Jeremiah 10:7

10:7 Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations, ¹ 

because you deserve to be revered. ² 

For there is no one like you

among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings. ³ 

Deuteronomy 28:58

The Curse of Covenant Termination

28:58 “If you refuse to obey ⁴  all the words of this law, the things written in this scroll, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God,

Psalms 119:120

119:120 My body ⁵  trembles ⁶  because I fear you; ⁷ 

I am afraid of your judgments.

Matthew 10:28

10:28 Do ⁸  not be afraid of those who kill the body ⁹  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ¹⁰ 

Luke 12:5

12:5 But I will warn ¹¹  you whom you should fear: Fear the one who, after the killing, ¹²  has authority to throw you ¹³  into hell. ¹⁴  Yes, I tell you, fear him!

Revelation 15:4

15:4 Who will not fear you, O Lord,

and glorify ¹⁵  your name, because you alone are holy? ¹⁶ 

All nations ¹⁷  will come and worship before you

for your righteous acts ¹⁸  have been revealed.”

[10:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Who should not revere you…?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

[10:7]  ² tn Heb “For it is fitting to you.”

[10:7]  ³ tn Heb “their royalty/dominion.” This is a case of substitution of the abstract for the concrete “royalty, royal power” for “kings” who exercise it.

[28:58]  ⁴ tn Heb “If you are not careful to do.”

[119:120]  ⁵ tn Heb “my flesh.”

[119:120]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew verb סָמַר (samar, “to tremble”) occurs only here and in Job 4:15.

[119:120]  ⁷ tn Heb “from fear of you.” The pronominal suffix on the noun is an objective genitive.

[10:28]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[10:28]  ⁹ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[10:28]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[12:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “will show,” but in this reflective context such a demonstration is a warning or exhortation.

[12:5]  ¹² sn The actual performer of the killing is not here specified. It could be understood to be God (so NASB, NRSV) but it could simply emphasize that, after a killing has taken place, it is God who casts the person into hell.

[12:5]  ¹³ tn The direct object (“you”) is understood.

[12:5]  ¹⁴ sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).

[15:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “and praise.”

[15:4]  ¹⁶ sn Because you alone are holy. In the Greek text the sentence literally reads “because alone holy.” Three points can be made in connection with John’s language here: (1) Omitting the second person, singular verb “you are” lays stress on the attribute of God’s holiness. (2) The juxtaposition of alone with holy stresses the unique nature of God’s holiness and complete “otherness” in relationship to his creation. It is not just moral purity which is involved in the use of the term holy, though it certainly includes that. It is also the pervasive OT idea that although God is deeply involved in the governing of his creation, he is to be regarded as separate and distinct from it. (3) John’s use of the term holy is also intriguing since it is the term ὅσιος (Josios) and not the more common NT term ἅγιος (Jagios). The former term evokes images of Christ’s messianic status in early Christian preaching. Both Peter in Acts 2:27 and Paul in Acts 13:35 apply Psalm 16:10 (LXX) to Jesus, referring to him as the “holy one” (ὅσιος). It is also the key term in Acts 13:34 (Isa 55:3 [LXX]) where it refers to the “holy blessings” (i.e., forgiveness and justification) brought about through Jesus in fulfillment of Davidic promise. Thus, in Rev 15:3-4, when John refers to God as “holy,” using the term ὅσιος in a context where the emphasis is on both God and Christ, there might be an implicit connection between divinity and the Messiah. This is bolstered by the fact that the Lamb is referred to in other contexts as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (cf. 1:5; 17:14; 19:16 and perhaps 11:15; G. K. Beale, Revelation [NIGTC], 796-97).

[15:4]  ¹⁷ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[15:4]  ¹⁸ tn Or perhaps, “your sentences of condemnation.” On δικαίωμα (dikaiwma) in this context BDAG 249 s.v. 2. states, “righteous deed…δι᾿ ἑνὸς δικαιώματος (opp. παράπτωμα) Ro 5:18. – B 1:2 (cp. Wengst, Barnabas-brief 196, n.4); Rv 15:4 (here perh.= ‘sentence of condemnation’ [cp. Pla., Leg. 9, 864e; ins fr. Asia Minor: LBW 41, 2 [κατὰ] τὸ δι[καί]ωμα τὸ κυρω[θέν]= ‘acc. to the sentence which has become valid’]; difft. Wengst, s. above); 19:8.”