66:1 This is what the Lord says:
“The heavens are my throne
and the earth is my footstool.
Where then is the house you will build for me?
Where is the place where I will rest?
66:1 This is what the Lord says:
“The heavens are my throne
and the earth is my footstool.
Where then is the house you will build for me?
Where is the place where I will rest?
8:1 The Lord told me, “Take a large tablet 1 and inscribe these words 2 on it with an ordinary stylus: 3 ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.’ 4
68:4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!
Exalt the one who rides on the clouds! 5
For the Lord is his name! 6
Rejoice before him!
68:5 He is a father to the fatherless
and an advocate for widows. 7
God rules from his holy palace. 8
113:4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky. 9
113:5 Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne? 10
113:6 He bends down to look 11
at the sky and the earth.
115:3 Our God is in heaven!
He does whatever he pleases! 12
A song of ascents. 14
123:1 I look up 15 toward you,
the one enthroned 16 in heaven.
Our Father 20 in heaven, may your name be honored, 21
6:1 “Be 22 careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. 23 Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.
6:16 “When 24 you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive 25 so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, 26 they have their reward.
1 sn Probably made of metal, wood, or leather. See HALOT 193 s.v. גִּלָּיוֹן.
2 tn Heb “write” (so KJV, ASV, NIV, NRSV).
3 tn Heb “with the stylus of a man.” The significance of the qualifying genitive “a man” is uncertain. For various interpretations see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:219, n. 1.
4 tn Heb “quickly, [the] plunder; it hurries, [the] loot.” The first word (מַהֵר, maher) is either a Piel imperative (“hurry [to]”) or infinitive (“hurrying,” or “quickly”). The third word (חָשׁ, khash) is either a third masculine singular perfect or a masculine singular participle, in either case from the root חוּשׁ (khush, “hurry”). Perhaps it is best to translate, “One hastens to the plunder, one hurries to the loot.” In this case מַהֵר is understood as an infinitive functioning as a verb, the subject of חוּשׁ is taken as indefinite, and the two nouns are understood as adverbial accusatives. As we discover in v. 3, this is the name of the son to be born to Isaiah through the prophetess.
5 tn Traditionally the Hebrew term עֲרָבוֹת (’aravot) is taken as “steppe-lands” (often rendered “deserts”), but here the form is probably a homonym meaning “clouds.” Verse 33, which depicts God as the one who “rides on the sky” strongly favors this (see as well Deut 33:26), as does the reference in v. 9 to God as the source of rain. The term עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “cloud”) is cognate with Akkadian urpatu/erpetu and with Ugaritic ’rpt. The phrase rkb ’rpt (“one who rides on the clouds”) appears in Ugaritic mythological texts as an epithet of the storm god Baal. The nonphonemic interchange of the bilabial consonants b and p is attested elsewhere in roots common to Hebrew and Ugaritic, though the phenomenon is relatively rare.
6 tc Heb “in the
7 sn God is depicted here as a just ruler. In the ancient Near Eastern world a king was responsible for promoting justice, including caring for the weak and vulnerable, epitomized by the fatherless and widows.
8 tn Heb “God [is] in his holy dwelling place.” He occupies his throne and carries out his royal responsibilities.
9 tn Heb “above the sky [is] his splendor.”
10 tn Heb “the one who makes high to sit.”
11 tn Heb “the one who makes low to see.”
12 sn He does whatever he pleases. Such sovereignty is characteristic of kings (see Eccl 8:3).
13 sn Psalm 123. The psalmist, speaking for God’s people, acknowledges his dependence on God in the midst of a crisis.
14 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
15 tn Heb “I lift my eyes.”
16 tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12).
17 tn Heb “all flesh”; NAB, NIV “all mankind.”
18 sn The sense here is that God in heaven is about to undertake an occupation of his earthly realm (v. 12) by restoring his people to the promised land.
19 sn Pray this way. What follows, although traditionally known as the Lord’s prayer, is really the disciples’ prayer. It represents how they are to approach God, by acknowledging his uniqueness and their need for his provision and protection.
20 sn God is addressed in terms of intimacy (Father). The original Semitic term here was probably Abba. The term is a little unusual in a personal prayer, especially as it lacks qualification. It is not the exact equivalent of “daddy” (as is sometimes popularly suggested), but it does suggest a close, familial relationship.
21 tn Grk “hallowed be your name.”
22 tc ‡ Several
23 tn Grk “before people in order to be seen by them.”
24 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
25 tn Here the term “disfigure” used in a number of translations was not used because it could convey to the modern reader the notion of mutilation. L&N 79.17 states, “‘to make unsightly, to disfigure, to make ugly.’ ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ‘for they make their faces unsightly’ Mt 6:16.”
26 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”