37:34 Rely 1 on the Lord! Obey his commands! 2
Then he will permit you 3 to possess the land;
you will see the demise of evil men. 4
64:9 and all people will fear. 5
They will proclaim 6 what God has done,
and reflect on his deeds.
97:8 Zion hears and rejoices,
the towns 7 of Judah are happy,
because of your judgments, O Lord.
22:19 The righteous see their destruction 8 and rejoice;
the innocent mock them scornfully, 9 saying,
15:4 Who will not fear you, O Lord,
and glorify 11 your name, because you alone are holy? 12
All nations 13 will come and worship before you
for your righteous acts 14 have been revealed.”
“You are just 16 – the one who is and who was,
the Holy One – because you have passed these judgments, 17
16:6 because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets,
so 18 you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!” 19
16:7 Then 20 I heard the altar reply, 21 “Yes, Lord God, the All-Powerful, 22 your judgments are true and just!”
18:20 (Rejoice over her, O heaven,
and you saints and apostles and prophets,
for God has pronounced judgment 23 against her on your behalf!) 24
19:1 After these things I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a vast throng in heaven, saying,
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
19:2 because his judgments are true and just. 25
For he has judged 26 the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,
and has avenged the blood of his servants 27 poured out by her own hands!” 28
1 tn Or “wait.”
2 tn Heb “keep his way.” The
3 tn Heb “and he will lift you up.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) is best taken here as a result clause following the imperatives in the preceding lines.
4 tn Heb “when evil men are cut off you will see.”
5 tc Many medieval Hebrew
6 tn Heb “the work of God,” referring to the judgment described in v. 7.
7 tn Heb “daughters.” The term “daughters” refers to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 48:11 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).
8 tn The line is talking about the rejoicing of the righteous when judgment falls on the wicked. An object (“destruction”) has to be supplied here to clarify this (see Pss 52:6 [8]; 69:32 [33]; 107:42).
9 sn In Ps 2:4 it was God who mocked the wicked by judging them.
10 tn Or “Great is the
11 tn Or “and praise.”
12 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).
13 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
14 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.”
15 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the somewhat parenthetical nature of the remarks that follow.
16 tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.
17 tn Or “because you have judged these things.” The pronoun ταῦτα (tauta) is neuter gender.
18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that this judgment is the result of what these wicked people did to the saints and prophets.
19 tn Grk “They are worthy”; i.e., of this kind of punishment. By extension, “they got what they deserve.”
20 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
21 tn Grk “the altar saying.”
22 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.”
23 tn On the phrase “pronounced judgment” BDAG 567 s.v. κρίμα 4.b states, “The OT is the source of the expr. κρίνειν τὸ κρ. (cp. Zech 7:9; 8:16; Ezk 44:24) ἔκρινεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς God has pronounced judgment for you against her or God has pronounced on her the judgment she wished to impose on you (HHoltzmann, Hdb. 1893 ad loc.) Rv 18:20.”
24 tn Grk “God has judged a judgment of you of her.” Verse 20 is set in parentheses because in it the saints, etc. are addressed directly in the second person.
25 tn Compare the similar phrase in Rev 16:7.
26 tn Or “has punished.” See BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α, describing the OT background which involves both the vindication of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty.
27 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
28 tn Grk “from her hand” (referring to her responsibility in causing the blood of God’s followers to be shed).