Luke 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Spoken to
group

Jesus reads at the meeting house in Nazareth.

KJV

Luke 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

NIV

Luke 4:19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

LISTENERS HEARD

To proclaim a cycle of a Master understood.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

This is again based on a quote from the OT, Isaiah 61:2. As we saw in the previous verse, Jesus changes it, making it more entertaining, but English translation makes it boring using words like "preach," "year," and "acceptable." Where is the thrill in preaching a year of a Master as "acceptable?"  These words mean "proclaim," "epoch," and "understood. What Jesus said is interesting: "To proclaim an epoch of a Master understood." It is not the Master that is understood, but the "epoch," which is funny, because what "epoch" means. An "epoch" in Greek has a double meaning. It is 19-year cycle of the calendar used to calculate the date of their Passover, the time of Jesus death resurrection, our Easter. So Jesus listeners would have heard this as a proclaiming of the Passover as understood. It was also a 600-year cycle, the time since the last king of Judah. 

Jesus changed the first word from Isaiah said which was "to call for" to "proclaim," a hope to a coming event. Jesus also leaves off the next line in the original Isaiah, "and the day of repayment." "Repayment" is mistranslated as "vengeance" in most English Bibles.

 

 

MY TAKE

Repayment is always acceptable.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page)

Luke 4:19 ηρύξαι  ἐνιαυτὸν Κυρίου δεκτόν.

Isaiah 61:2 καλέσαι ἐνιαυτὸν κυρίου δεκτὸν 

GREEK ORDER

ηρύξαι              ἐνιαυτὸν   Κυρίου        δεκτόν.
To proclaim an cycle         of a Master understood

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES
3

 To preach(CW) the(IW) acceptable year of the(IW) Lord.

  • CW --Confusing Word -- The word "preach" has a religious meaning not in the original Greek.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "the" before "acceptable" doesn't exist in the source.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "the" before "Lord" doesn't exist in the source.
# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES
4

 to proclaim the(IW) year of the(IW) Lord’s favor(CW,WF).

  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "the" before "acceptable" doesn't exist in the source.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "the" before "Lord" doesn't exist in the source.
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The "favor" does not capture the word's specific meaning in this situation.
  • WF -- Wrong Form -  The "favor" is not a noun but an adjective.
EACH WORD of KJV

To -- This "to" is added because the infinitive form of the verb requires a "to" in English.

preach --  (CW) The word translated as "preach" means "to act as a herald," "to proclaim," and "to declare." It does not have the relationship to discussing the Divine that our word "preach" does nor does it mean giving a moral lecture. It means spreading the news.

the -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "the" in the Greek source

acceptable -- "Acceptable" is from an adjective that means "to be received", "to be acceptable", "to be grasped", and "to be understood." Its form modifies "year", but it appears as the end of the verse. This is an uncommon word for Christ to use. 

year -- The Greek noun translated as "year" is not the word Christ normally uses that is translated as "year;" It means "anniversary", "any long period of time", "a year", "a cycle," "a period of 19 years", and "a period of 600 years."  this is the only time Christ uses this word. 

of -- This word "of"  comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English.  The most common is the "of" of possession.

the -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "the" in the Greek sourceIW - Inserted Word -- The word "the" doesn't exist in the source.

Lord. -- The word translated as "master" is the same word that is often translated as "Lord" or "the Lord" in the NT. It also means "lord," "master of the house," and "head of the family." It is the specific terms for the master of slaves or servants, but it was a common term of respect both for those in authority and who were honored. It was the term people used to address Christ, even though he had no formal authority. Today, we would say "boss" or "chief." For the sake of consistency, this should be the Greek word translated as "master."

EACH WORD of NIV

to -- This "to" is added because the infinitive form of the verb requires a "to" in English.

proclaim --  The word translated as "proclaim" means "to act as a herald," "to proclaim," and "to declare." It does not have the relationship to discussing the Divine that our word "preach" does nor does it mean giving a moral lecture. It means spreading the news.

the -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "the" in the Greek source

of -- This word "of"  comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English.  The most common is the "of" of possession.

the -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "the" in the Greek source.

year -- The Greek noun translated as "year" is not the word Christ normally uses that is translated as "year;" It means "anniversary", "any long period of time", "a year", "a cycle," "a period of 19 years", and "a period of 600 years."  this is the only time Christ uses this word.

Lord’s  -- The word translated as "master" is the same word that is often translated as "Lord" or "the Lord" in the NT. It also means "lord," "master of the house," and "head of the family." It is the specific terms for the master of slaves or servants, but it was a common term of respect both for those in authority and who were honored. It was the term people used to address Christ, even though he had no formal authority. Today, we would say "boss" or "chief." For the sake of consistency, this should be the Greek word translated as "master."

favor-- (CW, WF) "Favor" is from an adjective that means "to be received", "to be acceptable", "to be grasped", and "to be understood." Its form modifies "year", but it appears as the end of the verse. This is an uncommon word for Jesus to use. 

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV

κηρύξαι [11 verses](verb aor inf act) "Preach" is kerysso, which means "to be a herald," "to summon by a herald," "proclaim," "call upon," "announce," "declare," and "command publicly." Applied to a person, it means "summon" that person or "proclaim them a conqueror." Only in the NT is it translated as "preach" or "teach publicly."

ἐνιαυτὸν [1 verse](noun sg masc acc) "Year" is from the Greek eniautoswhich means "anniversary", "any long period of time", "a year", "a cycle," "a period of 19 years", which is a "epoch" used to calculate Passover,  and "a period of 600 years."

Κυρίου [92 verses](noun sg masc gen) "Lord" is kyrios, which means "having power," "being in authority" and "being in possession of." It also means "lord," "master of the house," and "head of the family."

δεκτόν. [2 verses](adj sg masc acc) "Acceptable" is from dektos, which means "to be received", "to be acceptable", "to be grasped", and "to be understood."

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