαι τοὺς συντετριμμένους τῇ καρδίᾳ
*He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind,*	κηρύξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν Isaiah 61:1	κηρύξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν,
*to set free those who are oppressed,* Luke 4:18 (NET)		ἀποστεῖλαι τεθραυσμένους ἐν ἀφέσει, Luke 4:18
*to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.* Luke 4:19 (NET)	καλέσαι ἐνιαυτὸν κυρίου δεκτὸν… Isaiah 61:2a	κηρύξαι ἐνιαυτὸν κυρίου δεκτόν. Luke 4:19

The first obvious difference: ἰάσασθαι τοὺς συντετριμμένους τῇ καρδίᾳ (he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted in the KJV) is missing from the Greek text of the NET.

The note in the NET reads: “The majority of mss, especially the later Byzantines, include the phrase ‘to heal the brokenhearted’ at this point (A Θ Ψ 0102 Ë¹ 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 text types. 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.”

The phrase was part of the received text (ἰὰσασθαι τοὺς συντετριμμένους τὴν καρδίαν) and included in the King James translation. Whether it should or should not be included matters very little to me (since I have access to both and a footnote detailing the reason it was removed), though it would be interesting if Jesus deliberately deleted it from his own reading.

The brokenhearted (συντετριμμένους τῇ καρδίᾳ) hearkens back to David’s Miserere (Psalm 51:17 NET Table):

The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit – O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject.

The humble heart (broken, KJV) is καρδίαν συντετριμμένην in the Septuagint. Both συντετριμμένους and συντετριμμένην are forms of συντρίβω. If Jesus deliberately deleted this phrase from his quotation, I would take it to mean He did not want his mission to be seen as limited to those who brought the correct sacrifices, the humble spirit, the humble and repentant heart. In fact this is why we work hard and struggle, Paul wrote Timothy (1 Timothy 4:10 NET), because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people (σωτὴρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων), especially of believers. But this, too, only creates arguments about who might remove the phrase and why.

The next obvious difference is that ἀποστεῖλαι τεθραυσμένους ἐν ἀφέσει (to set free those who are oppressed) is not in the Septuagint. I could accept that—to decree the release of captives, and the freeing of prisoners—may have seemed redundant to the Rabbis when translating Hebrew to Greek.

Finally, καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν (and the regaining of sight to the blind) is in Jesus’ quotation and the Septuagint but not in a contemporary translation of Hebrew. The Greek word τυφλοῖς (a form of τυφλός) is blind in English. When Moses complained that he was slow of speech and slow of tongue,^[2] The Lord said to him, “Who gave a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind (Septuagint: τυφλόν, another form of τυφλός)? Is it not I, the Lord?”^[3] But in the law it was written (Leviticus 21:16-21 NET):

The Lord spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron, ‘No man from your descendants throughout their generations who has a physical flaw is to approach to present the food of his God. Certainly no man who has a physical flaw is to approach: a blind (Septuagint: τυφλὸς, another form of τυφλός) man, or one who is lame, or one with a slit nose, or a limb too long, or a man who has had a broken leg or arm, or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or one with a spot in his eye, or a festering eruption, or a feverish rash, or a crushed testicle. No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward to present the Lord’s gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God.

But if you ignore the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force…^[4] One of those curses was to be like the blind: You will feel your way along at noon like the blind (Septuagint: τυφλὸς, another form of τυφλός) person does in darkness and you will not succeed in anything you do; you will be constantly oppressed and continually robbed, with no one to save you.^[5]

Did the Masoretes remove and the regaining of sight to the blind because they didn’t wish to be associated with the blind? But they left The Lord (y^ehôvâh; יהוה) gives sight to the blind (Septuagint: τυφλούς, another form of τυφλός).^[6] And, Look, your God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym; אלהיכם) comes to avenge! With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” Then blind (Septuagint: τυφλῶν, another form of τυφλός) eyes will open…^[7]

This, too, still remains: I, the Lord (y^ehôvâh; יהוה), officially commission you; I take hold of your hand. I protect you and make you a covenant mediator for people, and a light to the nations, to open blind (Septuagint: τυφλῶν, another form of τυφλός) eyes, to release prisoners from dungeons, those who live in darkness from prisons.^[8] So was it removed simply because Jesus cured many people of diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits, and granted sight to many who were blind^[9] (τυφλοῖς, a form of τυφλός) and claimed to fulfill that prophecy in the synagogue in Nazareth?

Joseph Gleason, “a priest at Christ the King Orthodox Mission in Omaha, Illinois,” blogged:

For thousands of years, ancient Hebrew was only written with consonants, no vowels. When reading these texts, they had to supply all of the vowels from memory, based on oral tradition. In Hebrew, just like modern languages, vowels can make a big difference. The change of a single vowel can radically change the meaning of a word….The most extensive change the Masoretes brought to the Hebrew text was the addition of vowel points. In an attempt to solidfy for all-time the “correct” readings of all the Hebrew Scriptures, the Masoretes added a series of dots to the text, identifying which vowel to use in any given location….

In the 2nd century A.D., hundreds of years before the time of the Masoretes, Justin Martyr investigated a number of Old Testament texts in various Jewish synagogues. He ultimately concluded that the Jews who had rejected Christ had also rejected the Septuagint, and were now tampering with the Hebrew Scriptures themselves… If Justin Martyr’s findings are correct, then it is likely that the Masoretes inherited a Hebrew textual tradition which had already been corrupted with an anti-Christian bias…. Simply by choosing one Hebrew text over another, they were able to subvert the Incarnation, the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, His healing of the blind, His crucifixion, and His salvation of the Gentiles. The Jewish scribes were able to edit Jesus out of many important passages, simply by rejecting one Hebrew text, and selecting (or editing) another text instead.

I would like to add, raised from infancy with the belief that Jesus was not, could not possibly be, the promised Messiah, and with no knowledge of deliberate textual corruptions, the Masoretes could have done this in good conscience. Joseph Gleason concluded:

It would seem that the Septuagint (LXX) translation is…a more faithful representation of the original Hebrew Scriptures. Perhaps that is why Jesus and the apostles frequently quoted from the Septuagint, and accorded it full authority as the inspired Word of God.

I’m not prepared to go that far. I was happy to find a corrective to my own conclusion that Jesus and Paul were such inept scholars they couldn’t even quote a passage of Scripture accurately. Clearly, the Septuagint I’m using was not what Jesus read in the synagogue in Nazareth. But He wasn’t reading from the Masoretic text either. Here is the comparison of the King James Version:

Jesus (KJV)

KJV

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Luke 4:18, 19 (KJV)

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD…

Isaiah 61:1, 2a

Jesus’ quotation is much more agreeable with Isaiah 61 in the KJV. But if the “King James Version is the infallible Word of God” Jesus inserted and recovering of sight to the blind into the middle of his reading of Isaiah 61:1. Luke didn’t record anyone disputing it with Him at the time (Luke 4:20-29 KJV):

And [Jesus] closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.

Here is a comparison of the Septuagint and the Stephanus Textus Receptus:

Jesus (KJV)	Septuagint	Stephanus Textus Receptus 1550
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;	πνεῦμα κυρίου ἐπ᾽ ἐμέ οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέν με εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς ἀπέσταλκέν με	Πνεῦμα κυρίου ἐπ’ ἐμέ οὗ ἕνεκεν ἔχρισέν με εὐαγγελίζεσθαι πτωχοῖς ἀπέσταλκέν με
he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,	ἰάσασθαι τοὺς συντετριμμένους τῇ καρδίᾳ	ἰὰσασθαι τοὺς συντετριμμένους τὴν καρδίαν,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind,	κηρύξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν Isaiah 61:1	κηρύξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν
to set at liberty them that are bruised, Luke 4:18 (KJV)		ἀποστεῖλαι τεθραυσμένους ἐν ἀφέσει Luke 4:18
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4:19 (KJV)	καλέσαι ἐνιαυτὸν κυρίου δεκτὸν… Isaiah 61:2a	κηρύξαι ἐνιαυτὸν κυρίου δεκτόν Luke 4:19

I notice that “the heart” in the Septuagint is τῇ καρδίᾳ and in the received text τὴν καρδίαν, but I don’t know enough Greek to make anything of it. And I don’t understand why Origen or Eusebius would delete the phrase ἀποστεῖλαι τεθραυσμένους ἐν ἀφέσει in a deliberate forgery.

Back to Atonement, Part 5

Back to Atonement, Part 6

Back to Who Am I? Part 9

Back to Who Am I? Part 10

^[1] Luke 4:16-19 (NET)

^[2] Exodus 4:10b (NET)

^[3] Exodus 4:11 (NET)

^[4] Deuteronomy 28:15 (NET)

^[5] Deuteronomy 28:29 (NET)

^[6] Psalm 146:8a (NET)

^[7] Isaiah 35:4b, 5a (NET)

^[8] Isaiah 42:6, 7 (NET)

^[9] Luke 7:21 (NET)

Fear – Numbers, Part 3

Posted on April 21, 2014 by admin

Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, who were Reubenites, took men and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders of the community, chosen from the assembly, famous men.^[1]

Fear, the Hebrew word yârêʼ, doesn’t appear in the story of Korah’s rebellion. That in itself is instructive. Though there is plenty to be frightened of, there is no fear of the Lord here; it is difficult to find even a hint of reverence for God. The rebels confronted Moses and Aaron and said, “You take too much upon yourselves, seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the Lord?”^[2]

Accusing Moses of exalting himself above the community of the Lord was hitting below the belt. He was the most reluctant Messiah: “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, or that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”^[3] he had said. Then he had caviled, “If I go to the Israelites and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ – what should I say to them?”^[4] He had fretted, “And if they do not believe me or pay attention to me, but say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’?”^[5] He had made excuses, “O my Lord, I am not an eloquent man, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”^[6] He had all but refused to serve, angering ^[7] the Lord in the process, “O my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send!”^[8]

He had wholeheartedly admitted that he was burdened excessively, beyond [his] strength, so that [he] despaired even of living:^[9] I am not able to bear this entire people alone, Moses had cried out to the Lord, because it is too heavy for me! But if you are going to deal with me like this, then kill me immediately. If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.^[10] And his most profound hope was that all Israel would know the Lord and be holy in fact: “Are you jealous for me?” he had said when Joshua was offended because Eldad and Medad had prophesied in the camp.^[11] “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”^[12]

With his body Moses fell down with his face to the ground^[13] when he heard the rebels’ accusation, but I wonder about his heart (Numbers 16:5-7 NET).

Then he said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning the Lord will make known who are his, and who is holy. He will cause that person to approach him; the person he has chosen he will cause to approach him. Do this, Korah, you and all your company: Take censers, put fire in them, and set incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”

I’ll be the first to admit that it doesn’t pay to be too subtle with Moses’ matter-of-fact writing style,^[14] but the brute fact of goading Korah and his accomplices into presenting strange fire before the Lord^[15] sounds like sarcasm to me. Moses spoke to Korah and the sons of Levi, but he summoned^[16] Dathan and Abiram as a prince would summon unruly subjects. They refused his summons and said, Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince over us? Moreover, you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind [continue to deceive] these men?^[17]

It was another low blow. It hadn’t been that long since Moses had interceded ^[18] for Dathan and Abiram, when the Lord wanted to strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them^[19] after they had refused to enter the promised land because they feared the people living there rather than the Lord. Reading the Bible in faith I am privy to the secret communication between the Lord and Moses that Dathan and Abiram heard about only through Moses. Granted, they had rejected the privilege of hearing from the Lord when they said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”^[20] Still, I want to consider the truth of Dathan’s and Abiram’s accusations, both literal and perceptual.

Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Yes, Moses had led them out of Egypt, and, yes, they were going to die in the wilderness (Numbers 14:28-30a):

As I live, says the Lord, I will surely do to you just what you have spoken in my hearing. Your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness – all those of you who were numbered, according to your full number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me. You will by no means enter into the land where I swore to settle you.

Now do you want to make yourself a prince over us? Moses had summoned them as a prince.

Moreover, you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. True, under Moses’ tenure as leader Dathan and Abiram would not inherit fields and vineyards in the promised land. Their children might have: But I will bring in your little ones, whom you said would become victims of war, and they will enjoy the land that you have despised,^[21] the Lord promised. Dathan and Abiram, however, would die in the wilderness.

Do you think you can blind [continue to deceive] these men? Slavery in Egypt didn’t seem so bad any longer. But here they were wrong. Moses had not deceived anyone. Dathan and Abiram added up all the facts they perceived but came to the wrong sum. How do I know? Through faith, the very faith Dathan and Abiram did not have, though they saw with their eyes, and lived through, the circumstances I can only read about.

Moses was very angry…^[22] Perhaps I should accept his anger as righteous indignation and let it go at that. I certainly have in the past. I would be willing to do so again, if not for the Scripture the Holy Spirit brings to my mind: Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. For human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.^[23] Have no respect for their offering! Moses “interceded” with the Lord. I have not taken so much as one donkey from them [no one accused him of stealing anything], nor have I harmed any one of them!^[24]

Let me say before I go any farther down this road, that apart from the Spirit of God raising the dead, I would have folded long before this if I were under Moses’ pressures. But I do wonder here if Moses was concerned with justifying the Lord or himself. And I probably ask the question because I’ve spent so much of my time and energy trying to justify myself. Be that as it may, I can’t help but wonder if I am staring at the terminal moraine, if you will, of the most humble man in the world.^[25] Is this the foreshadowing of what would become explicit at the waters of Meribah?^[26]

I am foreshadowing for those who know the story and will be explicit for any who do not. Even Moses could not enter the promised land. “Then who can be saved?”^[27] Jesus’ astonished disciples exclaimed on a different subject. But I think his answer still applies: “This is impossible for mere humans, but not for God; all things are possible for God.”^[28] And don’t fret too much for Moses. He came back in the sequel (Luke 9:28-31 NET).

…Jesus took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up the mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became very bright, a brilliant white. Then two men, Moses and Elijah, began talking with him. They appeared in glorious splendor and spoke about his departure that he was about to carry out at Jerusalem.

This followed Jesus’ promise, I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the Son of Man coming (ἐρχόμενον, a form of ἔρχομαι) in his kingdom,^[29] as Matthew recalled it. The definition of ἔρχομαι in the NET lists “to appear, make one’s appearance…come forth, show itself” and “become known” as possible meanings. These make some sense of Mark’s Gospel account (which I assume was Peter’s recollections), there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the kingdom of God come (ἐληλυθυῖαν, another form of ἔρχομαι) with power.^[30] The vision^[31] (ὅραμα) of not just one but three glorified sons of man was overwhelming to Peter in its power (Luke 9:32, 33 NET).

Now Peter and those with him were quite sleepy, but as they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. Then as the men were starting to leave, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” – not knowing what he was saying.

For they were afraid (ἔκφοβοι, a form of ἔκφοβος) Mark wrote, and he did not know what to say.^[32] But God, the Father, made sure there was no confusion in the matter (Luke 9:34, 35 NET).

As [Peter] was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid (ἐφοβήθησαν, a form of φοβέω) as they entered the cloud. Then a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him!”

It’s a beautiful picture of the kingdom of God. And the hope of, not being afraid,^[33] but walking among them as one of them is wonderful beyond description. It’s an occupational hazard of studying the Bible I suppose, but Jesus, Moses, Elijah, Peter, Paul, Abraham, David, Jephthah’s daughter, Mary and Abigail are more vibrant and alive to me than most of the people I see every day. I can only imagine what it was like for Jesus to step out of that vision and back into the here and now. I know what was on his mind. The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that He was concerned that his disciples understood his departure that he was about to carry out at Jerusalem. The clock was ticking loudly then.

As they were coming down from the mountain, he gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept this statement to themselves, discussing what this rising from the dead meant.^[34] But while the entire crowd was amazed at everything Jesus was doing, he said to his disciples, “Take these words to heart, for the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this statement; its meaning had been concealed from them, so that they could not grasp it. Yet they were afraid (ἐφοβοῦντοto, another form of φοβέω) to ask him about this statement.^[35] They went out from there and passed through Galilee. But Jesus did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand this statement and were afraid (ἐφοβοῦντο, another form of φοβέω) to ask him.^[36] When they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they became greatly distressed.^[37]

Finally they began to hear Him. They became greatly distressed which is understandable, maybe even commendable, but completely beside the point! So with the foreknowledge of their unbelief weighing on his mind, Jesus walked down the mountain of transfiguration into an argument (Mark 9:14-18 NET).

When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and experts in the law arguing with them. When the whole crowd saw him, they were amazed and ran at once and greeted him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”

A member of the crowd said to him,^[38] “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that makes him mute [Table]. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they were not able to do so.”

Then the Son of Man vented his own frustration, You unbelieving generation! How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I endure you?^[39]

Fear – Numbers, Part 4

Back to Fear – Numbers, Part 5

^[1] Numbers 16:1, 2 (NET)

^[2] Numbers 16:3 (NET)

^[3] Exodus 3:11 (NET)

^[4] Exodus 3:13 (NET)

^[5] Exodus 4:1 (NET)

^[6] Exodus 4:10 (NET)

^[7] Exodus 4:14 (NET)

^[8] Exodus 4:13 (NET)

^[9] 2 Corinthians 1:8b (NET)

^[10] Numbers 11:14, 15 (NET)