Genesis 17:1-27

The Sign of the Covenant

17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, ¹  the Lord appeared to him and said, ²  “I am the sovereign God. ³  Walk ⁴  before me ⁵  and be blameless. ⁶  17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant ⁷  between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” ⁸ 

17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, ⁹  and God said to him, ¹⁰  17:4 “As for me, ¹¹  this ¹²  is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be ¹³  Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham ¹⁴  because I will make you ¹⁵  the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you ¹⁶  extremely ¹⁷  fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. ¹⁸  17:7 I will confirm ¹⁹  my covenant as a perpetual ²⁰  covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ²¹  17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing ²²  – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent ²³  possession. I will be their God.”

17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep ²⁴  the covenantal requirement ²⁵  I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: ²⁶  Every male among you must be circumcised. ²⁷  17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder ²⁸  of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old ²⁹  must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 17:13 They must indeed be circumcised, ³⁰  whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant ³¹  will be visible in your flesh as a permanent ³²  reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male ³³  who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off ³⁴  from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” ³⁵ 

17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; ³⁶  Sarah ³⁷  will be her name. 17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. ³⁸  Kings of countries ³⁹  will come from her!”

17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed ⁴⁰  as he said to himself, ⁴¹  “Can ⁴²  a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? ⁴³  Can Sarah ⁴⁴  bear a child at the age of ninety?” ⁴⁵  17:18 Abraham said to God, “O that ⁴⁶  Ishmael might live before you!” ⁴⁷ 

17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. ⁴⁸  I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual ⁴⁹  covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. ⁵⁰  I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. ⁵¹  He will become the father of twelve princes; ⁵²  I will make him into a great nation. 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 17:22 When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. ⁵³ 

17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) ⁵⁴  and circumcised them ⁵⁵  on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old ⁵⁶  when he was circumcised; ⁵⁷  17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old ⁵⁸  when he was circumcised. 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 17:27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Genesis 1:18

1:18 to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. ⁵⁹  God saw that it was good.

Genesis 2:4-5

The Creation of Man and Woman

2:4 This is the account ⁶⁰  of the heavens and

the earth ⁶¹  when they were created – when the Lord God ⁶²  made the earth and heavens. ⁶³ 

2:5 Now ⁶⁴  no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field ⁶⁵  had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. ⁶⁶ 

Exodus 9:16

9:16 But ⁶⁷  for this purpose I have caused you to stand: ⁶⁸  to show you ⁶⁹  my strength, and so that my name may be declared ⁷⁰  in all the earth.

Psalms 90:11

90:11 Who can really fathom the intensity of your anger? ⁷¹ 

Your raging fury causes people to fear you. ⁷² 

Proverbs 16:4

16:4 The Lord works ⁷³  everything for its own ends ⁷⁴  –

even the wicked for the day of disaster. ⁷⁵ 

Revelation 6:16-17

6:16 They ⁷⁶  said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ⁷⁷  6:17 because the great day of their ⁷⁸  wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” ⁷⁹ 

[17:1]  ¹ tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:1]  ² tn Heb “appeared to Abram and said to him.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) and the final phrase “to him” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[17:1]  ³ tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain (see discussion below) its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. In Gen 17:1-8 he appeared to Abram, introduced himself as El Shaddai, and announced his intention to make the patriarch fruitful. In the role of El Shaddai God repeated these words (now elevated to the status of a decree) to Jacob (35:11). Earlier Isaac had pronounced a blessing on Jacob in which he asked El Shaddai to make Jacob fruitful (28:3). Jacob later prayed that his sons would be treated with mercy when they returned to Egypt with Benjamin (43:14). The fertility theme is not as apparent here, though one must remember that Jacob viewed Benjamin as the sole remaining son of the favored and once-barren Rachel (see 29:31; 30:22-24; 35:16-18). It is quite natural that he would appeal to El Shaddai to preserve Benjamin’s life, for it was El Shaddai’s miraculous power which made it possible for Rachel to give him sons in the first place. In 48:3 Jacob, prior to blessing Joseph’s sons, told him how El Shaddai appeared to him at Bethel (see Gen 28) and promised to make him fruitful. When blessing Joseph on his deathbed Jacob referred to Shaddai (we should probably read “El Shaddai,” along with a few Hebrew mss, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the LXX, and Syriac) as the one who provides abundant blessings, including “blessings of the breast and womb” (49:25). (The direct association of the name with “breasts” suggests the name might mean “the one of the breast” [i.e., the one who gives fertility], but the juxtaposition is probably better explained as wordplay. Note the wordplay involving the name and the root שָׁדַד, shadad, “destroy”] in Isa 13:6 and in Joel 1:15.) Outside Genesis the name Shaddai (minus the element “El” [“God”]) is normally used when God is viewed as the sovereign king who blesses/protects or curses/brings judgment. The name appears in the introduction to two of Balaam’s oracles (Num 24:4, 16) of blessing upon Israel. Naomi employs the name when accusing the Lord of treating her bitterly by taking the lives of her husband and sons (Ruth 1:20-21). In Ps 68:14; Isa 13:6; and Joel 1:15 Shaddai judges his enemies through warfare, while Ps 91:1 depicts him as the protector of his people. (In Ezek 1:24 and 10:5 the sound of the cherubs’ wings is compared to Shaddai’s powerful voice. The reference may be to the mighty divine warrior’s battle cry which accompanies his angry judgment.) Finally, the name occurs 31 times in the Book of Job. Job and his “friends” assume that Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world (11:7; 37:23a) who is the source of life (33:4b) and is responsible for maintaining justice (8:3; 34:10-12; 37:23b). He provides abundant blessings, including children (22:17-18; 29:4-6), but he can also discipline, punish, and destroy (5:17; 6:4; 21:20; 23:16). It is not surprising to see the name so often in this book, where the theme of God’s justice is primary and even called into question (24:1; 27:2). The most likely proposal is that the name means “God, the one of the mountain” (an Akkadian cognate means “mountain,” to which the Hebrew שַׁד, shad, “breast”] is probably related). For a discussion of proposed derivations see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 70-71. The name may originally have depicted God as the sovereign judge who, in Canaanite style, ruled from a sacred mountain. Isa 14:13 and Ezek 28:14, 16 associate such a mountain with God, while Ps 48:2 refers to Zion as “Zaphon,” the Canaanite Olympus from which the high god El ruled. (In Isa 14 the Canaanite god El may be in view. Note that Isaiah pictures pagan kings as taunting the king of Babylon, suggesting that pagan mythology may provide the background for the language and imagery.)

[17:1]  ⁴ tn Or “Live out your life.” The Hebrew verb translated “walk” is the Hitpael; it means “to walk back and forth; to walk about; to live out one’s life.”

[17:1]  ⁵ tn Or “in my presence.”

[17:1]  ⁶ tn There are two imperatives here: “walk…and be blameless [or “perfect”].” The second imperative may be purely sequential (see the translation) or consequential: “walk before me and then you will be blameless.” How one interprets the sequence depends on the meaning of “walk before”: (1) If it simply refers in a neutral way to serving the Lord, then the second imperative is likely sequential. (2) But if it has a positive moral connotation (“serve me faithfully”), then the second imperative probably indicates purpose (or result). For other uses of the idiom see 1 Sam 2:30, 35 and 12:2 (where it occurs twice).

[17:2]  ⁷ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative indicates consequence. If Abram is blameless, then the Lord will ratify the covenant. Earlier the Lord ratified part of his promise to Abram (see Gen 15:18-21), guaranteeing him that his descendants would live in the land. But the expanded form of the promise, which includes numerous descendants and eternal possession of the land, remains to be ratified. This expanded form of the promise is in view here (see vv. 2b, 4-8). See the note at Gen 15:18 and R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 35-54.

[17:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will multiply you exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “And Abram fell on his face.” This expression probably means that Abram sank to his knees and put his forehead to the ground, although it is possible that he completely prostrated himself. In either case the posture indicates humility and reverence.

[17:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “God spoke to him, saying.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I.”

[17:4]  ¹² tn Heb “is” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).

[17:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “will your name be called.”

[17:5]  ¹⁴ sn Your name will be Abraham. The renaming of Abram was a sign of confirmation to the patriarch. Every time the name was used it would be a reminder of God’s promise. “Abram” means “exalted father,” probably referring to Abram’s father Terah. The name looks to the past; Abram came from noble lineage. The name “Abraham” is a dialectical variant of the name Abram. But its significance is in the wordplay with אַב־הֲמוֹן (’av-hamon, “the father of a multitude,” which sounds like אַבְרָהָם, ’avraham, “Abraham”). The new name would be a reminder of God’s intention to make Abraham the father of a multitude. For a general discussion of renaming, see O. Eissfeldt, “Renaming in the Old Testament,” Words and Meanings, 70-83.

[17:5]  ¹⁵ tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.

[17:6]  ¹⁶ tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.

[17:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”

[17:7]  ¹⁹ tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).

[17:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”

[17:8]  ²² tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.

[17:8]  ²³ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:9]  ²⁴ tn The imperfect tense could be translated “you shall keep” as a binding command; but the obligatory nuance (“must”) captures the binding sense better.

[17:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “my covenant.” The Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) can refer to (1) the agreement itself between two parties (see v. 7), (2) the promise made by one party to another (see vv. 2-3, 7), (3) an obligation placed by one party on another, or (4) a reminder of the agreement. In vv. 9-10 the word refers to a covenantal obligation which God gives to Abraham and his descendants.

[17:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “This is my covenant that you must keep between me and you and your descendants after you.”

[17:10]  ²⁷ sn For a discussion of male circumcision as the sign of the covenant in this passage see M. V. Fox, “The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Light of the Priestly ‘ot Etiologies,” RB 81 (1974): 557-96.

[17:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “sign.”

[17:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the son of eight days.”

[17:13]  ³⁰ tn The emphatic construction employs the Niphal imperfect tense (collective singular) and the Niphal infinitive.

[17:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “my covenant.” Here in v. 13 the Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) refers to the outward, visible sign, or reminder, of the covenant. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.

[17:13]  ³² tn Or “an eternal.”

[17:14]  ³³ tn The disjunctive clause calls attention to the “uncircumcised male” and what will happen to him.

[17:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “that person will be cut off.” The words “that person” have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:14]  ³⁵ tn Heb “he has broken my covenant.” The noun בְּרִית (bÿrit) here refers to the obligation required by God in conjunction with the covenantal agreement. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.

[17:15]  ³⁶ tn Heb “[As for] Sarai your wife, you must not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [will be] her name.”

[17:15]  ³⁷ sn Sarah. The name change seems to be a dialectical variation, both spellings meaning “princess” or “queen.” Like the name Abram, the name Sarai symbolized the past. The new name Sarah, like the name Abraham, would be a reminder of what God intended to do for Sarah in the future.

[17:16]  ³⁸ tn Heb “she will become nations.”

[17:16]  ³⁹ tn Heb “peoples.”

[17:17]  ⁴⁰ sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.

[17:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”

[17:17]  ⁴² tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.

[17:17]  ⁴³ tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”

[17:17]  ⁴⁴ sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).

[17:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”

[17:18]  ⁴⁶ tn The wish is introduced with the Hebrew particle לוּ (lu), “O that.”

[17:18]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “live with your blessing.”

[17:19]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “will call his name Isaac.” The name means “he laughs,” or perhaps “may he laugh” (see the note on the word “laughed” in v. 17).

[17:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:20]  ⁵⁰ sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.

[17:20]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:20]  ⁵² tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.

[17:22]  ⁵³ tn Heb “And when he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.” The sequence of pronouns and proper names has been modified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:23]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”

[17:23]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:24]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:24]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin” (also in v. 25).

[17:25]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “the son of thirteen years.”

[1:18]  ⁵⁹ sn In days one to three there is a naming by God; in days five and six there is a blessing by God. But on day four there is neither. It could be a mere stylistic variation. But it could also be a deliberate design to avoid naming “sun” and “moon” or promoting them beyond what they are, things that God made to serve in his creation.

[2:4]  ⁶⁰ tn The Hebrew phrase אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (’elle tolÿdot) is traditionally translated as “these are the generations of” because the noun was derived from the verb “beget.” Its usage, however, shows that it introduces more than genealogies; it begins a narrative that traces what became of the entity or individual mentioned in the heading. In fact, a good paraphrase of this heading would be: “This is what became of the heavens and the earth,” for what follows is not another account of creation but a tracing of events from creation through the fall and judgment (the section extends from 2:4 through 4:26). See M. H. Woudstra, “The Toledot of the Book of Genesis and Their Redemptive-Historical Significance,” CTJ 5 (1970): 184-89.

[2:4]  ⁶¹ tn See the note on the phrase “the heavens and the earth” in 1:1.

[2:4]  ⁶² sn Advocates of the so-called documentary hypothesis of pentateuchal authorship argue that the introduction of the name Yahweh (Lord) here indicates that a new source (designated J), a parallel account of creation, begins here. In this scheme Gen 1:1-2:3 is understood as the priestly source (designated P) of creation. Critics of this approach often respond that the names, rather than indicating separate sources, were chosen to reflect the subject matter (see U. Cassuto, The Documentary Hypothesis). Gen 1:1–2:3 is the grand prologue of the book, showing the sovereign God creating by decree. The narrative beginning in 2:4 is the account of what this God invested in his creation. Since it deals with the close, personal involvement of the covenant God, the narrative uses the covenantal name Yahweh (Lord) in combination with the name God. For a recent discussion of the documentary hypothesis from a theologically conservative perspective, see D. A. Garrett, Rethinking Genesis. For an attempt by source critics to demonstrate the legitimacy of the source critical method on the basis of ancient Near Eastern parallels, see J. H. Tigay, ed., Empirical Models for Biblical Criticism. For reaction to the source critical method by literary critics, see I. M. Kikawada and A. Quinn, Before Abraham Was; R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 131-54; and Adele Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative, 111-34.

[2:4]  ⁶³ tn See the note on the phrase “the heavens and the earth” in 1:1; the order here is reversed, but the meaning is the same.

[2:5]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “Now every sprig of the field before it was.” The verb forms, although appearing to be imperfects, are technically preterites coming after the adverb טֶּרֶם (terem). The word order (conjunction + subject + predicate) indicates a disjunctive clause, which provides background information for the following narrative (as in 1:2). Two negative clauses are given (“before any sprig…”, and “before any cultivated grain” existed), followed by two causal clauses explaining them, and then a positive circumstantial clause is given – again dealing with water as in 1:2 (water would well up).

[2:5]  ⁶⁵ tn The first term, שִׂיחַ (siakh), probably refers to the wild, uncultivated plants (see Gen 21:15; Job 30:4,7); whereas the second, עֵשֶׂב (’esev), refers to cultivated grains. It is a way of saying: “back before anything was growing.”

[2:5]  ⁶⁶ tn The two causal clauses explain the first two disjunctive clauses: There was no uncultivated, general growth because there was no rain, and there were no grains because there was no man to cultivate the soil.

[9:16]  ⁶⁷ tn The first word is a very strong adversative, which, in general, can be translated “but, howbeit”; BDB 19 s.v. אוּלָם suggests for this passage “but in very deed.”

[9:16]  ⁶⁸ tn The form הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ (he’emadtikha) is the Hiphil perfect of עָמַד (’amad). It would normally mean “I caused you to stand.” But that seems to have one or two different connotations. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 73) says that it means “maintain you alive.” The causative of this verb means “continue,” according to him. The LXX has the same basic sense – “you were preserved.” But Paul bypasses the Greek and writes “he raised you up” to show God’s absolute sovereignty over Pharaoh. Both renderings show God’s sovereign control over Pharaoh.

[9:16]  ⁶⁹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הַרְאֹתְךָ (har’otÿkha) is the purpose of God’s making Pharaoh come to power in the first place. To make Pharaoh see is to cause him to understand, to experience God’s power.

[9:16]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “in order to declare my name.” Since there is no expressed subject, this may be given a passive translation.

[90:11]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “Who knows the strength of your anger?”

[90:11]  ⁷² tn Heb “and like your fear [is] your raging fury.” Perhaps one should emend וּכְיִרְאָתְךְ (ukhyir’otekh, “and like your fear”) to יִרְאָתְךְ (yir’otkh, “your fear”), understanding a virtual dittography (אַפֶּךָ וּכְיִרְאָתְךְ, ’apekha ukhyir’otekh) to have occurred. In this case the psalmist asserts “your fear [is] your raging fury,” that is, your raging fury is what causes others to fear you. The suffix on “fear” is understood as objective.

[16:4]  ⁷³ sn The Hebrew verb translated “works” (פָּעַל, pa’al) means “to work out; to bring about; to accomplish.” It is used of God’s sovereign control of life (e.g., Num 23:23; Isa 26:12).

[16:4]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “for its answer.” The term לַמַּעֲנֵהוּ (lamma’anehu) has been taken to mean either “for his purpose” or “for its answer.” The Hebrew word is מַעֲנֶה (ma’aneh, “answer”) and not לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “purpose”). So the suffix likely refers to “everything” (כֹּל, kol). God ensures that everyone’s actions and the consequences of those actions correspond – certainly the wicked for the day of calamity. In God’s order there is just retribution for every act.

[16:4]  ⁷⁵ sn This is an example of synthetic parallelism (“A, what’s more B”). The A-line affirms a truth, and the B-line expands on it with a specific application about the wicked – whatever disaster comes their way is an appropriate correspondent for their life.

[6:16]  ⁷⁶ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:16]  ⁷⁷ tn It is difficult to say where this quotation ends. The translation ends it after “withstand it” at the end of v. 17, but it is possible that it should end here, after “Lamb” at the end of v. 16. If it ends after “Lamb,” v. 17 is a parenthetical explanation by the author.

[6:17]  ⁷⁸ tc Most mss (A Ï bo) change the pronoun “their” to “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou) in order to bring the text in line with the mention of the one seated on the throne in the immediately preceding verse, and to remove the ambiguity about whose wrath is in view here. The reading αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”) is well supported by א C 1611 1854 2053 2329 2344 pc latt sy. On both internal and external grounds, it should be regarded as original.

[6:17]  ⁷⁹ tn The translation “to withstand (it)” for ἵστημι (Jisthmi) is based on the imagery of holding one’s ground in a military campaign or an attack (BDAG 482 s.v. B.4).