Lukas 1:17

1:17 And he will go as forerunner before the Lord ¹  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, ²  to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”

Lukas 1:76

1:76 And you, child, ³  will be called the prophet ⁴  of the Most High. ⁵ 

For you will go before ⁶  the Lord to prepare his ways, ⁷ 

Lukas 3:4-6

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

“The voice ⁸  of one shouting in the wilderness: ⁹ 

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make ¹⁰  his paths straight.

3:5 Every valley will be filled, ¹¹ 

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 ¹²  will see the salvation of God.’” ¹³ 

Lukas 9:52

9:52 He ¹⁴  sent messengers on ahead of him. ¹⁵  As they went along, ¹⁶  they entered a Samaritan village to make things ready in advance ¹⁷  for him,

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

[1:17]  ² 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.

[1:76]  ³ sn Now Zechariah describes his son John (you, child) through v. 77.

[1:76]  ⁴ tn Or “a prophet”; but since Greek nouns can be definite without the article, and since in context this is a reference to the eschatological forerunner of the Messiah (cf. John 1:17), the concept is better conveyed to the English reader by the use of the definite article “the.”

[1:76]  ⁵ sn In other words, John is a prophet of God; see 1:32 and 7:22-23, 28.

[1:76]  ⁶ tc Most mss, especially the later ones (A C D L Θ Ψ 0130 Ë^1,13 33 Ï sy), have πρὸ προσώπου κυρίου (pro proswpou kuriou, “before the face of the Lord”), but the translation follows the reading ἐνώπιον κυρίου (enwpion kuriou, “before the Lord”), which has earlier and better ms support (Ì⁴ א B W 0177 pc) and is thus more likely to be authentic.

[1:76]  ⁷ tn This term is often translated in the singular, looking specifically to the forerunner role, but the plural suggests the many elements in that salvation.

[1:76]  sn On the phrase prepare his ways see Isa 40:3-5 and Luke 3:1-6.

[3:4]  ⁸ tn Or “A voice.”

[3:4]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Grk “all flesh.”

[3:6]  ¹³ 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).

[9:52]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:52]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “sent messengers before his face,” an idiom.

[9:52]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “And going along, they entered.” The aorist passive participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") has been taken temporally. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:52]  ¹⁷ tn Or “to prepare (things) for him.”