Vincent's Word Studies in the NT

Acts 3:13

His son [π α ι δ α]. Rightly, servant, as Rev. See on Luke 1:54. The A. V. renders, in Matthew 12:18, servant, quoting from Isaiah 42:1; but elsewhere, where applied to Jesus, son or child, which Rev. in every case has changed to servant. The word is continually used, like the Latin puer, in the sense of servant, and in the Septuagint as the servant of God. See 2 Samuel 7:5; 2 Samuel 7:8; 2 Samuel 7:19; 2 Samuel 7:20; 2 Samuel 7:21; 2 Samuel 7:25; 2 Samuel 7:26. Compare Luke 1:69. The term servant of Jehovah, or servant of the Lord, is applied in the Old Testament (1) to a worshipper of God, Nehemiah 1:10; Daniel 6:21; so to Abraham, Psalms 105:6; Psalms 105:42; to Joshua, Joshua 24:29; to Job, Job 1:8.

(2) To a minister or ambassador of God called to any service, Isaiah 49:6; of Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah 27:6; of the prophets, Amos 3:7; of Moses, Deuteronomy 34:5.

(3) Peculiarly of the Messiah, Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 52:13; as God's chosen servant for accomplishing the work of redemption. "Unless we render servant in the passages where the phrase paiv Qeouoccurs in the New Testament, there will be no allusion throughout it all to that group of prophecies which designate the Messiah as the servant of Jehovah, who learned obedience by the things which he suffered" (Trench, " On the Authorized Version of the New Testament ").

When he. He is ejkeivou the pronoun of more definite and emphatic reference, the latter, Pilate, "in order to make the contrast felt between what Pilate judged and what they did." This is further emphasized in the next verse.

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