1 Samuel 2:8

2:8 He lifts the weak ¹  from the dust;

he raises ²  the poor from the ash heap

to seat them with princes

and to bestow on them an honored position. ³ 

The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord,

and he has placed the world on them.

1 Samuel 2:1

Hannah Exalts the Lord in Prayer

2:1 Hannah prayed, ⁴ 

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;

my horn ⁵  is exalted high because of the Lord.

I loudly denounce ⁶  my enemies,

for I am happy that you delivered me. ⁷ 

1 Samuel 28:4-5

28:4 The Philistines assembled; they came and camped at Shunem. Saul mustered all Israel and camped at Gilboa. 28:5 When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was absolutely terrified. ⁸ 

Psalms 62:11

62:11 God has declared one principle;

two principles I have heard: ⁹ 

God is strong, ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 8:15-16

8:15 Kings reign by means of me,

and potentates ¹¹  decree ¹²  righteousness;

8:16 by me princes rule,

as well as nobles and ¹³  all righteous judges. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 27:5-8

27:5 “I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength, ¹⁵  and I give it to whomever I see fit. ¹⁶  27:6 I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power ¹⁷  of my servant, ¹⁸  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him. ¹⁹  27:7 All nations must serve him and his son and grandson ²⁰  until the time comes for his own nation to fall. ²¹  Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon. ²²  27:8 But suppose a nation or a kingdom will not be subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Suppose it will not submit to the yoke of servitude to ²³  him. I, the Lord, affirm that ²⁴  I will punish that nation. I will use the king of Babylon to punish it ²⁵  with war, ²⁶  starvation, and disease until I have destroyed it. ²⁷ 

Daniel 2:21

2:21 He changes times and seasons,

deposing some kings

and establishing others. ²⁸ 

He gives wisdom to the wise;

he imparts knowledge to those with understanding; ²⁹ 

Daniel 4:32

4:32 You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before ³⁰  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.”

Daniel 5:18-23

5:18 As for you, O king, the most high God bestowed on your father Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, greatness, honor, and majesty. ³¹  5:19 Due to the greatness that he bestowed on him, all peoples, nations, and language groups were trembling with fear ³²  before him. He killed whom he wished, he spared ³³  whom he wished, he exalted whom he wished, and he brought low whom he wished. 5:20 And when his mind ³⁴  became arrogant ³⁵  and his spirit filled with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and his honor was removed from him. 5:21 He was driven from human society, his mind ³⁶  was changed to that of an animal, he lived ³⁷  with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.

5:22 “But you, his son ³⁸  Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, ³⁹  although you knew all this. 5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods ⁴⁰  that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control ⁴¹  your very breath and all your ways!

Matthew 6:13

6:13 And do not lead us into temptation, ⁴²  but deliver us from the evil one. ⁴³ 

John 19:11

19:11 Jesus replied, “You would have no authority ⁴⁴  over me at all, unless it was given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you ⁴⁵  is guilty of greater sin.” ⁴⁶ 

Revelation 1:5

1:5 and from Jesus Christ – the faithful ⁴⁷  witness, ⁴⁸  the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free ⁴⁹  from our sins at the cost of ⁵⁰  his own blood

Revelation 17:14

17:14 They will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those accompanying ⁵¹  the Lamb are the called, chosen, and faithful.”

Revelation 19:16

19:16 He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

[2:8]  ¹ tn Or “lowly”; Heb “insignificant.”

[2:8]  ² tn The imperfect verbal form, which is parallel to the participle in the preceding line, is best understood here as indicating what typically happens.

[2:8]  ³ tn Heb “a seat of honor.”

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “prayed and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[2:1]  ⁵ sn Horns of animals have always functioned as both offensive and defensive weapons for them. As a figure of speech the horn is therefore often used in the Bible as a symbol of human strength (see also in v. 10). The allusion in v. 1 to the horn being lifted high suggests a picture of an animal elevating its head in a display of strength or virility.

[2:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “my mouth opens wide against.”

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “for I rejoice in your deliverance.”

[28:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “he was afraid, and his heart was very terrified.”

[62:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “one God spoke, two which I heard.” This is a numerical saying utilizing the “x” followed by “x + 1” pattern to facilitate poetic parallelism. (See W. M. W. Roth, Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament [VTSup], 55-56.) As is typical in such sayings, a list corresponding to the second number (in this case “two”) follows. Another option is to translate, “God has spoken once, twice [he has spoken] that which I have heard.” The terms אַחַת (’akhat, “one; once”) and שְׁתַּיִם (shÿtayim, “two; twice”) are also juxtaposed in 2 Kgs 6:10 (where they refer to an action that was done more than “once or twice”) and in Job 33:14 (where they refer to God speaking “one way” and then in “another manner”).

[62:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “that strength [belongs] to God.”

[8:15]  ¹¹ tn The verb רָזַן (razan) means “to be weighty; to be judicious; to be commanding.” It only occurs in the Qal active participle in the plural as a substantive, meaning “potentates; rulers” (e.g., Ps 1:1-3). Cf. KJV, ASV “princes”; NAB “lawgivers.”

[8:15]  ¹² sn This verb יְחֹקְקוּ (yÿkhoqqu) is related to the noun חֹק (khoq), which is a “statute; decree.” The verb is defined as “to cut in; to inscribe; to decree” (BDB 349 s.v. חָקַק). The point the verse is making is that when these potentates decree righteousness, it is by wisdom. History records all too often that these rulers acted as fools and opposed righteousness (cf. Ps 2:1-3). But people in power need wisdom to govern the earth (e.g., Isa 11:1-4 which predicts how Messiah will use wisdom to do this very thing). The point is underscored with the paronomasia in v. 15 with “kings” and “will reign” from the same root, and then in v. 16 with both “princes” and “rule” being cognate. The repetition of sounds and meanings strengthens the statements.

[8:16]  ¹³ tn The term “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and readability.

[8:16]  ¹⁴ tc Many of the MT mss read “sovereigns [princes], all the judges of the earth.” The LXX has “sovereigns…rule the earth.” But the MT manuscript in the text has “judges of righteousness.” C. H. Toy suggests that the Hebrew here has assimilated Psalm 148:11 in its construction (Proverbs [ICC], 167). The expression “judges of the earth” is what one would expect, but the more difficult and unexpected reading, the one scribes might change, would be “judges of righteousness.” If that reading stands, then it would probably be interpreted as using an attributive genitive.

[27:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “by my great power and my outstretched arm.” Again “arm” is symbolical for “strength.” Compare the similar expression in 21:5.

[27:5]  ¹⁶ sn See Dan 4:17 for a similar statement.

[27:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “have given…into the hand of.”

[27:6]  ¹⁸ sn See the study note on 25:9 for the significance of the application of this term to Nebuchadnezzar.

[27:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I have given…to him to serve him.” The verb “give” in this syntactical situation is functioning like the Hiphil stem, i.e., as a causative. See Dan 1:9 for parallel usage. For the usage of “serve” meaning “be subject to” compare 2 Sam 22:44 and BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3.

[27:7]  ²⁰ sn This is a figure that emphasizes that they will serve for a long time but not for an unlimited duration. The kingdom of Babylon lasted a relatively short time by ancient standards. It lasted from 605 b.c. when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Necho at Carchemish until the fall of Babylon in 538 b.c. There were only four rulers. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son, Evil Merodach (cf. 52:31), and two other rulers who were not descended from him.

[27:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “until the time of his land, even his, comes.” The independent pronoun is placed here for emphasis on the possessive pronoun. The word “time” is used by substitution for the things that are done in it (compare in the NT John 2:4; 7:30; 8:20 “his hour had not yet come”).

[27:7]  ²² tn Heb “him.” This is a good example of the figure of substitution where the person is put for his descendants or the nation or subject he rules. (See Gen 28:13-14 for another good example and Acts 22:7 in the NT.)

[27:8]  ²³ tn Heb “put their necks in the yoke of.” See the study note on v. 2 for the figure.

[27:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[27:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “The nation and/or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck in the yoke of the king of Babylon, by sword, starvation, and disease I will punish [or more literally, “visit upon”] that nation, oracle of the Lord.” The long complex Hebrew sentence has been broken up in conformity with contemporary English style and the figures interpreted for the sake of clarity. The particle אֵת, the sign of the accusative, before “which will not put…” is a little unusual here. For its use to introduce a new topic (here a second relative clause) see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת 3.α.

[27:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “with/by the sword.”

[27:8]  ²⁷ tc The verb translated “destroy” (תָּמַם, tamam) is usually intransitive in the stem of the verb used here. It is found in a transitive sense elsewhere only in Ps 64:7. BDB 1070 s.v. תָּמַם 7 emends both texts. In this case they recommend תִּתִּי (titi): “until I give them into his hand.” That reading is suggested by the texts of the Syriac and Targumic translations (see BHS fn c). The Greek translation supports reading the verb “destroy” but treats it as though it were intransitive “until they are destroyed by his hand” (reading תֻּמָּם [tummam]). The MT here is accepted as the more difficult reading and support is seen in the transitive use of the verb in Ps 64:7.

[2:21]  ²⁸ tn Aram “kings.”

[2:21]  ²⁹ tn Aram “the knowers of understanding.”

[4:32]  ³⁰ tn Aram “until.”

[5:18]  ³¹ tn Or “royal greatness and majestic honor,” if the four terms are understood as a double hendiadys.

[5:19]  ³² tn Aram “were trembling and fearing.” This can be treated as a hendiadys, “were trembling with fear.”

[5:19]  ³³ tn Aram “let live.” This Aramaic form is the aphel participle of חַיָה(khayah, “to live”). Theodotion and the Vulgate mistakenly take the form to be from מְחָא (mÿkha’, “to smite”).

[5:20]  ³⁴ tn Aram “heart.”

[5:20]  ³⁵ sn The point of describing Nebuchadnezzar as arrogant is that he had usurped divine prerogatives, and because of his immense arrogance God had dealt decisively with him.

[5:21]  ³⁶ tn Aram “heart.”

[5:21]  ³⁷ tn Aram “his dwelling.”

[5:22]  ³⁸ tn Or “descendant”; or “successor.”

[5:22]  ³⁹ tn Aram “your heart.”

[5:23]  ⁴⁰ tn Aram “which.”

[5:23]  ⁴¹ tn Aram “in whose hand [are].”

[6:13]  ⁴² tn Or “into a time of testing.”

[6:13]  ⁴³ tc Most mss (L W Θ 0233 ˹³ 33 Ï sy sa Didache) read (though some with slight variation) ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν (“for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen”) here. The reading without this sentence, though, is attested by generally better witnesses (א B D Z 0170 ˹ pc lat mae Or). The phrase was probably composed for the liturgy of the early church and most likely was based on 1 Chr 29:11-13; a scribe probably added the phrase at this point in the text for use in public scripture reading (see TCGNT 13-14). Both external and internal evidence argue for the shorter reading.

[19:11]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “power.”

[19:11]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “who delivered me over to you.”

[19:11]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “has the greater sin” (an idiom).

[1:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “Jesus Christ – the faithful one, the witness…” Some take ὁ πιστός (Jo pistos) as a second substantive in relation to ὁ μάρτυς (Jo martus). In the present translation, however, ὁ πιστός was taken as an adjective in attributive position to ὁ μάρτυς. The idea of martyrdom and faithfulness are intimately connected. See BDAG 820 s.v. πιστός 1.a.α: “ὁ μάρτυς μου ὁ πιστός μου Rv 2:13 (μάρτυς 3); in this ‘book of martyrs’ Christ is ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστὸς (καὶ ὁ ἀληθινός) 1:5; 3:14; cp. 19:11 (the combination of ἀληθινός and πιστός in the last two passages is like 3 Macc 2:11). Cp. Rv 17:14.”

[1:5]  ⁴⁸ sn The Greek term translated witness can mean both “witness” and “martyr.”

[1:5]  ⁴⁹ tc The reading “set free” (λύσαντι, lusanti) has better ms support (̹⁸ א A C 1611 2050 2329 2351 Ï^A sy) than its rival, λούσαντι (lousanti, “washed”; found in P 1006 1841 1854 2053 2062 Ï^K lat bo). Internally, it seems that the reading “washed” could have arisen in at least one of three ways: (1) as an error of hearing (both “released” and “washed” are pronounced similarly in Greek); (2) an error of sight (both “released” and “washed” look very similar – a difference of only one letter – which could have resulted in a simple error during the copying of a ms); (3) through scribal inability to appreciate that the Hebrew preposition ב can be used with a noun to indicate the price paid for something. Since the author of Revelation is influenced significantly by a Semitic form of Greek (e.g., 13:10), and since the Hebrew preposition “in” (ב) can indicate the price paid for something, and is often translated with the preposition “in” (ἐν, en) in the LXX, the author may have tried to communicate by the use of ἐν the idea of a price paid for something. That is, John was trying to say that Christ delivered us at the price of his own blood. This whole process, however, may have been lost on a later scribe, who being unfamiliar with Hebrew, found the expression “delivered in his blood” too difficult, and noticing the obvious similarities between λύσαντι and λούσαντι, assumed an error and then proceeded to change the text to “washed in his blood” – a thought more tolerable in his mind. Both readings, of course, are true to scripture; the current question is what the author wrote in this verse.

[1:5]  ⁵⁰ tn The style here is somewhat Semitic, with the use of the ἐν (en) + the dative to mean “at the price of.” The addition of “own” in the English is stylistic and is an attempt to bring out the personal nature of the statement and the sacrificial aspect of Jesus’ death – a frequent refrain in the Apocalypse.

[17:14]  ⁵¹ tn See BDAG 636 s.v. μετά A.2.a.α.