Isaiah 11:4

11:4 He will treat the poor fairly, ¹ 

and make right decisions ²  for the downtrodden of the earth. ³ 

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, ⁴ 

and order the wicked to be executed. ⁵ 

Psalms 18:15

18:15 The depths ⁶  of the sea ⁷  were exposed;

the inner regions ⁸  of the world were uncovered

by ⁹  your battle cry, ¹⁰  Lord,

by the powerful breath from your nose. ¹¹ 

Luke 22:31

22:31 “Simon, ¹²  Simon, pay attention! ¹³  Satan has demanded to have you all, ¹⁴  to sift you like wheat, ¹⁵ 

Luke 22:2

22:2 The ¹⁶  chief priests and the experts in the law ¹⁷  were trying to find some way ¹⁸  to execute ¹⁹  Jesus, ²⁰  for they were afraid of the people. ²¹ 

Luke 2:8

The Shepherds’ Visit

2:8 Now ²²  there were shepherds ²³  nearby ²⁴  living out in the field, keeping guard ²⁵  over their flock at night.

Hebrews 4:12

4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart.

Revelation 1:16

1:16 He held ²⁶  seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His ²⁷  face shone like the sun shining at full strength.

Revelation 2:16

2:16 Therefore, ²⁸  repent! If not, I will come against you quickly and make war against those people ²⁹  with the sword of my mouth.

¹ tn Heb “with justice” (so NAB) or “with righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

² tn Heb “make decisions with rectitude”; cf. ASV, NRSV “and decide with equity.”

³ tn Or “land” (NAB, NCV, CEV). It is uncertain if the passage is picturing universal dominion or focusing on the king’s rule over his covenant people. The reference to God’s “holy mountain” in v. 9 and the description of renewed Israelite conquests in v. 14 suggest the latter, though v. 10 seems to refer to a universal kingdom (see 2:2-4).

⁴ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and he will strike the earth with the scepter of his mouth.” Some have suggested that in this context אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) as an object of judgment seems too broad in scope. The parallelism is tighter if one emends the word to ץ(י)עָרִ (’arits, “potentate, tyrant”). The phrase “scepter of his mouth” refers to the royal (note “scepter”) decrees that he proclaims with his mouth. Because these decrees will have authority and power (see v. 2) behind them, they can be described as “striking” the tyrants down. Nevertheless, the MT reading may not need emending. Isaiah refers to the entire “earth” as the object of God’s judgment in several places without specifying the wicked as the object of the judgment (Isa 24:17-21; 26:9, 21; 28:22; cf. 13:11).

⁵ tn Heb “and by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.” The “breath of his lips” refers to his speech, specifically in this context his official decrees that the wicked oppressors be eliminated from his realm. See the preceding note.

⁶ tn Or “channels.”

⁷ tc Ps 18:15 reads “water” (cf. Ps 42:1); “sea” is the reading of 2 Sam 22:16.

⁸ tn Or “foundations.”

⁹ tn Heb “from.” The preposition has a causal sense here.

¹⁰ tn The noun is derived from the verb גָּעַר (ga’ar), which is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Pss 68:30; 106:9; and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 9:5; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

¹¹ tn 2 Sam 22:16 reads “by the battle cry of the Lord, by the blast of the breath of his nose.” The phrase “blast of the breath” (Heb “breath of breath”) employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

¹² tc The majority of mss (א A D W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï as well as several versional witnesses) begin this verse with an introductory comment, “and the Lord said,” indicating a change in the subject of discussion. But this is apparently a reading motivated by the need for clarity. Some of the best witnesses, along with a few others (Ì⁷⁵ B L T 1241 2542^c sy^s co), do not contain these words. The abrupt shift is the more difficult reading and thus more likely to be original.

¹³ tn Grk “behold” (for “pay attention” see L&N 91.13).

¹⁴ sn This pronoun is plural in the Greek text, so it refers to all the disciples of which Peter is the representative.

¹⁵ sn Satan has demanded permission to put them to the test. The idiom “sift (someone) like wheat” is similar to the English idiom “to pick (someone) apart.” The pronoun you is implied.

¹⁶ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁷ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

¹⁸ tn Grk “were seeking how.”

¹⁹ tn The Greek verb here means “to get rid of by execution” (BDAG 64 s.v. ἀναιρέω 2; cf. also L&N 20.71, which states, “to get rid of someone by execution, often with legal or quasi-legal procedures”).

²⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²¹ sn The suggestion here is that Jesus was too popular to openly arrest him. The verb were trying is imperfect. It suggests, in this context, that they were always considering the opportunities.

²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

²³ sn Some argue that shepherds were among the culturally despised, but the evidence for this view of shepherds is late, coming from 5th century Jewish materials. December 25 as the celebrated date of Jesus’ birth arose around the time of Constantine (ca. a.d. 306-337), though it is mentioned in material from Hippolytus (a.d. 165-235). Some think that the reason for celebration on this date was that it coincided with the pagan Roman festival of Saturnalia, and Christians could celebrate their own festival at this time without fear of persecution. On the basis of the statement that the shepherds were living out in the field, keeping guard over their flock at night it is often suggested that Jesus’ birth took place in early spring, since it was only at lambing time that shepherds stood guard over their flocks in the field. This is not absolutely certain, however.

²⁴ tn Grk “in that region.”

²⁵ tn Grk “living in the field (see BDAG 15 s.v. ἀγραυλέω) and guarding their flock.”

²⁶ tn Grk “and having.” In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but because contemporary English style employs much shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “he.”

²⁷ tn This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but a new sentence was started here in the translation.

²⁸ tc The “therefore” (οὖν, oun) is not found in א 2053 2329 2351 Ï^A or the Latin mss. It is, however, included in impressive witnesses such as {A C 046 1006 1611 sy^p,h co}. Though the conjunction looks at first glance like a scribal clarification, its omission may be explained on the basis of its similarity to the last three letters of the verb “repent” (μετανόησον, metanohson; since οὖν is a postpositive conjunction in Greek, the final three letters of the verb [-σον, -son] would have been immediately followed by ουν). A scribe could have simply passed over the conjunction in his copy when he saw the last three letters of the imperative verb. A decision is difficult, however, because of the motivation to add to the text and the quality of witnesses that lack the conjunction.

²⁹ tn Grk “with them”; the referent (those people who follow the teaching of Balaam and the Nicolaitans) has been specified in the translation for clarity.