“The words
Of the prophet
Isaiah
Are written
In the book.
‘The voice
Of one crying out
In the wilderness.
Prepare the way
Of the Lord!
Make his paths straight!’”
ὡς γέγραπται ἐν βίβλῳ λόγων Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου Φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ Ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου, εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους αὐτοῦ
Luke said that the words of the prophet Isaiah (λόγων Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου) are written in the book or the bible (ὡς γέγραπται ἐν βίβλῳ). He spoke about the voice of one crying out in the wilderness (Φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ). He was to prepare the way of the Lord (Ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου). He would make the paths straight (εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους αὐτοῦ). Just as Matthew, chapter 3:3, followed Mark, chapter 1:2, in introducing John as a fulfilment of a prophecy from the Book of Isaiah, Luke did the same here, but in a more extended citation from that prophet. Mark began his account about John the Baptist by citing the prophet Isaiah by name, although he had verses from the prophet Malachi. The Gospel of John had John the Baptist say that he himself was the voice crying the wilderness. Matthew and Luke both used these phrases from the Greek Septuagint when citing them from Isaiah. Deutero-Isaiah originally talked about a voice in the wilderness leading to a new path out of the Exile, just as there had been a path out of the Exodus. In this wilderness or desert, they were to make a straight path, like a highway for God or the Holy Way. Matthew and Luke began with this modified quotation from Isaiah, chapter 40:3, while they both moved the Malachi and Exodus material to later in the text, where Jesus quoted them. However, they understood that Isaiah the prophet was talking about John the Baptist as one to come. John would be the messenger sent ahead. He was to be a voice crying out in the wilderness to prepare the way for the Lord. He was going to make the paths straight. Clearly, there was a connection between John the Baptist, Isaiah the prophet, and Jesus.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 