1 Samuel 25:6

25:6 Then you will say to my brother, ¹  “Peace to you and your house! Peace to all that is yours!

Esther 3:2

3:2 As a result, ²  all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate were bowing and paying homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded. However, Mordecai did not bow, ³  nor did he pay him homage.

Acts 12:20-22

12:20 Now Herod ⁴  was having an angry quarrel ⁵  with the people of Tyre ⁶  and Sidon. ⁷  So they joined together ⁸  and presented themselves before him. And after convincing ⁹  Blastus, the king’s personal assistant, ¹⁰  to help them, ¹¹  they asked for peace, ¹²  because their country’s food supply was provided by the king’s country. 12:21 On a day determined in advance, Herod ¹³  put on his royal robes, ¹⁴  sat down on the judgment seat, ¹⁵  and made a speech ¹⁶  to them. 12:22 But the crowd ¹⁷  began to shout, ¹⁸  “The voice of a god, ¹⁹  and not of a man!”

Revelation 13:3-4

13:3 One of the beast’s ²⁰  heads appeared to have been killed, ²¹  but the lethal wound had been healed. ²²  And the whole world followed ²³  the beast in amazement; 13:4 they worshiped the dragon because he had given ruling authority ²⁴  to the beast, and they worshiped the beast too, saying: “Who is like the beast?” and “Who is able to make war against him?” ²⁵ 

[25:6]  ¹ tc The text is difficult here. The MT and most of the early versions support the reading לֶחָי (lekhai, “to life,” or “to the one who lives”). Some of the older English versions (KJV, ASV; cf. NKJV) took the expression to mean “to him who lives (in prosperity),” but this translation requires reading a good deal into the words. While the expression could have the sense of “Long life to you!” (cf. NIV, NJPS) or perhaps “Good luck to you!” this seems somewhat redundant in light of the salutation that follows in the context. The Latin Vulgate has fratribus meis (“to my brothers”), which suggests that Jerome understood the Hebrew word to have an alef that is absent in the MT (i.e., לֶאֱחָי, le’ekhay). Jerome’s plural, however, remains a problem, since in the context David is addressing a single individual, namely Nabal, and not a group. However, it is likely that the Vulgate witnesses to a consonantal Hebrew text that is to be preferred here, especially if the word were to be revocalized as a singular rather than a plural. While it is impossible to be certain about this reading, the present translation essentially follows the Vulgate in reading “my brother” (so also NJB; cf. NAB, RSV, NRSV).

[3:2]  ² tn Heb “and” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). Other modern English versions leave the conjunction untranslated here (NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[3:2]  ³ sn Mordecai did not bow. The reason for Mordecai’s refusal to bow before Haman is not clearly stated here. Certainly the Jews did not refuse to bow as a matter of principle, as though such an action somehow violated the second command of the Decalogue. Many biblical texts bear witness to their practice of falling prostrate before people of power and influence (e.g., 1 Sam 24:8; 2 Sam 14:4; 1 Kgs 1:16). Perhaps the issue here was that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites, a people who had attacked Israel in an earlier age (see Exod 17:8-16; 1 Sam 15:17-20; Deut 25:17-19).

[12:20]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:20]  ⁵ tn Or “was extremely angry.” L&N 33.453 gives the meaning “be angry and quarrel, quarrel angrily” here. However, in L&N 88.180 the alternative “to be violently angry, to be furious” is given. The term is used only once in the NT (BDAG 461 s.v. θυμομαχέω).

[12:20]  ⁶ sn Tyre was a city and seaport on the coast of Phoenicia.

[12:20]  ⁷ sn Sidon was an ancient Phoenician royal city on the coast between Berytus (Beirut) and Tyre (BDAG 923 s.v. Σιδών).

[12:20]  ⁸ tn Or “with one accord.”

[12:20]  ⁹ tn Or “persuading.”

[12:20]  ¹⁰ tn On the term translated “personal assistant” BDAG 554 s.v. κοιτῶν states, “used as part of a title: ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ κοιτῶνος the one in charge of the bed-chamber, the chamberlain.” This individual was not just a domestic servant or butler, but a highly respected person who had considerable responsibility for the king’s living quarters and personal affairs. The English word “chamberlain” corresponds very closely to this meaning but is not in common use today. The term “personal assistant,” while it might convey more business associations than management of personal affairs, nevertheless communicates the concept well in contemporary English.

[12:20]  ¹¹ tn The words “to help them” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:20]  ¹² tn Or “for a reconciliation.” There were grave political risks in having Herod angry at them. The detail shows the ruler’s power.

[12:21]  ¹³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:21]  ¹⁴ tn Or “apparel.” On Herod’s robes see Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.344), summarized in the note at the end of v. 23.

[12:21]  ¹⁵ tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “speaker’s platform” for this verse, and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“rostrum,” NASB; “platform,” NRSV), since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time, there is no need for an alternative translation here.

[12:21]  ¹⁶ tn Or “delivered a public address.”

[12:22]  ¹⁷ tn The translation “crowd” is given by BDAG 223 s.v. δῆμος; the word often means a gathering of citizens to conduct public business. Here it is simply the group of people gathered to hear the king’s speech.

[12:22]  ¹⁸ tn The imperfect verb ἐπεφώνει (epefwnei) is taken ingressively in the sequence of events. Presumably the king had started his speech when the crowd began shouting.

[12:22]  ¹⁹ sn The voice of a god. Contrast the response of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14:13-15.

[13:3]  ²⁰ tn Grk “one of its heads”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:3]  ²¹ tn Grk “killed to death,” an expression emphatic in its redundancy. The phrase behind this translation is ὡς ἐσφαγμένον (Jw" ejsfagmenon). The particle ὡς is used in Greek generally for comparison, and in Revelation it is used often to describe the appearance of what the author saw. In this instance, the appearance of the beast’s head did not match reality, because the next phrase shows that in fact it did not die. This text does not affirm that the beast died and was resurrected, but some draw this conclusion because of the only other use of the phrase, which refers to Jesus in 5:6.

[13:3]  ²² tn The phrase τοῦ θανάτου (tou qanatou) can be translated as an attributive genitive (“deathly wound”) or an objective genitive (the wound which caused death) and the final αὐτοῦ (autou) is either possessive or reference/respect.

[13:3]  ²³ tn On the phrase “the whole world followed the beast in amazement,” BDAG 445 s.v. θαυμάζω 2 states, “wonder, be amazed…Rv 17:8. In pregnant constr. ἐθαυμάσθη ὅλη ἡ γῆ ὀπίσω τ. θηρίου the whole world followed the beast, full of wonder 13:3 (here wonder becomes worship: cp. Ael. Aristid. 13 p. 290 D.; 39 p. 747 of Dionysus and Heracles, οἳ ὑφ᾿ ἡμῶν ἐθαυμάσθησαν. Sir 7:29; Jos., Ant. 3, 65. – The act. is also found in this sense: Cebes 2, 3 θ. τινά = ‘admire’ or ‘venerate’ someone; Epict. 1, 17, 19 θ. τὸν θεόν).”

[13:4]  ²⁴ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:4]  ²⁵ tn On the use of the masculine pronoun to refer to the beast, see the note on the word “It” in 13:1.