9:8 he alone spreads out the heavens,
and treads 1 on the waves of the sea; 2
93:3 The waves 3 roar, O Lord,
the waves roar,
the waves roar and crash. 4
93:4 Above the sound of the surging water, 5
and the mighty waves of the sea,
the Lord sits enthroned in majesty. 6
104:3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds. 7
He makes the clouds his chariot,
and travels along on the wings of the wind. 8
1 tn Or “marches forth.”
2 tn The reference is probably to the waves of the sea. This is the reading preserved in NIV and NAB, as well as by J. Crenshaw, “Wÿdorek `al-bamote ‘ares,” CBQ 34 (1972): 39-53. But many see here a reference to Canaanite mythology. The marginal note in the RSV has “the back of the sea dragon.” The view would also see in “sea” the Ugaritic god Yammu.
3 tn The Hebrew noun translated “waves” often refers to rivers or streams, but here it appears to refer to the surging waves of the sea (see v. 4, Ps 24:2).
4 tn Heb “the waves lift up, O
5 tn Heb “mighty waters.”
6 tn Heb “mighty on high [is] the
7 tn Heb “one who lays the beams on water [in] his upper rooms.” The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 44-45.
8 sn Verse 3 may depict the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option is that the wind is personified as a cherub. See Ps 18:10 and the discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.
9 tn This verse is one complete sentence in the Greek text, but it has been broken into two sentences in English for clarity.
10 tn Grk “about the fourth watch of the night,” between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.
11 tn Or “on the lake.”
12 tn The καί (kai) was translated so as to introduce a subordinate clause, i.e., with the use of “for.” See BDF §442.9.
13 sn The statement he wanted to pass by them is somewhat difficult to understand. There are at least two common interpretations: (1) it refers to the perspective of the disciples, that is, from their point of view it seemed that Jesus wanted to pass by them; or (2) it refers to a theophany and uses the language of the Greek Old Testament (LXX) when God “passed by” Moses at Sinai (cf. Exod 33:19, 22). According to the latter alternative, Jesus is “passing by” the disciples during their struggle, in order to assure them of his presence with them. See W L. Lane, Mark (NICNT), 236.
14 tn Grk “about twenty-five or thirty stades” (a stade as a unit of linear measure is about 607 feet or 187 meters).
15 tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. 16. John uses the phrase ἐπί (epi, “on”) followed by the genitive (as in Mark, instead of Matthew’s ἐπί followed by the accusative) to describe Jesus walking “on the lake.”
16 tn Grk “and having.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “he.”
17 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
19 tn The participle λαλοῦσαν (lalousan) has been translated as “began to speak.” The use of πάλιν (palin) indicates an ingressive idea.
20 tn Grk “with me.” The translation “with me” implies that John was engaged in a dialogue with the one speaking to him (e.g., Jesus or an angel) when in reality it was a one-sided conversation, with John doing all the listening. For this reason, μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ (met’ emou, “with me”) was translated as “to me.”
21 tn Grk “again, saying.” The participle λέγουσαν (legousan) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
22 tn The perfect passive participle ἠνεῳγμένον (hnewgmenon) is in second attributive position and has been translated as an attributive adjective.