6:5 I said, “Too bad for me! I am destroyed, 4 for my lips are contaminated by sin, 5 and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin. 6 My eyes have seen the king, the Lord who commands armies.” 7
20:11 Then 23 I saw a large 24 white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven 25 fled 26 from his presence, and no place was found for them.
1 tn The words “the angel” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
2 tn Or “and he was afraid”; Grk “fear fell upon him.” Fear is common when supernatural agents appear (1:29-30, 65; 2:9; 5:8-10; 9:34; 24:38; Exod 15:16; Judg 6:22-23; 13:6, 22; 2 Sam 6:9).
3 tn On the phrase אַמּוֹת הַסִּפִּים (’ammot hassippim, “pivots of the frames”) see HALOT 763 s.v. סַף.
4 tn Isaiah uses the suffixed (perfect) form of the verb for rhetorical purposes. In this way his destruction is described as occurring or as already completed. Rather than understanding the verb as derived from דָּמַה (damah, “be destroyed”), some take it from a proposed homonymic root דמה, which would mean “be silent.” In this case, one might translate, “I must be silent.”
5 tn Heb “a man unclean of lips am I.” Isaiah is not qualified to praise the king. His lips (the instruments of praise) are “unclean” because he has been contaminated by sin.
6 tn Heb “and among a nation unclean of lips I live.”
7 tn Perhaps in this context, the title has a less militaristic connotation and pictures the Lord as the ruler of the heavenly assembly. See the note at 1:9.
8 tn Grk “It happened that as.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
9 tn Grk “going and nearing Damascus.”
10 tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.b has “φῶς a very bright light Ac 22:6.”
11 tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
12 tn Or “shone.”
13 tn This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek using the connective τέ (te), but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence a new sentence was begun in the translation here. To indicate the logical sequence for the modern English reader, τέ was translated as “then.”
14 tn Grk “did not hear” (but see Acts 9:7). BDAG 38 s.v. ἀκούω 7 has “W. acc. τὸν νόμον understand the law Gal 4:21; perh. Ac 22:9; 26:14…belong here.” If the word has this sense here, then a metonymy is present, since the lack of effect is put for a failure to appreciate what was heard.
15 tn Grk “O King.”
16 tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
17 tn The word “everywhere” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning of περιλάμψαν (perilamyan). Otherwise the modern reader might think that each of the individuals were encircled by lights or halos. See also Acts 9:7; 22:6, 9.
18 tn Grk “in the Hebrew language.” See Acts 22:7 and 9:4.
19 tn Grk “It is hard for you.”
20 tn “Goads” are pointed sticks used to direct a draft animal (an idiom for stubborn resistance). See BDAG 539-40 s.v. κέντρον 2.
21 tn Grk “that which appeared.”
22 tn Grk “I am terrified and trembling.”
23 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
24 tn Traditionally, “great,” but μέγας (megas) here refers to size rather than importance.
25 tn Or “and the sky.” The same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky,” and context usually determines which is meant. In this apocalyptic scene, however, it is difficult to be sure what referent to assign the term.
26 tn Or “vanished.”