LUKE 1:78 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT because of the tender mercy of our God,
⇔  by which the sunrise from on high will visit us,

UST God wants to save us because he is compassionate and merciful.
⇔ That is why he is sending this Savior from heaven to help us.

1:78 Or the Morning Light or the Sunrise

1:78 CT will visit

BLB through the affections of compassion of our God, in which the Sunrise will visit us from on high,

AICNT because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun {will visit}[fn] us from on high,

1:78, will visit: ℵ(01) B(03) D(05) NA28 SBLGNT THGNT ‖ Some manuscripts read “had visited.” A(02) C(04) D(05) BYZ TR

OEB through the tender mercy of our God,
⇔ whereby the dawn will break on us from heaven,

WEBBE because of the tender mercy of our God,
⇔ by which the dawn from on high will visit us,

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Because of our God’s tender mercy
⇔ the dawn will break upon us from on high

LSV Through the yearnings of our God,
In which the rising from on high looked on us,

FBV Through God's caring kindness to us, heaven's dawn will break upon us

TCNT through the tender mercy of our God,
⇔ by which the sunrise [fn]has visited us from on high,

1:78 has visited ¦ will visit CT

T4T Our God will do that because he is very kind to us.
⇔ Just like a new day begins when the sun rises [MET],
⇔ God will do that new thing for us when the Messiah comes to us from heaven.

LEB • because of the merciful compassion[fn] of our God by which the dawn will visit to help us from on high,

1:67 Or “heart”

BBE Because of the loving mercies of our God, by which the dawn from heaven has come to us,

Moff thanks to the tender mercy of our God,
⇔ who will make the Dawn visit us from on high,

Wymth Through the tender compassion of our God, Through which the daybreak from on high will come to us,

ASV Because of the tender mercy of our God,
⇔ Whereby the dayspring from on high shall visit us,

DRA Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:

YLT Through the tender mercies of our God, In which the rising from on high did look upon us,

Drby on account of [the] bowels of mercy of our [fn]God; wherein [the] dayspring from on high has visited us,

1.78 Elohim

RV Because of the tender mercy of our God, Whereby the dayspring from on high shall visit us,

SLT Through the bowels of mercy of our God; by which the rising of the sun of sublimity has reviewed us,

Wbstr Through the tender mercy of our God; by which the day-spring from on high hath visited us,

KJB-1769 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
(Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath/has visited us, )

KJB-1611 Through the [fn]tender mercy of our God, whereby the [fn]day-spring from on high hath visited vs,
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

1:78 Or, bowels of the mercy.

1:78 Or, Sunne-rising, or branch, Zac. 3.8. esay 11.1. malach. 4.2. numb. 24.17.

Bshps Through ye tender mercy of our God, wherby the day spryng from an hygh hath visited vs.
(Through ye/you_all tender mercy of our God, whereby the day spring from an high hath/has visited us.)

Gnva Through ye tender mercy of our God, wherby the day spring from an hie hath visited vs,
(Through ye/you_all tender mercy of our God, whereby the day spring from an high hath/has visited us, )

Cvdl Thorow the tender mercy of oure God, wherby the daye sprynge from an hye hath vysited vs.
(Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day spring from an high hath/has visited us.)

TNT Through the tender mercy of oure God wherby the daye springe from an hye hath visited vs.
(Through the tender mercy of our God whereby the day spring from an high hath/has visited us. )

Wycl bi the inwardnesse of the merci of oure God, in the whiche he spryngynge vp fro an hiy hath visitid vs.
(by the inwardness of the mercy of our God, in the which he springing up from an high hath/has visitid us.)

Luth durch die herzliche Barmherzigkeit unsers Gottes, durch welche uns besucht hat der Aufgang aus der Höhe,
(through the heartfelte compassion ours God’s, through which us/to_us/ourselves besucht has the/of_the rise(n) out_of the/of_the Höhe,)

ClVg per viscera misericordiæ Dei nostri, in quibus visitavit nos, oriens ex alto:
(through viscera of_mercy of_God our, in/into/on to_whom visitavit us, east from high: )

UGNT διὰ σπλάγχνα ἐλέους Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, ἐν οἷς ἐπισκέψεται ἡμᾶς ἀνατολὴ ἐξ ὕψους,
(dia splagⱪna eleous Theou haʸmōn, en hois episkepsetai haʸmas anatolaʸ ex hupsous,)

SBL-GNT διὰ σπλάγχνα ἐλέους θεοῦ ἡμῶν, ἐν οἷς ⸀ἐπισκέψεται ἡμᾶς ἀνατολὴ ἐξ ὕψους,
(dia splagⱪna eleous theou haʸmōn, en hois ⸀episkepsetai haʸmas anatolaʸ ex hupsous,)

RP-GNT διὰ σπλάγχνα ἐλέους θεοῦ ἡμῶν, ἐν οἷς ἐπεσκέψατο ἡμᾶς ἀνατολὴ ἐξ ὕψους,
(dia splagⱪna eleous theou haʸmōn, en hois epeskepsato haʸmas anatolaʸ ex hupsous,)

TC-GNT διὰ σπλάγχνα ἐλέους Θεοῦ ἡμῶν,
⇔ ἐν οἷς [fn]ἐπεσκέψατο ἡμᾶς ἀνατολὴ ἐξ ὕψους,
(dia splagⱪna eleous Theou haʸmōn,
⇔ en hois epeskepsato haʸmas anatolaʸ ex hupsous, )

1:78 επεσκεψατο ¦ επισκεψεται CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:67–80: Zechariah prophesied and praised God

In this section the Holy Spirit gave Zechariah insight, and Zechariah spoke the message in 1:68–79. Some scholars call the message a song because it praises God and is similar to some of the psalms, which people often sang. In the message, Zechariah praised God for keeping his promises by sending the Messiah, who would deliver Israel (1:68–75). He also prophesied that his son, John, would prepare people for the Messiah (1:76–79). John grew up (1:80) and fulfilled this prophecy.

Many verbs in 1:68–79 are in the past tense. But Zechariah was not talking only about the past. He talked about what God was doing at that time and what he would continue to do through the Messiah and through John. If possible, use verb forms that do not refer only to past events.

The phrases in Zechariah’s prophecy are similar to phrases in the Old Testament Scriptures. Almost every clause is similar to a verse in the Old Testament. However, none are so similar that it is clear that Zechariah is quoting a certain verse. You may want to include cross-references to some of the similar verses. They will be mentioned in the Notes.

For your translation of 1:68–79, you may want to write the clauses of this song on separate lines, as poetry. For an example, see 1:68–79 in the BSB, NIV, or GNT. In Greek, 1:68–79 is phrased as two long sentences. Most modern English versions use more and shorter sentences. The Notes will give suggestions about sentence breaks. Remember that there may be special phrases in your language that are appropriate for poetry, even if they are not used in ordinary conversation.

In this section Zechariah did not speak about events in the order in which they happened. In some languages it may be necessary to change the order of the clauses to make the sequence of events clear. For example, here is a possible way to begin this section in some languages:

^68aPraise be to the Lord the God of Israel!

⁷³Long ago he swore an oath to our father Abraham.

^74aHe promised to rescue us from the hand of our enemies…

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Zechariah praised God and prophesied about John

Zechariah praised God for the Messiah who would save Israel

Zechariah’s prophecy

Zechariah’s song of praise to God

1:78a

because of the tender mercy of our God,

Our^(incl) God saves us like this because of his compassion that he feels so intensely.
His people will be saved because God is very merciful/compassionate to us^(incl).

because of the tender mercy of our God: The phrase because of the tender mercy of our God expresses God’s motivation or basis for forgiving and saving people in 1:77. He does it because of his tender mercy. This phrase also connects with 1:78b: because of God’s tender mercy, the “Dawn” will come to visit us. Some English versions connect the phrase with 1:77, and others connect it with 1:79. Either option is acceptable.In the Greek text, “the tender mercy of our God” is connected to 1:77 by δια and to 1:78b by ἐν οἷς. Some English versions (NRSV, NLT, NET, GW, NCV, for example) have chosen to break this long sentence into smaller ones by putting a full stop at the end of 1:77. As a result, these versions only make explicit the connection between God’s mercy and the coming of the “Dawn.”

You should decide how to connect this phrase to the context in the most natural way in your language. In some languages you may be able to leave these connections implied. For example:

⁷⁷…having their sins forgiven.

^78aOur God is merciful and tender.

^78bHe will cause the bright dawn of salvation to rise on us… (GNT)

Some other ways to express the connections in English are:

⁷⁷ You will give his people knowledge of salvation through our God forgiving their sins ^78abecause of his tender mercies. As a result of his mercies, ^78bthe Rising One will visit us from heaven…

⁷⁷…and lead his people to a knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins: ⁷⁸for in the tender compassion of our God the dawn from heaven will break upon us… (REB)

tender mercy: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as tender mercy is an idiom that refers to mercy and kindness that someone feels intensely. This kindness and compassion comes from a person’s deepest emotions.

Some ways to translate this are:

Use an idiom that has the same meaning in your language. For example:
the heart of our God is full of mercy (JBP)
Translate the meaning of the idiom directly. For example:
the compassionate mercy of our God
our God is loving and merciful (GW)
the compassion that our God feels deeply/intensely

1:78b

by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,

Through this compassion the rising sun will come from above
And so the Lord/Messiah, like the sunrise/dawn, will come to us from God.

by which the Dawn will visit us from on high: This part of the verse indicates a result of God’s tender mercy toward us. A literal translation of it is “by which (the) rising (sun) will visit us from the height.” The BSB translates the Greek phrase that introduces this result as by which. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

by God’s tender mercy

through God’s tender mercy

as a result of God’s tender mercy

because of God’s tender mercy, he will cause

the Dawn: The Greek word that the BSB translates as the Dawn refers to the sun at dawn. It refers to the moment when the sun rises and the day begins. It is a figure of speech that refers to the Lord/Messiah. This figure is repeated from Malachi 4:2. It indicates that the coming of the Messiah is like light shining on people in dark places.

Some ways to translate this figure of speech are:

Indicate in the translation whom the Dawn refers to. For example:
the Messiah/Lord, like the rising sun
the Lord, like sunrise/dawn
Include a footnote and say that the Dawn represents the Lord/ Messiah. For example:
The word “Dawn” (or the phrase “rising sun”) represents the Messiah coming from heaven.

See the General Comment on 1:78b–79b at the end of 1:79b for another suggestion about how to translate this figure of speech.

will visit: There is a textual issue here:

Some Greek manuscripts have the future tense “will come/visit.” For example:
A new day will dawn (GW) (BSB, RSV, NIV, GNT, NASB, NLT, GW, CEV, NET, JBP, REB, NCV)
Other Greek manuscripts have the past tense “has come/visited.” For example:
the rising Sun has come (NJB) (NJB, KJV)

It is recommended that you follow option (1) because it has early and strong manuscript support.This recommendation is based on Swanson, p. 29; Greek NT UBS 4th ed.; Metzger, p. 110; and Exegetical Summaries on TW. Also, most English versions follow this option.

from on high: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as on high refers to two places. It refers to the sky, where the sun is, and also to God’s dwelling, where the Messiah came from. Try to choose a phrase that can refer to both places, as “from on high” does.

See heaven, Meanings 1 and 2, in the Glossary.

Parallel LUKE 1:78

Section 1:67–80: Zechariah prophesied and praised God

1:78a

1:78b