Lukas 1:16-17

1:16 He ¹  will turn ²  many of the people ³  of Israel to the Lord their God. 1:17 And he will go as forerunner before the Lord ⁴  in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ⁵  to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”

Lukas 3:4-6

3:4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice ⁶  of one shouting in the wilderness: ⁷ 

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make ⁸  his paths straight.

3:5 Every valley will be filled, ⁹ 

and every mountain and hill will be brought low,

and the crooked will be made straight,

and the rough ways will be made smooth,

3:6 and all humanity ¹⁰  will see the salvation of God.’” ¹¹ 

Yesaya 40:3-5

40:3 A voice cries out,

“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;

construct in the desert a road for our God.

40:4 Every valley must be elevated,

and every mountain and hill leveled.

The rough terrain will become a level plain,

the rugged landscape a wide valley.

40:5 The splendor ¹²  of the Lord will be revealed,

and all people ¹³  will see it at the same time.

For ¹⁴  the Lord has decreed it.” ¹⁵ 

Maleakhi 3:1

3:1 “I am about to send my messenger, ¹⁶  who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord ¹⁷  you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger ¹⁸  of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Maleakhi 4:5

4:5 Look, I will send you Elijah ¹⁹  the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.

Matius 3:3

3:3 For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken: ²⁰ 

“The voice ²¹  of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make ²²  his paths straight.’” ²³ 

Matius 3:11

3:11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy ²⁴  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ²⁵ 

Matius 11:10

11:10 This is the one about whom it is written:

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, ²⁶ 

who will prepare your way before you.’ ²⁷ 

Markus 1:2-3

1:2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, ²⁸ 

“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way, ²⁹ 

1:3 the voice of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make ³⁰  his paths straight.’” ³¹ 

Yohanes 1:23

1:23 John ³²  said, “I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Make straight ³³  the way for the Lord,’ ³⁴  as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Yohanes 1:27

1:27 who is coming after me. I am not worthy ³⁵  to untie the strap ³⁶  of his sandal!”

Yohanes 3:28

3:28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ ³⁷  but rather, ‘I have been sent before him.’

Kisah Para Rasul 13:24-25

13:24 Before ³⁸  Jesus ³⁹  arrived, John ⁴⁰  had proclaimed a baptism for repentance ⁴¹  to all the people of Israel. 13:25 But while John was completing his mission, ⁴²  he said repeatedly, ⁴³  ‘What do you think I am? I am not he. But look, one is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet!’ ⁴⁴ 

[1:16]  ¹ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:16]  ² sn The word translated will turn is a good summary term for repentance and denotes John’s call to a change of direction (Luke 3:1-14).

[1:16]  ³ tn Grk “sons”; but clearly this is a generic reference to people of both genders.

[1:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “before him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ⁵ sn These two lines cover all relationships: Turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children points to horizontal relationships, while (turn) the disobedient to the wisdom of the just shows what God gives from above in a vertical manner.

[3:4]  ⁶ tn Or “A voice.”

[3:4]  ⁷ tn Or “desert.” The syntactic position of the phrase “in the wilderness” is unclear in both Luke and the LXX. The MT favors taking it with “Prepare a way,” while the LXX takes it with “a voice shouting.” If the former, the meaning would be that such preparation should be done “in the wilderness.” If the latter, the meaning would be that the place from where John’s ministry went forth was “in the wilderness.” There are Jewish materials that support both renderings: 1QS 8:14 and 9.19-20 support the MT while certain rabbinic texts favor the LXX (see D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:290-91). While it is not absolutely necessary that a call in the wilderness led to a response in the wilderness, it is not unlikely that such would be the case. Thus, in the final analysis, the net effect between the two choices may be minimal. In any case, a majority of commentators and translations take “in the wilderness” with “The voice of one shouting” (D. L. Bock; R. H. Stein, Luke [NAC], 129; I. H. Marshall, Luke [NIGTC], 136; NIV, NRSV, NKJV, NLT, NASB, REB).

[3:4]  ⁸ tn This call to “make paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance as the verb ποιέω (poiew) reappears in vv. 8, 10, 11, 12, 14.

[3:5]  ⁹ sn The figurative language of this verse speaks of the whole creation preparing for the arrival of a major figure, so all obstacles to his approach are removed.

[3:6]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “all flesh.”

[3:6]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3-5. Though all the synoptic gospels use this citation from Isaiah, only Luke cites the material of vv. 5-6. His goal may well be to get to the declaration of v. 6, where all humanity (i.e., all nations) see God’s salvation (see also Luke 24:47).

[40:5]  ¹² tn Or “glory.” The Lord’s “glory” is his theophanic radiance and royal splendor (see Isa 6:3; 24:23; 35:2; 60:1; 66:18-19).

[40:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); NAB, NIV “mankind”; TEV “the whole human race.”

[40:5]  ¹⁴ tn Or “indeed.”

[40:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[3:1]  ¹⁶ tn In Hebrew the phrase “my messenger” is מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi), the same form as the prophet’s name (see note on the name “Malachi” in 1:1). However, here the messenger appears to be an eschatological figure who is about to appear, as the following context suggests. According to 4:5, this messenger is “Elijah the prophet,” whom the NT identifies as John the Baptist (Matt 11:10; Mark 1:2) because he came in the “spirit and power” of Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:11-12; Lk 1:17).

[3:1]  ¹⁷ tn Here the Hebrew term הָאָדוֹן (ha’adon) is used, not יְהוָה (yÿhvah, typically rendered Lord). Thus the focus is not on the Lord as the covenant God, but on his role as master.

[3:1]  ¹⁸ sn This messenger of the covenant may be equated with my messenger (that is, Elijah) mentioned earlier in the verse, or with the Lord himself. In either case the messenger functions as an enforcer of the covenant. Note the following verses, which depict purifying judgment on a people that has violated the Lord’s covenant.

[4:5]  ¹⁹ sn I will send you Elijah the prophet. In light of the ascension of Elijah to heaven without dying (2 Kgs 2:11), Judaism has always awaited his return as an aspect of the messianic age (see, e.g., John 1:19-28). Jesus identified John the Baptist as Elijah, because he came in the “spirit and power” of his prototype Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36).

[3:3]  ²⁰ tn Grk “was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying.” The participle λέγοντος (legonto") is redundant and has not been translated. The passive construction has also been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.

[3:3]  ²¹ tn Or “A voice.”

[3:3]  ²² sn This call to “make paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

[3:3]  ²³ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

[3:11]  ²⁴ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:11]  sn The humility of John is evident in the statement I am not worthy. This was considered one of the least worthy tasks of a slave, and John did not consider himself worthy to do even that for the one to come, despite the fact he himself was a prophet.

[3:11]  ²⁵ sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

[11:10]  ²⁶ tn Grk “before your face” (an idiom).

[11:10]  ²⁷ sn The quotation is primarily from Mal 3:1 with pronouns from Exod 23:20. Here is the forerunner who points the way to the arrival of God’s salvation. His job is to prepare and guide the people, as the cloud did for Israel in the desert.

[1:2]  ²⁸ tc Instead of “in Isaiah the prophet” the majority of mss read “in the prophets” (A W ˹³ Ï Ir^lat). Except for Irenaeus (2nd century), the earliest evidence for this is thus from the 5th (or possibly late 4th) century (W A). The difficulty of Irenaeus is that he wrote in Greek but has been preserved largely in Latin. His Greek remains have “in Isaiah the prophet.” Only the later Latin translation has “in the prophets.” The KJV reading is thus in harmony with the majority of late mss. On the other hand, the witnesses for “in Isaiah the prophet” (either with the article before Isaiah or not) are early and geographically widespread: א B D L Δ Θ Ë¹ 33 565 700 892 1241 2427 al sy^p co Ir. This evidence runs deep into the 2nd century, is widespread, and is found in the most important Alexandrian, Western, and Caesarean witnesses. The “Isaiah” reading has a better external pedigree in every way. It has the support of the earliest and best witnesses from all the texttypes that matter. Moreover it is the harder reading, since the quotation in the first part of the verse appears to be from Exod 23:20 and Mal 3:1, with the quotation from Isa 40:3 coming in the next verse. The reading of the later mss seems motivated by a desire to resolve this difficulty.

[1:2]  ²⁹ sn The opening lines of the quotation are from Exod 23:20; Mal 3:1. Here is the forerunner who points the way to the arrival of God’s salvation. His job is to prepare and guide the people, as the cloud did for Israel in the desert.

[1:3]  ³⁰ sn This call to “make his paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

[1:3]  ³¹ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

[1:23]  ³² tn Grk “He”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:23]  ³³ sn This call to “make straight” is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

[1:23]  ³⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

[1:27]  ³⁵ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[1:27]  sn The humility of John is evident in the statement I am not worthy. This was considered one of the least worthy tasks of a slave, and John did not consider himself worthy to do even that for the one to come, despite the fact he himself was a prophet.

[1:27]  ³⁶ tn The term refers to the leather strap or thong used to bind a sandal. This is often viewed as a collective singular and translated as a plural, “the straps of his sandals,” but it may be more emphatic to retain the singular here.

[3:28]  ³⁷ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[3:28]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.

[13:24]  ³⁸ tn Grk “John having already proclaimed before his coming a baptism…,” a genitive absolute construction which is awkward in English. A new sentence was begun in the translation at this point.

[13:24]  ³⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the context for clarity, since God is mentioned in the preceding context and John the Baptist in the following clause.

[13:24]  ⁴⁰ sn John refers here to John the Baptist.

[13:24]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “a baptism of repentance”; the genitive has been translated as a genitive of purpose.

[13:25]  ⁴² tn Or “task.”

[13:25]  ⁴³ tn The verb ἔλεγεν (elegen) has been translated as an iterative imperfect, since John undoubtedly said this or something similar on numerous occasions.

[13:25]  ⁴⁴ tn Literally a relative clause, “of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of his feet.” Because of the awkwardness of this construction in English, a new sentence was begun here.