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Luke 3 follows the Greek Septuagint translation of Isaiah 40, echoing its language of valleys being filled, mountains lowered, and paths made straight in its narrative of John the Baptist, showing how the New Testament often relies on Greek translations.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Isaiah 40:4
Septuagint
2 Speak, you priests, to the heart of Jerusalem; comfort her, for her humiliation is accomplished, her sin is put away: for she has received of the Lord's hand double the amount of her sins. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. 4 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all the crooked ways shall become straight, and the rough places plains. 5 And the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God: for the Lord has spoken it. 6 The voice of one saying, Cry; and I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass:
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Luke 3:5
New Testament
3 He went into all the region around the Jordan River, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one shouting in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low, and the crooked will be made straight, and the rough ways will be made smooth, 6 and all humanity will see the salvation of God.’” 7 So John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Date: 75–85 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In all four Gospels it is John the Baptist who initiates the new work of the Spirit in the announcement of the imminence of the kingdom. All three Synoptics associate John with the prophecy in Malachi 3:1: “Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me.” Mark adds Isaiah 40:3, another passage that alludes to salvation and apocalyptic fulfillment: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Mark 1:3). Luke continues by quoting apocalyptic words from Isaiah 40:4–5: “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:5–6) ..."
Donald A. Hagner, The New Testament: A Historical and Theological Introduction (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 70–71.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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