On Lk 4:18-19
Version Date: May 16, 2025
The New Testament quotes Is 61:1-2 in Lk 4:18-19. The goal of this article to explore the exact meaning of Lk 4:18-19 and to explain why it is a close translation of the Hebrew text of Is 61:1-2. The English translation of Lk 4:18-19 suggested in this article appears in the following table.
First, the article identifies "the poor" as denoting the believers, for they are those who seek God's mercies. Note that the Byzantine version of the Greek text is followed here, which includes ιασασθαι τους συντετριμμενους την καρδιαν "to heal those who rend their hearts." The text speaks here about the healing of those who break their own hearts in the sense of submitting to the Lord. Since those who submit themselves to the Lord are not necessarily sad, and since a broken heart is commonly understood to be a sad heart, the translation above has "those who rend their hearts" instead of "those who break their hearts." The part of the text stating, κηρυξαι ... τυφλοις αναβλεψιν αποστειλαι τεθραυσμενους εν αφεσει "to proclaim ... recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed," is shown here to be an amplified translation of the Hebrew text, providing two different interpretations of the same Hebrew words. Finally, the article compares the New Testament translation of Is 61:1-2 with the LXX translation, and shows that the LXX is less precise.
As stated in Lk 4:18, the Lord was sent to proclaim good news to the poor. The Greek word translated "poor" is πτωχος. Though this word typically refers to those who are poor from the perspective of material possessions, there is evidence that sometimes this word is not about being in need materially but about being a disciple. This could be seen in Lk 6:20-26. There, looking to his disciples (Lk 6:20), the Lord said, "Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" (Lk 6:21). Later, he also said, "woe to you who are rich" (Lk 6:24). An interpretation in which the Lord addressed some of the materially poor (those of them who believe) and some of the materially rich (those of them who do not believe) has the drawback that it implies that nothing was said about those who are neither poor nor rich. The strictest interpretation, however, is that the Lord called the believers poor and those who do not believe rich, indicating in this way that believers can be likened to the materially poor and unbelievers to the materially rich. Given that the Scripture speaks of materially rich believers (Mt 27:57, 1Ti 6:17), it is impossible to assume that the Lord meant materially rich persons in Lk 6:24. One way in which the disciples are "poor" could be inferred from Mt 5:3, in which the Lord uses the phrase οι πτωχοι τω πνευματι "the poor to the Spirit" to describe the disciples. (Since τω πνευματι has the article and the preceding verses have no reference to the spirit of man, Mt 5:3 does not refer to the spirit of man but to the Holy Spirit.) Understanding "the poor to the Spirit" to mean "those who manifest themselves as poor to the Spirit," the poor are those who seek mercies from the Lord. As they pray, they present themselves to the Lord as in need of his mercies (such as in Lk 18:13.) This fits their description as "the hungry" (Lk 6:21) and "those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Mt 5:6). Though many in the world have needs and would love to receive mercies, most are satisfied with a worldview opposed to the Bible and would not seek mercies from the God of the Bible. From this perspective, they are not poor to God, because they do not seek his mercies. Those who seek his mercies, these are poor to God. Moreover, from the same perspective, those who are satisfied with a worldview contrary to the Bible and do not seek mercies from the true God, these are rich to him. Believers may even weep as they seek God's mercies; unbelievers may laugh at the idea of seeking the true God. Now it is right that one should see himself as in need of God's mercies. The Lord spoke against the attitude of those in Rev 3:17 who considered themselves rich and claimed that they did not need anything. So, Jms 4:9 urges people to become wretched (that is, to acknowledge their spiritual need), and to mourn and to weep (that is, to eagerly seek the Lord's mercies.) Note that the Lord emphasized in Mt 11:5, Lk 4:18, 7:22 that he was preaching the good news to the poor.
Though believers are regarded to be poor, there are certain ways in which they may be rich. The Lord mentioned the true riches in Lk 16:11, and indicated that they are different from the riches of this world. While one should make for himself treasure in heaven (Lk 12:33, Mt 6:20), there are spiritual riches available here, on earth, for those who believe (Ps 19:10, 112:3, Pr 8:19). Here are several ways in which a believer could be rich in this life: by possessing riches of wisdom and understanding, by being rich in faith (Jms 2:5), by being rich in good deeds (1Ti 6:18), or by means of material possessions (1Ti 6:17). It is plain that regardless of what kind of riches a believer has, overall, he is regarded to be poor. For example, the spiritual abundance of the church in Smyrna was stated only after the Lord mentioned that they were poor (Rev 2:9). This could be seen also in 2Co 8:9, which states that Christ (though owning everything and having perfect knowledge, faith, and works) became poor that the believers might become rich: γινωσκετε γαρ την χαριν του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου οτι δι υμας επτωχευσεν πλουσιος ων ινα υμεις τη εκεινου πτωχεια πλουτησητε "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sakes he became poor, so that ye by his poverty might become rich." So, as long as the Lord Jesus was in this world, he was poor. Because Jesus sacrificed himself for them, the believers have a glorious future in heaven; there they will be rich. Note that the apostle Paul and his companions, though having an abundance of knowledge and understanding, did not describe themselves as being rich but as being poor and making others rich (2Co 6:10). Since they did not describe themselves as rich, the fact that they possessed all things did not refer to this life. Moreover, since the apostle and his companions already had the spiritual riches of this life, when he said that they were poor but making many rich, he was not speaking about making people rich in this life. That believers are not considered to be rich in this life can also be seen in 1Co 4:8: ηδη κεκορεσμενοι εστε ηδη επλουτησατε χωρις ημων εβασιλευσατε και οφελον γε εβασιλευσατε ινα και ημεις υμιν συμβασιλευσωμεν "Already ye are satisfied! Already ye are rich! Ye have began to reign without us! Yet I wish ye were reigning indeed, so that we also might reign with you." They were not truly rich, for they were not yet reigning. Regardless of the material possessions of a believer in this life, regardless whether he is materially poor or rich, his state in this life does not show that he is an heir of the one who possesses everything. The riches of Christ were proclaimed by the apostle Paul as part of the good news with which he was entrusted: εμοι τω ελαχιστοτερω παντων των αγιων εδοθη η χαρις αυτη εν τοις εθνεσιν ευαγγελισασθαι τον ανεξιχνιαστον πλουτον του χριστου "To me, the least of all the saints, this grace was given, to proclaim among the Gentiles, as good news, the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph 3:8).
That the word "poor" does not have to refer to material poverty can also be seen in the Old Testament. For example, Ps 86:1 has, תפלה לדוד הטה יהוה אזנך ענני כי עני ואביון אני "A psalm of David. Incline thy ear, O LORD, answer me, for I am humble and poor." (The word עני was translated here "humble" just as Jms 4:6 and 1Pt 5:5 translate עניים in Pr 3:34 with ταπεινοις "humble.") Similar phrases can be found in other psalms: ואני עני ואביון "and I am humble and poor" (Ps 40:17(18), 70:5(6)) and עני ואביון אנכי "I am humble and poor" (Ps 109:22). In each of these psalms, the text states explicitly that David is the author. However, David could not be described as a materially poor person, not even when he was hiding from Saul. This proves that the word "poor" refers to something else. Note that אביון "poor" is associated with עני "humble," and that the word עני "humble" has been used in certain instances for people who have humbled themselves before the Lord (Pr 3:34) and are his (Ps 72:2). Considering also that קרוב יהוה ... לכל אשר יקראהו באמת "the LORD is near ... to all who call on him in truth" (Ps 145:18) and that שמע אל אביונים יהוה ואת אסיריו לא בזה "the LORD hears the poor and does not despise the oppressed that belong to him" (Ps 69:33 (34)), it can be seen that "the poor" denote those who call on the Lord in truth. It is also interesting to consider Ps 37:14: חרב פתחו רשעים ודרכו קשתם להפיל עני ואביון לטבוח ישרי דרך "the wicked have drawn their sword and have bent their bow to bring down the humble and the poor, to slaughter those who walk uprightly." Two parallel phrases in this verse are "the humble and the poor" and "those who walk uprightly." Note that the word "poor" was thus associated not with a lack of material possessions but with an upright life.
Following the Hebrew text as written (see the Kethiv), the word of Is 61:1 that is translated πτωχοις "poor" is ענוים, the plural of ענו. Its usage is as follows. The people that this word refers to are called to seek the Lord (Zep 2:3). The good news is preached to them (Is 61:1). The Lord guides them and teaches them (Ps 25:9). They rejoice when the Lord is praised (Ps 34:2 (3)) and when they see how he responds (Ps 69:32-33(33-34)). They rejoice in him (Is 29:19). They are identified with those who seek the Lord (Ps 22:26(27), Ps 69:32(33)), with those whose hearts live forever (Ps 22:26 (27)). Their expectation does not perish (Ps 9:18 (19)). In fact, the Lord hears their desire (Ps 10:17). They will eat and be satisfied (Ps 22:26(27)). They will inherit the earth and delight in the abundance of peace (Ps 37:11). The Lord reproves others for their sake (Is 11:4). They have enemies who hinder their walk (Am 2:7), who seek to destroy them with lies (Is 32:7) and to make them cease (Am 8:4). The Lord delivers them (Ps 76:9 (10)), supports them (Ps 147:6), and glorifies them in salvation (Ps 149:4). Moses was one of them (Nu 12:3). As written, Is 61:1 uses the form ענוים from ענו instead of עניים from עני. In this way, the text indicates plainly that it refers to those who seek the Lord, for the other word, עני, does not have to refer to a believer.
As shown in the next section, it is apparent that when the Scripture speaks of a person who breaks his own heart, the text refers to one who denies himself so as to yield to another. This section shows that the Hebrew phrase נשברי לב of Is 61:1 and its corresponding Greek phrase τους συντετρισμενους την καρδιαν of Lk 4:18 refer to those who break their own hearts. Thus, their meaning is similar to "rend your hearts" in Joel 2:13.
A common interpretation of the phrase τους συντετριμμενους την καρδιαν in Lk 4:18 is "the broken-hearted," that is, those having the heart broken. This interpretation would be natural if the text had instead τη καρδια, as in LXX in Is 61:1. Since the LXX was well known at the time when Lk 4:18 was written, it is very significant that the text does not have τη καρδια, as in LXX, but την καρδιαν. Clearly, the meaning of τους συντετριμμενους την καρδιαν and τους συντετριμμενους τη καρδια cannot be exactly the same. In the former phrase, since συντετριμμενους has την καρδιαν as an object, it must be a middle form, not a passive form. Thus, the phrase is naturally translated as "those who break the heart." To determine whether the phrase refers to those who break their own hearts or to those who break the hearts of others, it could be noticed that the pronoun αυτων "their" may be omitted when it seems obvious. For example, νιψωνται τας χειρας "wash the hands" in Mk 7:3 means "wash their own hands." Moreover, τους ποδας νιψασθαι "to wash the feet" in Jn 13:10 means "to wash his own feet," and κειραμενος την κεφαλην "having had the hair cut" in Ac 18:18 means "having had his own hair cut." Since Lk 4:18 does not mention whose heart is broken, the natural interpretation of the phrase τους συντετριμμενους την καρδιαν "those who break the heart" is, "those who break their own hearts." This interpretation is similar to "rend your hearts, and not your garments" in Joel 2:13.
The interpretation of τους συντετριμμενους την καρδιαν as "those who break their own hearts" is also obtained by considering the Hebrew text of Is 61:1. The corresponding Hebrew phrase is נשברי לב. It is significant that this phrase has the niphal construct participle form נשברי of the verb שבר "to break" instead of the qal passive construct participle form שבורי of the same verb, which appears in Ps 147:3 in the phrase שבורי לב "those with a broken heart." Since נשברי לב has the verb in a different stem, it cannot mean exactly the same thing as שבורי לב. If the niphal form נשברי is interpreted as passive, exactly the same meaning "those with a broken heart" is obtained. However, the niphal does not have to be passive. For example, in 1Sa 16:18, נבון דבר does not mean "one being discerned of speech" but "one discerning of speech," that is, "one prudent in speech." In Is 61:1, though a passive interpretation of נשברי is meaningful, it is unnecessary, since the text is meaningful without taking the form as passive. Then, it would appear that Is 61:1 has נשברי לב instead of שבורי לב because the intended meaning of the verb is not passive, as "those being broken of heart," but "those breaking of the heart," that is, "those breaking the heart." Moreover, the text uses the niphal instead of the qal active to indicate that it refers to those breaking their own hearts, not the hearts of others.
Considering once more the Greek phrase τους συντετριμμενους την καρδιαν, it appears again in exactly the same form in the LXX translation of נשברי לב in Ps 34:18 (19) and of שבורי לב in Ps 147:3. It can be found once more in LXX in Is 57:15, where ולהחיות לב נדכאים is translated, και διδους ζωην τοις συντετριμμενοις την καρδιαν. So, based on the relatively frequent use of the phrase οι συντετριμμενοι την καρδιαν, it could be concluded that this phrase was well understood at the time when the LXX was written. Since this phrase has been used also in contexts in which the Hebrew verb form is clearly passive (see Ps 147:3 and Is 57:15), it was apparently understood that those with broken hearts are those who have broken their hearts (cf. "rend your hearts and not your garments.")
By considering Scripture passages that mention the hardness of hearts, it can be seen that to break one's own heart is not about becoming sad but about yielding to another. Conversely, to harden the heart is about becoming obstinate. The following remarks could be made about breaking the heart.
In the Scripture, a person with a tender heart is willing to yield, while one with a hard heart is stubborn. Indeed, Israel was not supposed to make their heart tender when facing war with the Canaanites (De 20:3), for one with a tender heart would fear (De 20:8). So, in Is 7:4, people were not to become tenderhearted in the sense of fearing their enemies. Those taking courage strengthened their hearts (Ps 27:14, 31:24 (31:25)). So Rehoboam was said to be tenderhearted in the sense of not resisting the Israelite leaders (2Ch 13:7), while Josiah was tenderhearted because he did not resist the Lord but humbled himself before him (2Ki 22:19, 2Ch 34:27). Those who oppose the Lord strengthen their hearts and make them hard. Pharaoh's heart was hard (Ex 7:14), it kept getting hard (Ex 7:13, 22, 8:19 (15), 9:35), and he was hardening it (Ex 8:15(11), 8:32 (28)). Both Pharaoh and his servants were hardening their hearts (Ex 9:34). So, in 1Sa 6:6, the Philistines were warned against hardening their hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh. At the time of Jos 11:20, in spite of hearing about what the Lord had done, the peoples of Canaan were fighting Israel because their hearts were hard. The heart of an unconverted person is hard towards the Lord (Ro 2:5). Ezekiel was sent to people with a hard heart (Eze 2:4, 3:7); they were not listening to the Lord (Eze 3:7). Moreover, Eze 11:19, 36:26 speaks about the Lord turning stony hearts into hearts of flesh. People with a very limited ability to reason about spiritual truth were said to have hard hearts (Mk 6:52, 8:17, 16:14); see also Is 6:10. Indeed, it seems plain that those who resist the Lord receive less spiritual knowledge and understanding than those who submit to him.
In Joel 2:13, people were told to rend their hearts, and not their garments. Breaking the heart is the opposite of hardening the heart; one must not harden his heart (Ps 95:8, Pr 28:14). Thus, a more explicit translation of לב נשבר ונדכה "a broken and contrite heart" in Ps 51:17 (51:19) could be "one with a broken heart and crushed will." One should break and crush anything in his heart that stands in opposition to God's will. The Lord is close to those who have thus broken their own will (Ps 34:18 (34:19)). So, לחבש לנשברי לב "to heal those breaking their hearts" in Is 61:1 refers to the healing of those who have humbled themselves before the Lord.
Considering the translation of Is 61:1-2 in Lk 4:18-19, note that Lk 4:18 provides a complete translation of the phrase לאסורים פקח קוח by providing two different ways in which it can be interpreted. Both τυφλοις αναβλεψιν "recovering of sight to the blind" and αποστειλαι τεθραυσμενους εν αφεσει "to send in freedom the oppressed" are translations of this Hebrew phrase and can be derived as follows. First, considering the meaning of קוח, note that some of the forms associated with לקח "to take" do not have the ל letter, as if coming from a verb קחח "to take." Thus, the stem of the qal perfect is קח in Eze 17:5 and Hos 11:3, but לקח elsewhere, such as in Eze 17:13. Moreover, the stem of the qal imperative is typically קח, such as in Pr 27:13, though לקח in Ex 29:1, 1Ki 17:11, Pr 20:16. So also קוח in Is 61:1 could be taken as an infinitive absolute form of קחח. Understanding פקח as the object of קוח, an approximate translation of פקח קוח would be, "taking an opening." Since פקח is often associated with opening of eyes, לקרא לשבוים דרור ולאסורים פקח קוח could be understood as "to proclaim liberty to the captives and to those who are bound the taking of opening of eyes," that is, "to proclaim ... recovery of sight to those who are bound from seeing," or, "to proclaim ... recovery of sight to the blind."
The second way of interpreting לאסורים פקח קוח leads to the translation αποστειλαι τεθραυσμενους εν αφεσει "to send in freedom the oppressed." It is obtained as follows. If the subject of קוח in שלחני ... לקרא לשבוים דרור ולאסורים פקח קוח is the speaker, then the text is translated, "he has sent me ... to proclaim freedom to the captives, and as taking opening for those who are bound," that is, "he has sent me ... to proclaim freedom to the captives, and as releasing those who are bound." Since "opening of eyes" would imply the opening of one's own eyes, and since the speaker has perfect sight, translating פקח "opening" as "opening of eyes" would not fit when taking the speaker as the subject of קוה.
As for translating אסורים "those who are imprisoned" with τεθραυσμενους "those who are crushed," the following remarks could be made. In Hebrew poetry, it is common to have words with similar meaning in the same verse. So, in Is 61:1, the word אסורים "those who are imprisoned" is similar in meaning with שבוים "captives." However, the two words are not equivalent, and both are used figuratively in Is 61:1. While captivity implied lack of freedom, imprisonment also implied darkness and oppression. Imprisonment did not imply people physically bound, for Joseph was in charge of his prison (Ge 39:22) though he was אסור "imprisoned" (Ge 40:3). However, imprisonment did imply people who were captured, subdued, and under control, that is, crushed. Thus, τεθραυσμενους "those who are crushed" fits very well the figurative meaning of אסורים "those who are imprisoned." Considering the Greek words τεθραυσμενους "those who are crushed" and αιχμαλωτοις "captives," and the corresponding Hebrew words אסורים "those who are imprisoned" and שבוים "captives," it may seem that the Greek words are not as close in meaning to each other as the Hebrew words. However, by using the word τεθραυσμενους "those who are crushed," the Greek text conveys plainly the figurative meaning of אסורים "those who are imprisoned" and draws the attention of the hearer to the fact that a figurative meaning is meant. If δεσμωτας "prisoners" or δεσμιους "prisoners" were used instead of τεθραυσμενους "those who are crushed," the meaning of the Greek text would be less obvious because these words do not imply a figurative meaning. In contrast, the verb θραυω "to crush" has been used commonly with a figurative meaning. For example, in LXX, it refers to oppression in De 28:33, grief in 1Sa 20:34, defeat in 2Ch 6:24, and fear in Is 2:19, 21, Eze 21:12, 20.
Note that αποστειλαι τεθραυσμενους εν αφεσει "to set free the oppressed" does not appear in the LXX translation of Is 61:1-2. As shown in the preceding section, this phrase is obtained from an alternative interpretation of the Hebrew text of Is 61:1. There are three more differences between Lk 4:18-19 and the LXX translation of Is 61:1-2. First, where the former has ιασασθαι τους συντετριμμενους την καρδιαν "to heal those who have broken their hearts," the latter has ιασασθαι τους συντετριμμενους τη καρδια "to heal the broken-hearted." Note that the translation is more explicit in Lk 4:18, indicating that Is 61:1 refers to those who have humbled their hearts. Is 61:1 is not about people that somehow, in some sense, got their hearts broken, but about those who have humbled their hearts. Another difference is that Lk 4:18 has ευαγγελιζεσθαι πτωχοις "to keep proclaiming good news to the poor" where LXX has ευαγγελισασθαι πτωχοις "to proclaim good news to the poor." The former implies a repeated action, while the latter does not have this implication but simply states "to proclaim good news." The Hebrew text has here לבשר, involving the infinitive construct of the verb בשר "to proclaim good news." The infinite construct can refer to a repeated action, such as in ענתו "to afflict him" in Ex 1:11, which refers to the fact that the Israelites were continually afflicted by means of their excessive burdens. In the context of Scripture, the preaching of God's word is not an one-time event but has to be done again and again. Therefore, it is natural to find that the text of Lk 4:18 has ευαγγελιζεσθαι "to keep proclaiming" instead of just ευαγγελισασθαι "to proclaim." Now the subsequent verbs of the verse have the aorist tense, indicating an action that does not have to be repeated. Indeed, "to heal ... to proclaim freedom ... to set free ... to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" are things that happen when one is saved and do not have to be done for that person again and again. Finally, another difference between Lk 4:18-19 and the LXX translation is that in the context of proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor, Lk 4:19 has κηρυξαι "to proclaim" where LXX has καλεσαι "to call." The Hebrew text has here לקרא. Note that the verb קרא has been used with the meaning "to proclaim" in passages such as Is 40:3, 6 and Jon 3:4. It may be that the LXX uses καλεσαι in Is 61:1 the same way as in Jer 34:8, 15, 17, in which case the intended meaning of καλεσαι would be "to proclaim." However, the New Testament does not use the verb καλεω with this meaning. If Lk 4:19 had καλεσαι instead of κηρυξαι, the verb could have been interpreted incorrectly as meaning "to name" instead of "to proclaim," for "to name" is a rather common meaning of this verb in the Greek of the New Testament.
The following table compares the Hebrew text and its translations in the New Testament and the LXX. As can be seen in the table, there is also a spelling difference: the received text uses the spelling ενεκεν for a preposition meaning "on account of," while the LXX and other New Testament manuscripts use the spelling εινεκεν.