Isaiah 61:1-3

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 61:1 tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.
2. Isaiah 61:1 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).
3. Isaiah 61:1 tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”
4. Isaiah 61:1 tn Or “proclaim good news to.”
5. Isaiah 61:1 tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”
6. Isaiah 61:2 tn Heb “to announce the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance.
7. Isaiah 61:3 tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”
8. Isaiah 61:3 tn Heb “garment of praise.”
9. Isaiah 61:3 tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”
10. Isaiah 61:3 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.”
11. Isaiah 61:3 tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”