The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh Is on Me
1 The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to those who are bound, 2 to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified. 4 They will rebuild the old ruins. They will raise up the former devastated places. They will repair the ruined cities that have been devastated for many generations. 5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks. Foreigners will work your fields and your vineyards. 6 But you will be called Yahweh’s priests. Men will call you the servants of our God. You will eat the wealth of the nations. You will boast in their glory. 7 Instead of your shame you will have double. Instead of dishonor, they will rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they will possess double. Everlasting joy will be to them. 8 “For I, Yahweh, love justice. I hate robbery and iniquity. I will give them their reward in truth and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their offspring will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they are the offspring which Yahweh has blessed.” 10 I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh! My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth produces its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring up, so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
The passage Jesus read in Nazareth, and he stopped reading in the middle of a sentence.
The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to those who are bound,
Jesus stood up in the synagogue at Nazareth, was handed this scroll, found this place, read it, sat down, and said today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing Luke 4:21.
The anointing is what the word messiah means, and here the anointed one describes his own commission. Every item in it concerns people who cannot help themselves — the poor, the broken-hearted, prisoners.
Liberty to the captives is the technical term for the jubilee release Leviticus 25:10, when debts were canceled, slaves freed and land returned. It happened once in fifty years, and the announcement of one was the best news a poor family could hear.
to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
And this is where he stopped. Luke records that he closed the book after the year of Yahweh's favor, in the middle of the verse, leaving the day of vengeance unread. The two are in one sentence here, separated by nothing, and the reading divided them.
to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified.
Three exchanges, and each swaps a sign of grief for a sign of celebration. Ashes on the head for a wreath; the oil a guest was anointed with; a cloak instead of a bowed spirit. The Hebrew of the first is a pun that cannot survive translation.
to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified.
They will rebuild the old ruins. They will raise up the former devastated places. They will repair the ruined cities that have been devastated for many generations.
The first thing the released do is building work, and what they build is the places that have been down longest.
But you will be called Yahweh's priests Isaiah 61:6.
The promise of Exodus 19:6, and Peter applies it to the church 1 Peter 2:9.
Instead of your shame you will have double. Instead of dishonor, they will rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they will possess double. Everlasting joy will be to them.
I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh! My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
The clothing is put on by someone else, and the two comparisons are the most dressed-up people at any occasion in that culture.
settled What this mark means