Deuteronomy 33:2

33:2 He said:

A Historical Review

The Lord came from Sinai

and revealed himself ¹  to Israel ²  from Seir.

He appeared in splendor ³  from Mount Paran,

and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. ⁴ 

With his right hand he gave a fiery law ⁵  to them.

Psalms 68:17

68:17 God has countless chariots;

they number in the thousands. ⁶ 

The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor. ⁷ 

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. ⁸ 

The court convened ⁹ 

and the books were opened.

Jude 1:14

1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, ¹⁰  even prophesied of them, ¹¹  saying, “Look! The Lord is coming ¹²  with thousands and thousands ¹³  of his holy ones,

Revelation 5:11-12

5:11 Then ¹⁴  I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their ¹⁵  number was ten thousand times ten thousand ¹⁶  – thousands times thousands – 5:12 all of whom ¹⁷  were singing ¹⁸  in a loud voice:

“Worthy is the lamb who was killed ¹⁹ 

to receive power and wealth

and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and praise!”

[33:2]  ¹ tn Or “rose like the sun” (NCV, TEV).

[33:2]  ² 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.

[33:2]  ³ tn Or “he shone forth” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[33:2]  ⁴ 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.

[33:2]  ⁵ tc The mispointed Hebrew term אֵשְׁדָּת (’eshdat) should perhaps be construed as אֵשְׁהַת (’eshhat) with Smr.

[68:17]  ⁶ 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.”

[68:17]  ⁷ 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).

[7:10]  ⁸ tn Aram “were standing before him.”

[7:10]  ⁹ tn Aram “judgment sat.”

[1:14]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the seventh from Adam.”

[1:14]  ¹¹ tn Grk “against them.” The dative τούτοις (toutois) is a dativus incommodi (dative of disadvantage).

[1:14]  ¹² tn Grk “has come,” a proleptic aorist.

[1:14]  ¹³ tn Grk “ten thousands.” The word μυριάς (muria"), from which the English myriad is derived, means “ten thousand.” In the plural it means “ten thousands.” This would mean, minimally, 20,000 (a multiple of ten thousand). At the same time, the term was often used in apocalyptic literature to represent simply a rather large number, without any attempt to be specific.

[5:11]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:11]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “elders, and the number of them was.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[5:11]  ¹⁶ tn Or “myriads of myriads.” Although μυριάς (murias) literally means “10,000,” the point of the combination here may simply be to indicate an incalculably huge number. See L&N 60.9.

[5:12]  ¹⁷ tn The words “all of whom” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to indicate the resumption of the phrase “the voice of many angels” at the beginning of the verse.

[5:12]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “saying.”

[5:12]  ¹⁹ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”