Psalms 29:1-2

Psalm 29

A psalm of David.

29:1 Acknowledge the Lord, you heavenly beings,

acknowledge the Lord’s majesty and power!

29:2 Acknowledge the majesty of the Lord’s reputation!

Worship the Lord in holy attire!

Psalms 96:6-8

96:6 Majestic splendor emanates from him;

his sanctuary is firmly established and beautiful.

96:7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the nations,

ascribe to the Lord splendor and strength!

96:8 Ascribe to the Lord the splendor he deserves!

Bring an offering and enter his courts!

Psalms 96:1

Psalm 96

96:1 Sing to the Lord a new song! 10 

Sing to the Lord, all the earth!

Psalms 16:1

Psalm 16 11 

A prayer 12  of David.

16:1 Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you. 13 

Psalms 16:1

Psalm 16 14 

A prayer 15  of David.

16:1 Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you. 16 

Revelation 19:6

The Wedding Celebration of the Lamb

19:6 Then 17  I heard what sounded like the voice of a vast throng, like the roar of many waters and like loud crashes of thunder. They were shouting: 18 

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God, 19  the All-Powerful, 20  reigns!


sn Psalm 29. In this hymn of praise the psalmist calls upon the heavenly assembly to acknowledge the royal splendor of the Lord. He describes the Lord’s devastating power as revealed in the thunderstorm and affirms that the Lord exerts this awesome might on behalf of his people. In its original context the psalm was a bold polemic against the Canaanite storm god Baal, for it affirms that the Lord is the real king who controls the elements of the storm, contrary to pagan belief. See R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature,” BSac 150 (1994): 280-82.

tc Heb “sons of gods,” or “sons of God.” Though אֵלִים (’elim) is vocalized as a plural form (“gods”) in the MT, it is likely that the final mem is actually enclitic, rather than a plural marker. In this case one may read “God.” Some, following a Qumran text and the LXX, also propose the phrase occurred in the original text of Deut 32:8.

tn Or “ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.”

tn Heb “ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name.” The Hebrew term שֵׁם (shem, “name”) refers here to the Lord’s reputation. (The English term “name” is often used the same way.)

tn That is, properly dressed for the occasion.

tn Heb “majesty and splendor [are] before him.”

tn Heb “strength and beauty [are] in his sanctuary.”

tn Heb “the splendor of [i.e., “due”] his name.”

sn Psalm 96. The psalmist summons everyone to praise the Lord, the sovereign creator of the world who preserves and promotes justice in the earth.

10 sn A new song is appropriate because the Lord is constantly intervening in the world as its just king. See also Pss 33:3; 40:3; 98:1.

11 sn Psalm 16. The psalmist seeks divine protection because he has remained loyal to God. He praises God for his rich blessings, and is confident God will vindicate him and deliver him from death.

12 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מִכְתָּם (mikhtam) is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

13 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results (see 7:1; 11:1).

14 sn Psalm 16. The psalmist seeks divine protection because he has remained loyal to God. He praises God for his rich blessings, and is confident God will vindicate him and deliver him from death.

15 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מִכְתָּם (mikhtam) is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

16 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results (see 7:1; 11:1).

17 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

18 tn Grk “like the voice of a large crowd…saying.” Because of the complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the words “They were.”

19 tc Several mss (א2 P 1611 2053 2344 pc ÏK lat ) read “the Lord our God” (κύριος ὁ θεός ἡμῶν, kurio" Jo qeo" Jhmwn). Other important mss (A 1006 1841 pc), however, omit the “our” (ἡμῶν). Further, certain mss (051 ÏA) omit “Lord” (κύριος), while others (including א*) change the order of the statement to “God our Lord” (ὁ θεός ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν). The expression “the Lord God, the All-Powerful” occurs in 6 other places in Revelation (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22) and the pronoun “our” is never used. Scribes familiar with the expression in this book, and especially with the frequent κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ (kurio" Jo qeo" Jo pantokratwr; “the Lord God, the All-Powerful”) in the OT Prophets (LXX; cf. Jer 39:19; Hos 12:6; Amos 3:13; 4:13; 5:8, 14, 15, 16, 27; 9:5, 6, 15; Nah 3:5; Zech 10:3), would naturally omit the pronoun. Its presence may have arisen due to liturgical motivations or to conform to the expression “our God” in 19:1, 5, but this seems much less likely than an aversion to using the pronoun here and only here in the Greek Bible in the fuller title κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ.

20 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…() κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22…κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ὁ π. Rv 19:6.”