89:4 ‘I will give you an eternal dynasty 1
and establish your throne throughout future generations.’” 2 (Selah)
89:29 I will give him an eternal dynasty, 3
and make his throne as enduring as the skies above. 4
89:36 His dynasty will last forever. 5
His throne will endure before me, like the sun, 6
89:37 it will remain stable, like the moon, 7
his throne will endure like the skies.” 8 (Selah)
9:7 His dominion will be vast 9
and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. 10
He will rule on David’s throne
and over David’s kingdom, 11
establishing it 12 and strengthening it
by promoting justice and fairness, 13
from this time forward and forevermore.
The Lord’s intense devotion to his people 14 will accomplish this.
2:1 In the second year of his 15 reign Nebuchadnezzar had many dreams. 16 His mind 17 was disturbed and he suffered from insomnia. 18
11:15 Then 21 the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:
“The kingdom of the world
has become the kingdom of our Lord
and of his Christ, 22
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
1 tn Heb “forever I will establish your offspring.”
2 tn Heb “and I will build to a generation and a generation your throne.”
3 tn Heb “and I will set in place forever his offspring.”
4 tn Heb “and his throne like the days of the heavens.”
5 tn Heb “his offspring forever will be.”
6 tn Heb “and his throne like the sun before me.”
7 tn Heb “like the moon it will be established forever.”
8 tn Heb “and a witness in the sky, secure.” Scholars have offered a variety of opinions as to the identity of the “witness” referred to here, none of which is very convincing. It is preferable to join וְעֵד (vÿ’ed) to עוֹלָם (’olam) in the preceding line and translate the commonly attested phrase עוֹלָם וְעֵד (“forever”). In this case one may translate the second line, “[it] will be secure like the skies.” Another option (the one reflected in the present translation) is to take עד as a rare noun meaning “throne” or “dais.” This noun is attested in Ugaritic; see, for example, CTA 16 vi 22-23, where ksi (= כִּסֵּא, kisse’, “throne”) and ’d (= עד, “dais”) appear as synonyms in the poetic parallelism (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 91). Emending בַּשַּׁחַק (bashakhaq, “in the heavens”) to כַּשַׁחַק (kashakhaq, “like the heavens”) – bet/kaf (כ/ב) confusion is widely attested – one can then read “[his] throne like the heavens [is] firm/stable.” Verse 29 refers to the enduring nature of the heavens, while Job 37:18 speaks of God spreading out the heavens (שְׁחָקִים, shÿkhaqim) and compares their strength to a bronze mirror. Ps 89:29 uses the term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim, “skies”) which frequently appears in parallelism to שְׁחָקִים.
9 tc The Hebrew text has לְםַרְבֵּה (lÿmarbeh), which is a corrupt reading. לם is dittographic; note the preceding word, שָׁלוֹם (shalom). The corrected text reads literally, “great is the dominion.”
10 tn Heb “and to peace there will be no end” (KJV and ASV both similar). On the political and socio-economic sense of שָׁלוֹם (shalom) in this context, see the note at v. 6 on “Prince of Peace.”
11 tn Heb “over the throne of David, and over his kingdom.” The referent of the pronoun “his” (i.e., David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn The feminine singular pronominal suffix on this form and the following one (translated “it” both times) refers back to the grammatically feminine noun “kingdom.”
13 tn Heb “with/by justice and fairness”; ASV “with justice and with righteousness.”
14 tn Heb “the zeal of the Lord.” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to vindicate them and to fulfill his promises to David and the nation.
15 tn Heb “Nebuchadnezzar’s.” The possessive pronoun is substituted in the translation for stylistic reasons.
16 tn Heb “dreamed dreams.” The plural is used here and in v. 2, but the singular in v. 3. The plural “dreams” has been variously explained. Some interpreters take the plural as denoting an indefinite singular (so GKC 400 §124.o). But it may be that it is describing a stream of related dreams, or a dream state. In the latter case, one might translate: “Nebuchadnezzar was in a trance.” See further, J. A. Montgomery, Daniel (ICC), 142.
17 tn Heb “his spirit.”
18 tn Heb “his sleep left (?) him.” The use of the verb הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) here is unusual. The context suggests a meaning such as “to be finished” or “gone.” Cf. Dan 8:27. Some scholars emend the verb to read נָדְדָה (nadÿdah, “fled”); cf. Dan 6:19. See further, DCH 2:540 s.v. היה I Ni.3; HALOT 244 s.v. היה nif; BDB 227-28 s.v. הָיָה Niph.2.
19 tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”
20 tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.
21 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
22 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”