Luke 1:78

Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Through	διὰ dia	G1223	through (in very wide applications · preposition
the	ἐλέους eleous	G1656	compassion (human or divine · noun — genitive singular neuter
tender	σπλάγχνα splagchna	G4698	an intestine (plural) · noun — accusative plural neuter
mercy	ἔλεος éleos	G1656	compassion (human or divine
of	θεοῦ theou	G2316	figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
our	ἡμῶν hēmōn	G2257	of (or from) us
God	θεός theós	G2316	figuratively
whereby	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
dayspring	ἀνατολὴ anatolē	G395	a rising of light · noun — nominative singular feminine
from	ἐξ ex	G1537	literal or figurative · preposition
high	ὕψους, hupsous	G5311	elevation · noun — genitive singular neuter
visited	ἐπισκέψεται episkepsetai	G1980	to inspect · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
us	ἡμᾶς hēmâs	G2248	us

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Malachi 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves…
2 Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the d…
Revelation 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and…
Numbers 24:17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel…
Isaiah 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Ephesians 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Zechariah 3:8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring fort…
Zechariah 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of hi…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 1:67–end

We have here the song wherewith Zacharias praised God when his mouth was opened; in it he is said to prophesy (Luk 1:67), and so he did in the strictest sense of prophesying; for he foretold things to come concerning the kingdom of the Messiah, to which all the prophets bear witness. Observe, I. How he was qualified for this: He was filled with the Holy Ghost, was endued with more than ordinary measures and degrees of it, for this purpose; he was divinely inspired. God not only forgave him his unbelief and distrust (which was signified by discharging him from the punishment of it), but, as a specimen of the abounding of grace towards believers, he filled him with the Holy Ghost, and put this…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 1:78

Through the tender mercy of our God--the sole spring, necessarily, of all salvation for sinners. dayspring from on high--either Christ Himself, as the "Sun of righteousness" (Mal 4:2), arising on a dark world [BEZA, GROTIUS, CALVIN, DE WETTE, OLSHAUSEN, &c.], or the light which He sheds. The sense, of course, is one.

Adam Clarke on Luke 1:76

And thou, child, etc. - Zacharias proclaims the dignity, employment, doctrine, and success of his son; and the ruin and recovery of the Jews and the Gentiles. 1. His dignity. Thou shalt be called (constituted) a prophet of the Most High. Prophet has two acceptations: - 1st. A person who foretells future events; and; 2dly. A teacher of men in the things of God, Co1 14:3. John was a prophet in both senses: he proclaimed the mercy which should be communicated; announced the baptism of the Holy Spirit; and taught men how to leave their sins, and how to find the salvation of God. See Luk 3:5-14. His very name, Jehochanan, the grace or mercy of Jehovah, (see Luk 1:60), was a constant prediction o…

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John Gill on Luke 1:78

Through the tender mercy of our God,.... or "bowels of mercy", to which the forgiveness of sin is owing; the source and spring of pardon, is the free grace and abundant mercy of God; it takes its rise from thence, though it is channelled in the blood and sacrifice of Christ; and which no way derogates from, but rather heightens the riches of God's grace and mercy: for it was mercy that moved God to enter into a covenant with his Son, in which forgiveness of sin is promised; and it was mercy to set forth his Son, in his eternal purposes and decrees; and to send him forth in the fulness of time, to shed his blood for the remission of sins; it was the mercy of God to us, that provided a lamb fo…

The Church Fathers

(Severus.) Abiding on high yet present upon the earth, suffering neither division nor limitation, which thing neither can our understanding embrace, nor any power of words express.
— Ancient Greek Expositor ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

(Hom. xiv. in Matt.) Which mercy we find not indeed by our own seeking, but God from on high hath appeared to us, as it follows; Whereby (i. e. by His tender mercy) the dayspring from on high (that is, Christ) hath visited us, taking upon Him our flesh.
— John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dawn from on high has visited us. And the prophet speaking of the Lord says: Behold, a man, his name is the Dawn (Zech. VI). He is rightly called the Dawn, who opening the rise of true light for us, made the children of night and darkness into children of light, as Blessed Zacharias consequently explains, saying:
— Bede, On the Gospel of Luke

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Dayspring — (Job 38:12; Luke 1:78), the dawn of the morning; daybreak. (Comp. Isa. 60:1, 2; Mal. 4:2; Rev. 22:16.)
John the Baptist — The “forerunner of our Lord.” We have but fragmentary and imperfect accounts of him in the Gospels. He was of priestly descent. His father, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abia (1 Chr.…
Songs — Of Moses (Ex. 15; Num. 21:17; Deut. 32; Rev. 15:3), Deborah (Judg. 5), Hannah (1 Sam. 2), David (2 Sam. 22, and Psalms), Mary (Luke 1:46-55), Zacharias (Luke 1:68-79), the angels (Luke 2:13), Simeon…
Covenant, The · Fulfilled in Christ — Fulfilled in Christ
Excellency And Glory Of Christ, The · As the true Light — As the true Light
John · Mission of — Mission of
Mercy Of God, The · Described as: Tender — Described as: Tender
Poetry · .Of Zacharias — .Of Zacharias
Psalms · Zacharias — Zacharias
Titles And Names Of Christ · Day-spring — Day-spring

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Luke 1:78

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 1:67–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 1:78

Adam Clarke on Luke 1:76

John Gill on Luke 1:78

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Luke 1:78

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 1:67–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 1:78

Adam Clarke on Luke 1:76

John Gill on Luke 1:78

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Luke 1:76–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Luke 1:78