Exegesis:
dia splagchna eleous theou hēmōn ‘because of the tender mercy of our God’; the phrase is to be connected either with the whole preceding clause from proporeusē onward, or with what immediately precedes, i.e. en aphesei hamartias (which in its turn refers back to sōtērias), indicating God’s motive for the forgiveness of sins; the latter is preferable.
splagchna lit. ‘inward parts,’ ‘bowels,’ esp. heart, lungs and liver, fig. of the seat of emotions and affections; its meaning here is determined by the qualifying genitive eleous, lit. ‘inner mercy-feelings,’ hence ‘tender mercy.’
en hois episkepsetai hēmas anatolē ex hupsous ‘with which will visit us the sunrise from on high’; en hois designates its antecedent splagchna eleous either (a) as the means “by which” (Translator’s New Testament), or “through which” (The Modern Speech New Testament), the visiting will be brought about, or (b) as the manner or way in which it will take place, preferably the latter. For the meaning of episkeptomai see on v. 68.
anatolē lit. ‘the rising of a star or of the sun,’ hence ‘the region where the sun rises,’ ‘the east,’ ‘the orient.’ In the present context however it must refer to a person because of episkepsetai. Hence several figurative interpretations have been given, the most important of which are the following:
1. anatolē is interpreted in the light of e.g. Mal. 4.2 and understood as referring to the rising sun as a picture of the Messiah; this is in accordance with the terms used in the first clause of v. 79, but not with ex hupsous because the sun does not rise from on high; but since anatolē is a picture of the Messiah, ex hupsous may refer to his coming from heaven (see below).
2. anatolē is taken to mean ‘the scion’ as in the Septuagint of Jer. 23; Zech. 3.8; 6.12 and refers to the Messiah; ex hupsous is either a circumlocution of the name of God or an indication of the scion’s heavenly origin (cf. Dan. 7.13 of the coming from heaven of the Son of man). As interpretation (2) is not consistent with the idea of shining in the darkness in the next clause which clearly should be related to anatolē, interpretation (1) is to be preferred; but it is possible that the idea of ‘the scion’ has served to strengthen the interpretation of anatolē as referring to a person.
Translation:
Through the tender mercy of our God, or, ‘through the kindness of God which cares for us’ (Navajo), ‘because (the heart of) our God is full of mercy’ (cf. Phillips, An American Translation), ‘because our God tenderly mercy-es us.’
When the day dawns upon us, preferably, ‘by which, or, in which way the dawn/sunrise visits us,’ cf. Exegesis sub (a) and (b). On the basis of (a) it may be preferable to shift to a causative construction, taking as subject ‘which’ (referring to ‘mercy’) or, ‘who’ (referring to ‘God’), or ‘it/he,’ where co-ordination is required. On the basis of (b), some possible ways to express the connexion between the two lines are, .’.. mercy…, which is such that the sunrise will visit us,’ .’.. mercy…, and so the dawn will…’ (cf. An American Translation), .’.. in the tender mercy … the morning sun will…’ (cf. New English Bible), ‘God loves us dearly, in such a way that (or, so that) the dawn will…’ — ‘The dawn/sunrise will visit us.’ To indicate more clearly that the reference is to the person of the coming Messiah, using a poetic or veiled epithet, one may mark the noun as a name, e.g. by adding a name qualifier, cf. the use of capitals in several versions. Elsewhere one has to shift to a simile, e.g. ‘a light … like that of the rising sun’ (Bible en français courant), ‘as a rising light’ (Uab Meto), ‘he who is like the dawn/morning sun.’ For the verb ‘to visit’ cf. on v. 68; Tboli has a verb ‘to come/arrive’ that can also refer to the rising of the sun, and thus is usable with ‘sunrise/dawn’ either as a natural phenomenon or as a metaphorical reference to a person.
On high, or, ‘in heaven,’ ‘in the sky,’ ‘in the divine palace’ (Uab Meto); and cf. on “in the highest” in 2.14.
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.
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