66:7 He rules 1 by his power forever;
he watches 2 the nations.
Stubborn rebels should not exalt 3 themselves. (Selah)
97:9 For you, O Lord, are the sovereign king 4 over the whole earth;
you are elevated high above all gods.
4:34 But at the end of the appointed time 5 I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up 6 toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me.
I extolled the Most High,
and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever.
For his authority is an everlasting authority,
and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next.
4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. 7
He does as he wishes with the army of heaven
and with those who inhabit the earth.
No one slaps 8 his hand
and says to him, ‘What have you done?’
1 tn Heb “[the] one who rules.”
2 tn Heb “his eyes watch.” “Eyes” are an anthropomorphism, attributed to God here to emphasize his awareness of all that happens on earth.
3 tn The verb form is jussive (note the negative particle אַל, ’al). The Kethib (consonantal text) has a Hiphil form of the verb, apparently to be understood in an exhibitive sense (“demonstrate stubborn rebellion”; see BDB 927 s.v. רוּם Hiph), while the Qere (marginal reading) has a Qal form, to be understood in an intransitive sense. The preposition -לְ (lamed) with pronominal suffix should be understood in a reflexive sense (“for themselves”) and indicates that the action is performed with the interest of the subject in mind.
4 tn Traditionally “Most High.”
5 tn Aram “days.”
6 tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”
7 tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew
8 tn Aram “strikes against.”
9 sn A quotation from Prov 3:34.