Bart]. Koet
In a mosaic of the church of Santa Sabina in Rome, made under Pope Celes- tine (422-432), there are two fernale figures at the sides of a great historical inscription. Below one figure we can read: eclesia [sic!] ex circurncisione; below the other one: eclesia exgentibus. Over the former is Peter, while over the latter is Paul. Fro111 this conlposition and from many others in R o m e we can learn that there was in the fifth century still a certain notion that the church was originally divided in two: a church f h m Jewish stock and one f h m the gen- tiles. An example of this pattern in the thirteenth century may be the mosaic of the apse of San Clemente in R o m e where we see right o f the centre Peter, Clement, Jeremiah and Jerusalem, while left of the centre we find Paul, Law- rence, Isaiah and Bethlehem. In this picture Paul is the apostle of the gentiles, Lawrence is the deacon of the gentiles and Isaiah is the prophet of the gentiles.
That in this mosaic Isaiah is presented as prophet of the gentiles should come as n o surprise, because Paul 'finds in Isaiah
-
particularly the prophecies of I3eutero-Isaiah-
a prefiguration of his own distinctive apostolic ministry to the Gentiles'.'How did Luke read Isaiah? Does he acknowledge the context of a quota- tion? Are some passages more iniportant than others? In this chapter, it will be argued that Luke not only knows the quotations, he also takes into account their contexts (at least t o some extent), that some passages of Isaiah are more crucial than others, and that some of the ideas in Isaiah are adopted a5a blueprint for his work.'
There are four explicit Isaiah quotations in the gospel o f l u k e . Two of them also occur in Mark and Matthew (Isa. 40:.3-5; Isa. 56:7), though Luke adds
'
R R Hays. * "Who has Helteved our Message'" Paul's Reading o f lunh'. tn J M C ourt, ed.
New7esramenr Wntrn and f/te Old Zstamenr An Inrrodwnon (London SPCK, 2002). p 47 Fur Isatah's vtew on the getmles, see <; I Dav~es, 'The I>rsany of the <;enales tn the Book of Isad)', In J Vermeylen. ed , ?he Rcwk oflrald l.e 1~1w d'l~ate LC\ oracles el kur wlmum tin~te rl campl~xtld de I'ouvrayr (RETL 81, Lruwtl Lruven Untvemty Press
-
Peetm. IOH9), pp 93-120'
C f J C h B&uaens, brerpnranec t a n J ~ a ] d 5 1 Ea, ~ntmcxnuel ortdnzork vwar de Iydende K m h r tn Jcs 5 3 ('A47 / L X B nt tn Ib 2 2 14- 78, Hand J 12-26, Ilartd 4 23- 11 en Hand 8 2 6 4 0 (TFT 5tttd1rc 22. Tdburg Tdburg Unrvrn~ty P m , 1993)I S A I A H I N Tf+E N E W TES'I'AMENT
substantially to the quotatlon of Ira. 40:3-5 In Lk. 3 : M . When deallng wlth these pasrages we wrll concentrate on the Lukan elements. Two quotanon? are found only in Luke's gospel: Isa. 6l:l-21 (with an insertion fro111 58:6) in Lk.
4: 18-1 0 and Isa. 53: 12 in Lk. 2 2 3 7 . There are five explicit quotations in Acts:
Isa. 66:l-2a (7:49-50); Isa. 53:7-Xc (X:32-33); Isa. -553 (1334); Isa. 4 9 5 (13:47) and Isa. 69-1 la (28:262-27).
Although Luke uses fewer quotations h r n Isaiah than Matthew, this does not indicate that Isaiah is less important for him. It is not simply the quantity of yuotat~onc that n Important, but t h e ~ r quallty. Luke weaves Icalah nghtly Into the rtructure of h ~ s double work, quoting at m t a l places w t h l n the
narrative It 1s remarkable that Luke uses qliotanons tiom or allusions to I \ ~ l a h 111 those passages where leacilng characters appear. When John the Baptlst, Jesuc and Stephen appear, Luke ~ntroduces a quotatlon of
Isaiah.'
Luke attr~butes to I'aul In the final scene of Acts a quotatlon h m Isaiah.
Thlr lrldlcates that 1sal.lh IF a key to the under$tandlng of Luke-Acts as a whole.
Otieri Lukc dlvlcie, references to Isalah benveen the gospel and lts sequel, Acts. When Luke alludes to a test which he also quote$, we have grounds to rccog~llre the a l l ~ ~ s l o ~ i '1s ~rltended.' This lrldlcates that Luke uses moo&
frorn Isaiah. Luke can work with allusions only if he presupposes some knowledge of Isaianic texts by his a u d i e ~ i c e . ~ Especially as he sometimes alludes to a text which he later quotes ( e . ~ Isa. 49% in Lk. 2:28-32 and Acts 13:47; Isa. 6:9 in Lk. 8:10 and Acts 28:265-27; Isa. 53:12 in Lk. 22:37 and Acts 8:32-33).
In this chapter I will discuss sequentially aU explicit quotations h n 1 Isaiah, and allusions to Isaiah texts which are quoted elsewhere in Luke-Acts. I will explore whether Luke', repeated references to Isatah ll~dlcate that ~t was one of hlr blueprints for descr~blng Jesus as a prophet and typlfLlng hls nnsslon.
Illdeed, whether the quotatlorlr and alluclonc are slmply the vlrlble part of the rceberg, whose fill1 extent 1s urlknown but 15 certarnly present, even that Ir not always poscrble to rdennfy wrth preclslon By focuslng on the expllclt
C; J 5tcyn. k.pcrriqrnc @rocanon< rtr clrt I'cerrnr /rtrd l'c~rrb:rt~ Speerhrs u/ che Ana Apoirolmrm (('BET 12, Kaniprn Kok, l'N5) rrfcn to tile fact that 1 uke's tnterprrwnorrr of urrprurr are placed I ~ I the rllouth\ of airtlior~t~n, though there arc rro quocat~or~s of Isa~ah a~trrhuted to I'rtrr
' For the question ot drfr~~lt~oric of allus~oo%.ree I) Ihium. Dm AIfc Ieseamenc her I ~ r k u (RZNW 112.
Nerhri and Ne\% York I)e (.ru\ter 200l).p 41 For a hst ofdunorrs In the gorpel.rec <' A I(rmhall, /wrr' 1 apotrrlorr v/ rhr Old Ir\bmrorr lrr L r k 5 (kc[rl U5NT5up 94,'rheKtcld 'ihcfield Acddenuc Prt-\r, 1I)VJ). pp 206-12 For a lrst oidlli~srons to I%lah ui Acts, .ice J Dupont, 'L'unhuuon apolog- ctrque de I'An~rcr~ ' l m t r ~ ~ i e n t rbns I11 Jncour\ d c ~ Actrs'. 112 kcr,de$ rur kr Anzc dr.i Apdcws (Lcctro 1)rvrm 4i,Par1\ C ert, 1907) pp 24i-X?.(;> 281) W <;rrrnrn. Mhluh drlh It& I h r L'nlrutrdrpmnfJesrp~~r rrrtd l h r c m ~ ~ ~ r ~ q a (ANTI I .rrli Mrrr~ and R F ~ I I Frdllkfurt. 107h) argues tllat w t i i c t ~ ~ ~ i e ~ JWUI hlnrself
<auld he the source of the I.;lumr hrr k ~ r n o n d oi thr gcxpels
"tevn, .kpcuupur +ocurroi~c, p 230. (oncludrs that dl1 oithc speeches dnd dralog%cs w h ~ h contdlli cuplrc~t quotrtron.i are ad'ire.i~ed to Je\\<
Cf Hays, 'l'a~~l'c Ilrrdrng ~ f l \ . u d h ' , p 47
ISAIAH I N LUKE-ACT'S quotat~oris In relatrori w ~ t h the more probable allusions, I w ~ l l attempt to sketch the Illart1 I s a ~ a n ~ c themes used by Luke and the h e r n i e n e u t ~ ~ a l mle of lsalah In Luke-Acts.
In Luke 1-2, Luke presents Jesus as a contlnuatlou of God'\ salvation for I~rael O n e of h ~ s tools IS the parallel presentatron of John the Uapt~st and Jesus Llke the patrrarchs and prophets o f the Old Testament, John the Uapt~st and Jesus are d ~ s t ~ n g u ~ s h e d by a cpec~al b ~ r t h
'
The readers of the gospel are 'warned' Three times the eva11g11st descr~bes fir\t somethrng about John and secondly someth~ng about Jesus John's brrth 1s announced In 1 8-20, whrle Jesus' 1s foretold 111 1 26-38 Tlie brrth ofJohn and the way he gets hls name I\ descrrbed 111 1.57416, w h ~ l e In 2 1-2OJesus' btrth is told (for g ~ v ~ r i g h ~ s name, Fee 2 21) Aker th15 ~ntroductlon, Luke continues wlth thls parallel and its message I j u r ~ n g John's debut as preacher anci pn)phet, h ~ s work 1s typified 111 an e d ~ t o r ~ a l comnient by an Isa~ah quotatloti In Lk 3.4-6, whlle durrng Jew\' debut (Lk. 4:16-30), we hear another quotatloti ti-om Icarah. . . Luke stresses in this parallel that one of John's functions is to prepare for Jesus arid that Jesus is therefore greater than John (see e.g. L k 1:80 and Lk.2:40).
Luke quotes Isa. 40:3-5 in Lk. 3 : G . Isa. 40:3 is quoted in Mk. 1 :3 and in Matt. 3:3 (cf. John 1:23). Although Mark nientions Isaiah as the source of the quotation, the text is cornbiried in Mark with a quotation from Mal. 3:1. Like Matthew, Luke uses the reference to Ma1 3:1 elsewhere, as part ofJesus' reply to John's d~sc~ples (Lk 7:27/Matt. 11.10). Tlie quotat~otl h r i i Isa~ah 40 In Luke 3 IS (partrally) &on1 a t n d ~ t ~ o n a l courceX U n l ~ k e Matthew and Mark Luke'? quotatloll 15 longer.lie 1nc1ude.i Isa 40.4-5 rn the quotat~on. The result 1s that Luke focuses more o t ~ the Isa~ali text ~tself" Wrth thrc quotatlor1 the author antlcipatec arid clarlfia ttie actlvltle\ of John."' A\ an edrtorral co111- ment ~t I\ a dt.iclocun. for the- readers of the mlrslori and the ~mportance of John. The author says:
See BJ. Koet,'Sr~ricorr Wonc (Lk 2.2')-32.34~-35) unJ I\rreli (;e.ichrck',rn I- \-an Scghmerk rr ' d . c h , 771r I;OIII <;twpeL (Frstsl~rrft I' Nc~rynck;I.)ETL 10U.I.ci1ve11: I.CIJVCII Ur~~versrty I ' r r x -- l'e'rcrcn.
I'rf2). pp. 154')-00; and tdr~n. 'Holy I1IdCe dnd Harltr.th'\ Prayer: a (:o~nparrso~~ of LAN 51 and Lk 2.22-39 a pmpos I h n r 1-2'. rn A. Houtrrirtr rt al.. c ~ k . Sdt~nry of 7imc arid .Sp,wc 111 'liuii~rlo~r a~td Atodmtrry Ocw1s11 and < I h r ~ s t r a ~ ~ Penpectrvcs Scrre5 I; l.elden: iirril, IWU), pp. 45-72,
' h > r (1 as poi,ible source, see, e.g. J. Lalrrhrecht, :lohr~ the Naptir! arrd Jcsir, m Mrrk I. 1-1 5 . Markdtl Ketlactrorr of Q', M S 38 (Ic>02), pp. 3 5 7 4 4 .
' Iw. 40:3
IS also used In thr C o n ~ ~ r t u n ~ t y Ihrle of(>urnran I (2s 8:l4: i f '> tcrr I . we K. SrloJRrn\i.
'Strcana of Tradrt~on Er~rergtrrg ~ I Iluxah 4O.l-5 and the11 Artpt~otr I 111 tire New Tert~rirent', JSM'U (1')UO). pp, 2 M i ; and IIW. Pao. Airs ~ t r d rlrr Lniann S e w I i ~ o d t ~ ( W U N T 73: Tub~ngcrr.
Mohr Srebeck. 2(KXl), pp. 42-45.
"' R u u m . f h s ,.f/rr 76sramr1rr. p. 151. n u k e a &bttnCtlon benvcerr drrtrcrpatrng qtrootroru (Pwlcps) and rhore rcierrrng to what ~Ireddy hdppet~ed rtrd #~~terpretr~i# 11 ~ I I K I I J ~ I tlie ~ ~ r r o u t r ~ ~ r i I I I retnl- spestlvc (Andlep\).
ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
3 4 Ac rt is wrrneri in t h e b o o k o f t h e words o f Isaiah t h e prophet,"
T h e voice o f o n e c r y n g in t h e wilderness:
Prepare t h e way o f t h e Lord.
rndke hi5 path5 straight 3 5 Every valley <hall b e filled,
and rvery mountarn a n d hill <hall b e b m u g h t low, and t h e crooked shall b e made strarght,
and t h e rough ways shall be made smooth;
3.6 a n d all flesh shall see t h e salvanon of God."
The quotation fits the story of John, since in both the desert is mentioned.
John's preaching is like a voice of one crying in the wilderness. Baptism o f repentance for the renlission of sins is a concrete form o f preparing the way of the Lord.
Luke's text differs h n i the test of the LXX in our printed editions in three ways: (1) Luke speaks of 'his paths', the LXX has 'the paths of our God'; (2) Luke speaks of 'rough ways', the LXX is singular; (3) Luke omits the phrase about the revelation of the glory of God." The Isaiah text announces the salvation of the gentiles and Luke is the only gospel writer to quote this clause. The phrase 'and all flesh shall see the salvation of God' is remarkable.
Although Luke uses the Grcek wvord for salvation only three times, he does use it at very crucial places. 1)uring the presentation in the temple, the effect o f
Jesus' a p p e a r a n c e is s k e t c h e d . For S i n l e o n it is c l e a r t h a t Jesus will be God's salvation: 'For mine eyes have seen thy salvation (2:30) . . .a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to thy people Israel' (2:32). At the end of his work, Luke also mentions it. Paul announces that the salvation of God is sent to the gentiles (Acts 28:28). It has often been argued that the rejection of Israel is the theme of Acts 28. However, as in Lk. 2 3 0 and 3:6, Luke presents in Acts 28:28 the Isaianic theme that God's salvation also pertains to the gentiles.
Although it may be that Luke found Isaiah 40 in his source, in his presenta- tion of it, he fits it into his own prograrnnie. It is appropriate that the Isaiah quotation in Lk. 3 : M is used in John's debut because its message can be interpreted as a description of both John's and Jesus' mission. By underlining that this text is froni the book of Isaiah, Luke develops a new element to the parallel between Jesus and John. Like John, Jesus will also be presented as an
I Translrtlons oththllcal p a s a p hare heen taken hull1 the ~ s v
' Wc tan h a d y speak ot orlc LXX text \mrral scholrs hrvc dealt w r d ~ the questron ofwhlch text Luke used for hts quotroons See the hlrrory of research rn Frtyl~, .kptuqtnf Qrofunons,pp 6-8 It IS
clear that when Inrrrtrgatrrty textual .ilrmLr~t~cr hetween Lukc'r quotattons m d erther the Greek or rhc Hehrcw O T text, we oherve that LuLr norlnally quotm a text In m Gmek for111 more o r leu
~ccorrtny to what w hare III our prlntcd edrt~onr of the LXX. see Itnjn. Srprwytnr Quofanons, p 212 For reasola ot space. I cmnnot deal e\telu~vel) wltlt the mlattomtup h e w e n the LXX text and other (~rcck texts hat *IU refer orlty to the r11cxt tnrportant &flcrex~cer
' For the d~ffrrnlces hewren Greek textis) known to ur and that of Luke. see Rusarn, DilJ Alfe Irrtotnenr, pp 155-58. and I) L Bock. R ~ l a n ~ a ~ t n n from I'ntphriy and k r r m Lrcan Old 7rs~lmnt1
I
' hncrolopy O\NT\up 12 \hctfield Fhetfield Acadrrrnc P r s . 1987). pp 94-95
ISAIAH I N LUKE-ACTS actualization of an Isaiah text. The insertion of the concept 'salvation to all flesh' makes the Isaianic presentation ofJohn more fitting in the Lukan con- text, because the addition of the gentiles to God's people Israel is an important theme in Luke-Acts.
Iso. 61:l-2
Lk. 4:16-30 describes Jesus' public proclanlatlon In the synagogue at Nazar- eth." We are told that Jesus opens the book of Isaiah arid finds the place where it is written:
4: 18 T h e Spirit o f the Lord is u p o n me,
because h e has anointed m e t o preach g o o d news t o the poor.
H e has sent m e t o p m c l a ~ m release t o t h e captlves and recovering o f sight t o t h e blind,
ro ser at liberry those w h o are oppressed, 4:lY t o proclaim t h e acceptable year o f t h e Lord.
Although Luke's text follows riiuch of the LXX, there are iniportant differ- elices." For example, the phrase, 'to heal the brokenhearted' is omitted, and Luke uses the verb rqpbaaa ('to proclaim') the acceptable year, whereas the LXX uses ~ u k i o ('to call, announce'). But the most remarkable difference is the insertion of a phrase h n i Isa. 58:6: 'to set at liberty those who are oppressed'." This passage from Isaiah is crucial not only for this pericope, but also for Luke's presentation ofJesus in general.'7
The main part of the combined Isaiah quotation consists in a verse and a
'' O n Chis P L C U ~ C , scc BJ Koet, '"Toddy t h ~ s Scr~pture hs. heen Fulfilled In your Em" Jesus' Explananon of Srr~pnrre In Luke 4.1630'. In Koct, I-IIT Srrrdrrq oa rlu lnrnprrranon ~(Smpnrrr In Luke-Acrf (5tud1oritm N o v ~ Testarnent~ A u u h 14. Leuven Leuven Unwen~ry Press - Peetcrs, 1989) For a rev~cw ofl~teratt~re on Lk 4 16-30. see C J 5chrcck. 'The Nazareth Pcr~cope Luke 4.16-30 m Recent Study'. rn I- Ne~rync k, ed
.
L'.&W~IIP dr L u n u CAfpcl o(Lubr (RETL 32.2nd and enlarged edn. Leuven Peeters, lVHc>)), pp 399-47 1. Rusatn. Dm A11e 'Gsran~rnr, pp 17 1-207''
For thc drfierences between the Greek text known to us and the text o f 1 ukc, see Rusrrn. D m Alrc r?stotnenr. pp 155-58. and I3ock. Ihulamal~ot~ b n t Propkery, pp 1 0 5 4 7" In 'Today thn Scripture hds been FulfiUed',pp 29-30,I argued that the two Isarm~c texts ( l a h l 1-
2a dnd a lme fmm Isa 5H 6) are combmed by a nudr+qhrc tcchn~qoe w h ~ t h rescmhlcs the later r a b h ~ n ~ i bermencut~cal rule. t h e ~ ~ z r r a h s h a d T h 6 1s the second of H~llel's seven rules 111 the cvly p m o d ot mldrdshlc antcrpretatlon Whcn kt became one o f d ~ e s c wvcn hertncncuucal rules, tt w?
itxd as d method for esubluhlng a n a l o ~ ~ n henvccn nvo Torah precepts whme phmstnp~ have onc or more wonk In mmmon f i r s word or words are regarded as the hnk between the two precepo.
w h ~ c h eluc~ddte ea~11 other Naturally the two Torah passages niust have a context w h ~ c h can bc cot~lparcd It u p o s ~ b l e that In an carl~er perrod thn rule M a s not used only for Torah-precepts There are several ~ n d ~ c a n o n \ that t h ~ c hern~encuucal nde by analogy had ensted for a long nme and hac wcn bcen used Cor trdnslmonq from Hebrew into Creek In Luke 4 18-19 nvo tcxtr h r n thc LXX venlon of ksaldh (poverty IS rn mlporrarit thcnle In both, thus nukmg rt poss~ble to r o r n p m them) are cornbmed w ~ t h the brrdge-word 'delrvennce/l~hcrty' (&+fmC) Wc can fmd thtb bndgc- word In Isa 58 h and 61 2 LXX Thtr suggests that the comb~ned Isatah quownoo IS the mu11 o f a deltherate 'excgeus'
" Although ~t is poss~hle thdt Luke has der~ved the ~ Istructcire fmrn Mk 6 L 14. it n w~dcly
recognized that Lk 4 16-30 bears many Lukan chdracter~sucs
ISAIAH IN T H E NEW TESTAMENT
half tiom Isatah (11 I h The glorlficat~or~ of Z ~ o n (Isa~ah 60) IS followed by the prophetic call and nnrrlon (61 1-Sa, cf lsa~ah 6, Jerem~ah I ; Ezek~el 1-3 and An1 7.10-17) T h e speaker connect, the fact that he has the splrlt of Y H W H w ~ t h two elements Fmt, YHWH has a n o ~ r ~ t e d and sent h1n1 (61.1) For . . prophets, anointing means 'being appointed to'." His appointment is explained in some detail in the following verses. Second, a niessag ofjoy and consolation for the oppressed is proclaimed.
As W.A.M. Ueukerl a r p e s , the wording with which the 'prophet' a n ~ ~ o u r ~ c e s himself in Isaiah hl evokes the figure o f the Servant, to whom Y H W H has also given his spirit (see 42: 1; 4%). There is some ambiguity as t o whom the text is referring. Is it the prophet himself or can we hear the voice of the Servant? A sinlilar question arises apropos Luke's use of this text. D.L.
Bock argues that the key quect~on concerns w h ~ c h figure 1s In vrew here, and whetller ~t 1s a task performed, or an office held, that 15 en~phas~zed: 'Is the p o ~ r ~ t of fulfillment the message to the poor and the release of the oppressed?
O r Ir tlie p o n ~ t the figure, who b r ~ n p these t h ~ n p ? O r 15 ~t both?'"'
The q u a l ~ t ~ e s of the prophet In lsa. 61.1-2a serve as an outline of several aspects of Jesus' works of calvanon In the gospel. In apply~ng t h ~ s pasage to h~ln\elf Jesus presents h~nlrelf as a prophet who cornes to proclainl to the people the glad t~d~ng., of ralvat~on The other elements of the quotat~on are alto fulfilled 111 Jesus' rnln~~tr-y and are a klnd o f prev~ew ofJesus' actlvlry e.g., his evangelizing re-occurs in 4:43; 7 2 2 ; X:1; 20:1 and his keen interest in the poor in 6:70; 14:13, 21; 16:20; 18:22; 1 9 9 ; 21 :3. T h e fact that Jesus has received the spirit is a theme also enlphasized elsewhere in Luke (1:35; 3:22;
4: 1, 14; 10:2 1 ; cf. Acts 1 :2; 10:38).2i
The quotation fio111 Isa. 01:1-2a is corilbincd with a line from Isa. 58:6.
Isa~ah 58 is a propiletic warning. God does not desire pious observance (e.g.
t ~ c t ~ n g ) \when people forget t h e ~ r poor and hungry t~eighbour. These people, whose fast~ng ends In quarrell~ng and s a ~ f e , forget to break t h e ~ r tbread w ~ t h the hungry (Isa. iX:7). It is possible that by adding an element from Isaiah 58 to Isaiah 61, Luke alludes to an in~portant element of Jesus' preaching in Luke-Acts: tlre salvation of the poor is related to the repentance of the rich (cf. Lk. lh:19-31). This inlplies a warning to the rich (cf. Lk. 6:20,24). It is a part of Luke's drea~n that the rich will be persuaded to give away their possessions (cf. 3: 10-1 4; 5: 1 1, 28; 1433; 1 8:22; 19:8; Acts 244-45; 432-37 and 5:1-1 I).
Jesus explains the qi~otation in 1 2 1 and 4:23-27 by using the examples of
'" For l ~ t d t i 61. III addrr~on I<) colrirllclrtarlz\, ice W A M Heukcn. 'Servant drld Herald of Good T~dtngs lwtal~ h l ai ari l~~terprstat~orr of Iwah 40-Si'. III V c r r n q l c ~ ~ , Illr lkwk ofLniulr,pp 41 1-42
" Bsukeo. 'kndlrt and Herdid', [i 4 14
' Hoi l. Ihlan~artc~tt fmni I+t~p/rrcy. p 1 OX
' I-or hlr h e i l ~ n g t t ~ c hllnd, \es 1) Halnrn. '\~&t to the Hllnli Vlsron as Meuphor In I uke'. Nlh h7 (Ic)Xh) pp 457-77
I S A I A H I N I.UKF.-ACTS
Elijah and Eiisha to illustrate his own prophetic mission." The inhabitants of Nazareth are 'not amused' and thrust him out of the city and even try to cast hirn down h m the hill (4:30)." Althougll Jesus is not favourably received, his preaching and healing d o appear to have some success, as is clear f i m the allusion to Isaiah 61 in Lk. 7:ltt-29, which appears to take up the lsaianic text o f Lk. 4:10-19.t4 When two of the disciples of John the Baptist enquire whether Jesus is the Coming One, he answers:
7 22 Go a n d tell J o h n w h a t y o u have seen dnd heard t h e blrnd rccelve their clght (cf 1 18) t h e l a m e walk,
lepers arc (leansed, mci t h e cieaf hear, t h e dead arc ralted up,
t h e poor have good new5 p r e a ~ h e t f to thenx ( c f 4 18)
Although it is possible that there are references here to Isa. 35:6 (blind, deaf, lame) and 2 9 1 8 (blind, deaf, poor), the fact that Isa. 61:i-2a is quoted in Lk.
4:lX-19 rnakes it quite certain that at least Isa. 01:l-2 is alluded to here (Acts 10:38).25
Jesus' debut and his answer to John's disciples depict him as the Coming One, with a healing ministry. Luke gives a11 outlir~e of the entire ministry of Jesus by means of the Isaiah quotation, but the references in Luke 4 connect not only with Luke 7 but also with preceding characterizations ofJesus in Lk.
2:32 and 3:22. As we saw above, Sin~eon describes Jesus in terms that are taken h m the Servant songs in (Ikutem-)Isaiah (Lk. 2:32; see Isa. 4 2 0 ; 19:6,9; cf.
46:13). At his baptism (Lk. 321-22) Jesus is addressed f i n r heaven: 'You are my beloved Son; in you I have tzzken delight' (322). Although there is discus- sion about the composition of this allusion to the OT, it is clear that 1's. 2:7 is to be included. However, the giving of the Spirit in combination with the theme of God's 'delight' also seems to allude to Isa. 42:l ('Here is my servant, whoni I uphold, my chosen, in who111 my soul delights; I will put r11y Spirit upon him and he will bring justice to the ~lations').
?' For tlic esarnplcs of Elrjah and Ehslia, rcc rrly 'Today tl~rs Srrrpture has hccn I'ulfillcJ', pp. 41-49 Wtth there reference\ Jcsus sho\\rs that dlc expectatton of the auti~cnce IS not rcalrsttc. Although A
pn,phcr can he faw,:trrhly rccerveii rl.irwi~erc. for h n hc>tnetc,\\.r~. tt I\ hrs prcachlnp that IS rrnpnrt- artt, not hrs hea1111g.s. See 'Today t h ~ s Scrrptnn. hds k e n Fulfilled'. pp. 3'1-53; m d J.A. Sandcn, 'Fmm Iurah h l to Luke 4'. rn J. Neusrrer. cd.. <3ltriirta11try, Jedarstn urrd Orlrrr (;r~~~-Kowrir~r C~rlu: Sttrd~ci /br ,\;lorfivi Srn~ri~ ar Srsry 1 : .1'7'(SJLA 12: Lclden: l3rrll. 1975). pp. 75-106.
"
I trnrcrprct the mactron lo 4:22 as currosrty wrth n certarn amount <IS 3drtrrlrrutrrg cspcctatloti: k)r a srrrtllar ~riterpreratron.sce Sdr~de=. 'Fnjoi Irardh (11 to Luke 4'. The qucrtr<~ri 1s rtiostly rc~dnicd .I\ a n e p u v e reacuon. In that cdse the sudden c h d n g hetwern 4:22a arrd h I$ prohlenrdtlr''
Fmm a h ~ s t ~ r r c a l - ~ r ~ ~ ~ a l point ofvlew tlus tr ofcoursr wnxrg: Luke iierrvcd tlie lulah quourron rn Lk. 4:IX-19 q~rtte pnhahly f b r n Lk. 7:22/Matt. 11:s. dlrd thus Lk. 7 2 2 IS the 'sourrc' fix thr quotatloti 111 Lukc 4. For a sunirliary,.iee Schmck, 'The Nazarrtll Pcrrc-opr', pp 414-17. Howcvcr.for the rcadcn Lk. 4: 1K-1') comer firit and therrfim for tlicr~r that a the '.io:rrce' o f t h c allusrorr In Lukc 7.
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o
r the rrsenlblanccs In Greek, see. e.g.. Kusaln. IItu .4ltt. 71~ldt11r111. p. 170.