Revelation 19:6

The Wedding Celebration of the Lamb

19:6 Then ¹  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: ² 

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God, ³  the All-Powerful, ⁴  reigns!

Deuteronomy 33:2

33:2 He said:

A Historical Review

The Lord came from Sinai

and revealed himself ⁵  to Israel ⁶  from Seir.

He appeared in splendor ⁷  from Mount Paran,

and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. ⁸ 

With his right hand he gave a fiery law ⁹  to them.

Psalms 68:17

68:17 God has countless chariots;

they number in the thousands. ¹⁰ 

The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor. ¹¹ 

Daniel 7:10

7:10 A river of fire was streaming forth

and proceeding from his presence.

Many thousands were ministering to him;

Many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him. ¹² 

The court convened ¹³ 

and the books were opened.

Hebrews 12:22

12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, the city ¹⁴  of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

² 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.”

³ tc Several mss (א² P 1611 2053 2344 pc Ï^K 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 Ï^A) 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.

⁴ 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…κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ὁ π. Rv 19:6.”

⁵ tn Or “rose like the sun” (NCV, TEV).

⁶ tc Heb “to him.” The LXX reads “to us” (לָנוּ [lanu] for לָמוֹ [lamo]), the reading of the MT is acceptable since it no doubt has in mind Israel as a collective singular.

⁷ tn Or “he shone forth” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

⁸ tc With slight alteration (מִמְרִבַת קָדֵשׁ [mimrivat qadesh] for the MT’s מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ [merivvot qodesh]) the translation would be “from Meribah Kadesh” (cf. NAB, NLT; see Deut 32:51). However, the language of holy war in the immediate context favors the reading of the MT, which views the Lord as accompanied by angelic hosts.

⁹ tc The mispointed Hebrew term אֵשְׁדָּת (’eshdat) should perhaps be construed as אֵשְׁהַת (’eshhat) with Smr.

¹⁰ tn Heb “thousands of [?].” The meaning of the word שִׁנְאָן (shin’an), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Perhaps the form should be emended to שַׁאֲנָן (sha’anan, “at ease”) and be translated here “held in reserve.”

¹¹ tc The MT reads, “the Lord [is] among them, Sinai, in holiness,” which is syntactically difficult. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֲדֹנָי בָּא מִסִּינַי (’adonay ba’ missinay; see BHS note b-b and Deut 33:2).

¹² tn Aram “were standing before him.”

¹³ tn Aram “judgment sat.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “and the city”; the conjunction is omitted in translation since it seems to be functioning epexegetically – that is, explaining further what is meant by “Mount Zion.”