Isaiah 61:1–3, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Isaiah 61:1–3
The Spirit-Anointed Herald Announces Release and Comfort
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon a speaker anointed to bring good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to captives and release to prisoners, announce the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, comfort all who mourn, and give those who mourn in Zion a garland instead of ashes, oil of gladness, a mantle of praise. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord.
Anointing is for a ministry of repair among the poor and the grieving. Favor and vengeance sit together because comfort for mourners requires an end to what made them mourn. This does not guarantee immediate cure, authorize coercive deliverance performances, or detach vengeance from care. The first audience is Zion's mourners, not a stage.
Ashes to garland is slow clothing language. A warranted life is to speak good news that actually opens prisons of debt, grief, and captivity, to stay with the brokenhearted, and to refuse a vengeance-talk that has no oil for those who weep.
How this should shape us
Speak good news that binds the brokenhearted and opens real captivities, and stay with mourners. Do not detach vengeance from care, and do not sell immediate cure as anointing.
Teach it back
Explain Isaiah 61:1–3 in your own words. Name its place in Isaiah, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: The announcement does not guarantee immediate cure, authorize coercive deliverance ministry, or detach divine vengeance from care for those who mourn.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Isaiah 61:1–3, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 61:1–3 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, poetry, older KJV language, chronology, names, textual issues, and material translation alternatives.
Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 61:1–3 in the complete 205-page book PDF
Supports: Whole-book historical, literary, theological, ethical, and reception synthesis across Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and postexilic horizons.
Enter the Bible Isaiah course, Outline Book 3B and themes of Zion, nations, liberty, and comfort; applied to Isaiah 61:1–3
Supports: Controls against caricaturing Judaism, Torah-as-legalism claims, blanket condemnation, Gentile boasting, and supersessionist misuse.
Skinner, 'Anti-Judaism in Christian Teaching and Preaching,' Working Preacher (2008), complete essay categories and guidance; applied to the reception risks in Isaiah 61:1–3
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Isaiah 61:1–3, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 61:1–3 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Open the fixed Hebrew Isaiah file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Isaiah
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, poetry, older KJV language, chronology, names, textual issues, and material translation alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 61:1–3 in the complete 205-page book PDF
Open the official NET Isaiah PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Isaiah course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and reception
Fred Gaiser; revised by Michael Chan
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised August 2024
Supports: Whole-book historical, literary, theological, ethical, and reception synthesis across Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and postexilic horizons.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Isaiah course, Outline Book 3B and themes of Zion, nations, liberty, and comfort; applied to Isaiah 61:1–3
Open the Enter the Bible Isaiah course ↗scholarly ethical reception guidance
Anti-Judaism in Christian Teaching and Preaching
Matt Skinner
Working Preacher, Luther Seminary, 2008
Supports: Controls against caricaturing Judaism, Torah-as-legalism claims, blanket condemnation, Gentile boasting, and supersessionist misuse.
Exact location: Skinner, 'Anti-Judaism in Christian Teaching and Preaching,' Working Preacher (2008), complete essay categories and guidance; applied to the reception risks in Isaiah 61:1–3
Open Skinner's anti-Judaism guidance ↗