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Isaiah 61:2

in Isaiah 61

to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

to proclaim the year of Jehovah’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

KJV

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

This verse in Isaiah 61

Commentary

11 notes on this verse

A commentator

Cyril of Alexandria

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 5:5.61:1-3 · Written before 444.

"Acceptable" is that year in which we were received, when we took kinship with him, having our sins washed away through holy baptism and becoming partakers of the divine nature through the sharing of the Holy Spirit. Or "acceptable" is the year in which he revealed his glory through the divine miracle attesting the message.

This site's exposition

to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor

The verse sets two announcements with no gap stated: “to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance”. At Luke 4:19-21 Jesus stops reading after the year of favor. Delitzsch and Alexander record the older reading that sets the favor at His first coming.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Chapter 61—Verse 1 and following) The Spirit of the Lord God (in the Vulgate it is "God") is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me: to bring good news to the meek, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted (in the Vulgate it is "broken-hearted"), to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant to those who mourn in Zion: to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit. LXX: The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory. To whom the Psalmist had already said: You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions (Ps. 45:7). When "companions" are mentioned, understand the nature of the flesh, because God does not have companions of his own substance. And because it was a spiritual anointing, and by no means of the human body, as it was in the priests of the Jews, therefore it is mentioned that he was anointed above his companions, that is, above the other saints. […]

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

proposed

And the time of liberation: to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, as to the liberation of the Jews, and the day of vengeance, as to the Chaldeans; or the time of grace, in which he takes vengeance upon the devil, curbing his power: …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Vengeance - It being necessary, that where God will deliver his people, he should take vengeance on their enemies; principally on the enemies of his church, and the spiritual ones chiefly, Satan, sin, and death.
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

We think we find the glories of the church of Christ, its spiritual glories, described under the type and figure of the Jews' prosperity after their return out of their captivity. It is promised that they decays of the church shall be repaired,
4 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century4 voices

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord - (see the notes at Isa 49:8). There is probably an allusion here to the year of Jubilee, when the trumpet was blown, and liberty was proclaimed throughout all the land (so Lev 25:9-10). In like manner the Messiah would come to proclaim universal liberty - liberty to all the world from the degrading servitude of sin.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

acceptable year--the year of jubilee on which "liberty was proclaimed to the captives" (Isa 61:1; 2Co 6:2). day of vengeance--The "acceptable time of grace" is a "year"; the time of "vengeance" but "a day" (so Isa 34:8;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens

We know that this Scripture speaks concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't say this as if we relied upon our own opinion. We know it, for sure, from the Lord's own lips, for, reading this passage in the synagogue at Nazareth, He said, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." It is Jesus of Nazareth whom the Lord has anointed to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind! And our text tells us that He was, also, sent to make a proclamation which should usher in the year of acceptance and the day of vengeance. Notice well the expression, "to proclaim," because a proclamation is the message of a king—and where the word of a king is, there is power. The Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to announce the will of the King of kings. He says, "I am come in My Father's name," and again, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me." Every word of the Gospel is backed by the authority of "the King eternal, immortal, invisible," and He who rejects it is guilty of treason against Jehovah, God of All. The Gospel is not of the nature of a commonplace invitation or human exhortation which may be accepted or refused at will without involving guilt—it is a Divine proclamation, issued from the Throne of the Eternal—which none can reject without becoming, thereby, rebels against the Infinite Majesty. Now if this is so, let us give the Divine edict our most earnest attention and take heed what we hear! When a proclamation is issued by the head of a state, all good citizens gather around to read what has been said to them and to know what the supreme law may be. And so, when God proclaims His will, all right-hearted men desire to know what it is and what bearing it has upon them—what the Lord demands or what the Lord promises and what is their share therein.
We know that this Scripture speaks concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't say this as if we relied upon our own opinion. We know it, for sure, from the Lord's own lips, for, reading this passage in the synagogue at Nazareth, He said, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." It is Jesus of Nazareth whom the Lord has anointed to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind!

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

since the Lord anointed me This anointing is nothing but an expression of nobility and greatness.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Isaiah 61:1:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • לִקְרֹ֤אto proclaim

    likro'H7121 →733 times

  • שְׁנַת־a year of

    shenat-H8141 →877 times

  • רָצוֹן֙favor

    ratzonH7522 →56 times

  • לַֽיהוָ֔הof Yahweh

    layahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וְי֥וֹםand a day of

    veyomH3117 →2304 times

  • נָקָ֖םvengeance

    nakamH5359 →17 times

  • לֵאלֹהֵ֑ינוּof God our

    leloheinuH430 →2601 times

  • לְנַחֵ֖םto comfort

    lenachemH5162 →108 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • אֲבֵלִֽים׃mourners

    ʾavelimH57 →8 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 5:4

    Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

    it leads to

    • Revelation 21:4

      ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”

    • 2 Corinthians 7:9–10

      And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any…

    • Isaiah 61:2–3

      to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn,

    • John 16:20–22

      Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

    • Psalms 126:5–6

      Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.

  • Through

    Luke 4:19

    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 63:4

      For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redemption had come.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Isaiah 57:18

    I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 33:6

      Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.

    • Revelation 7:17

      For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

Where this verse is studied

About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1369: “Proclamation of Acceptance and Vengeance” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 5:5.61:1-3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Joseph Addison Alexander, Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.