21:13 Rise up, O Lord, in strength! 1
We will sing and praise 2 your power!
57:5 Rise up 3 above the sky, O God!
May your splendor cover the whole earth! 4
For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; 6 a prayer 7 of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave. 8
57:1 Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me!
For in you I have taken shelter. 9
In the shadow of your wings 10 I take shelter
until trouble passes.
29:11 The Lord gives 11 his people strength; 12
the Lord grants his people security. 13
2:11 Proud men will be brought low,
arrogant men will be humiliated; 14
the Lord alone will be exalted 15
in that day.
2:17 Proud men will be humiliated,
arrogant men will be brought low; 16
the Lord alone will be exalted 17
in that day.
5:16 The Lord who commands armies will be exalted 18 when he punishes, 19
the sovereign God’s authority will be recognized when he judges. 20
“Great and astounding are your deeds,
Lord God, the All-Powerful! 24
Just 25 and true are your ways,
King over the nations! 26
15:4 Who will not fear you, O Lord,
and glorify 27 your name, because you alone are holy? 28
All nations 29 will come and worship before you
for your righteous acts 30 have been revealed.”
1 tn Heb “in your strength,” but English idiom does not require the pronoun.
2 tn Heb “sing praise.”
3 tn Or “be exalted.”
4 tn Heb “over all the earth [be] your splendor.” Though no verb appears, the tone of the statement is a prayer or wish. (Note the imperative form in the preceding line.)
5 sn Psalm 57. The psalmist asks for God’s protection and expresses his confidence that his ferocious enemies will be destroyed by their own schemes.
6 tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 58-59, 75.
7 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56, 58-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
8 sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when he fled from Saul and hid in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3.
9 tn Heb “my life has taken shelter.” The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.
10 sn In the shadow of your wings. The metaphor likens God to a protective mother bird (see also Pss 17:8; 36:7).
11 tn The imperfect verbal forms in v. 11 are either descriptive or generalizing.
12 sn Strength. This probably refers to military power; see the use of the noun in 1 Sam 2:10 and Ps 86:16.
13 tn Heb “blesses his people with peace.” The Hebrew term שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) probably refers here to the protection and prosperity experienced by God’s people after the
14 tn Heb “and the eyes of the pride of men will be brought low, and the arrogance of men will be brought down.” The repetition of the verbs שָׁפַל (shafal) and שָׁחָח (shakhakh) from v. 9 draws attention to the appropriate nature of the judgment. Those proud men who “bow low” before idols will be forced to “bow low” before God when he judges their sin.
15 tn Or “elevated”; CEV “honored.”
16 tn Heb “and the pride of men will be brought down, and the arrogance of men will be brought low.” As in v. 11, the repetition of the verbs שָׁפַל (shafal) and שָׁחָח (shakhakh) from v. 9 draws attention to the appropriate nature of the judgment. Those proud men who “bow low” before idols will be forced to “bow low” before God when he judges their sin.
17 tn Or “elevated”; NCV “praised”; CEV “honored.”
18 tn Or “elevated”; TEV “the Lord Almighty shows his greatness.”
19 tn Heb “by judgment/justice.” When God justly punishes the evildoers denounced in the preceding verses, he will be recognized as a mighty warrior.
20 tn Heb “The holy God will be set apart by fairness.” In this context God’s holiness is his sovereign royal authority, which implies a commitment to justice (see the note on the phrase “the sovereign king of Israel” in 1:4). When God judges evildoers as they deserve, his sovereignty will be acknowledged.
21 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
22 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
23 tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
24 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”
25 tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.
26 tc Certain
27 tn Or “and praise.”
28 sn Because you alone are holy. In the Greek text the sentence literally reads “because alone holy.” Three points can be made in connection with John’s language here: (1) Omitting the second person, singular verb “you are” lays stress on the attribute of God’s holiness. (2) The juxtaposition of alone with holy stresses the unique nature of God’s holiness and complete “otherness” in relationship to his creation. It is not just moral purity which is involved in the use of the term holy, though it certainly includes that. It is also the pervasive OT idea that although God is deeply involved in the governing of his creation, he is to be regarded as separate and distinct from it. (3) John’s use of the term holy is also intriguing since it is the term ὅσιος (Josios) and not the more common NT term ἅγιος (Jagios). The former term evokes images of Christ’s messianic status in early Christian preaching. Both Peter in Acts 2:27 and Paul in Acts 13:35 apply Psalm 16:10 (LXX) to Jesus, referring to him as the “holy one” (ὅσιος). It is also the key term in Acts 13:34 (Isa 55:3 [LXX]) where it refers to the “holy blessings” (i.e., forgiveness and justification) brought about through Jesus in fulfillment of Davidic promise. Thus, in Rev 15:3-4, when John refers to God as “holy,” using the term ὅσιος in a context where the emphasis is on both God and Christ, there might be an implicit connection between divinity and the Messiah. This is bolstered by the fact that the Lamb is referred to in other contexts as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (cf. 1:5; 17:14; 19:16 and perhaps 11:15; G. K. Beale, Revelation [NIGTC], 796-97).
29 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
30 tn Or perhaps, “your sentences of condemnation.” On δικαίωμα (dikaiwma) in this context BDAG 249 s.v. 2. states, “righteous deed…δι᾿ ἑνὸς δικαιώματος (opp. παράπτωμα) Ro 5:18. – B 1:2 (cp. Wengst, Barnabas-brief 196, n.4); Rv 15:4 (here perh.= ‘sentence of condemnation’ [cp. Pla., Leg. 9, 864e; ins fr. Asia Minor: LBW 41, 2 [κατὰ] τὸ δι[καί]ωμα τὸ κυρω[θέν]= ‘acc. to the sentence which has become valid’]; difft. Wengst, s. above); 19:8.”