Exodus 15:11

15:11 Who is like you, ¹  O Lord, among the gods? ² 

Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, ³  working wonders?

Psalms 58:10

58:10 The godly ⁴  will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out;

they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.

Revelation 15:3

15:3 They ⁵  sang the song of Moses the servant ⁶  of God and the song of the Lamb: ⁷ 

“Great and astounding are your deeds,

Lord God, the All-Powerful! ⁸ 

Just ⁹  and true are your ways,

King over the nations! ¹⁰ 

Revelation 16:5-7

16:5 Now ¹¹  I heard the angel of the waters saying:

“You are just ¹²  – the one who is and who was,

the Holy One – because you have passed these judgments, ¹³ 

16:6 because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets,

so ¹⁴  you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!” ¹⁵ 

16:7 Then ¹⁶  I heard the altar reply, ¹⁷  “Yes, Lord God, the All-Powerful, ¹⁸  your judgments are true and just!”

Revelation 19:1-6

19:1 After these things I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a vast throng in heaven, saying,

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

19:2 because his judgments are true and just. ¹⁹ 

For he has judged ²⁰  the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,

and has avenged the blood of his servants ²¹  poured out by her own hands!” ²² 

19:3 Then ²³  a second time the crowd shouted, “Hallelujah!” The smoke rises from her forever and ever. ²⁴  19:4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures threw themselves to the ground ²⁵  and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne, saying: “Amen! Hallelujah!”

19:5 Then ²⁶  a voice came from the throne, saying:

“Praise our God

all you his servants,

and all you who fear Him,

both the small and the great!”

The Wedding Celebration of the Lamb

19:6 Then ²⁷  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: ²⁸ 

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God, ²⁹  the All-Powerful, ³⁰  reigns!

[15:11]  ¹ tn The question is of course rhetorical; it is a way of affirming that no one is comparable to God. See C. J. Labuschagne, The Incomparability of Yahweh in the Old Testament, 22, 66-67, and 94-97.

[15:11]  ² sn Verses 11-17 will now focus on Yahweh as the incomparable one who was able to save Israel from their foes and afterward lead them to the promised land.

[15:11]  ³ tn S. R. Driver suggests “praiseworthy acts” as the translation (Exodus, 137).

[58:10]  ⁴ tn The singular is representative here, as is the singular from “wicked” in the next line.

[15:3]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[15:3]  ⁶ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[15:3]  ⁷ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:3]  ⁸ 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.”

[15:3]  ⁹ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

[15:3]  ¹⁰ tc Certain mss (Ì⁴⁷ א*^,2 C 1006 1611 1841 pc) read “ages” (αἰώνων, aiwnwn) instead of “nations” (ἐθνῶν, eqnwn), which itself is supported by several mss (א¹ A 051 Ï). The ms evidence seems to be fairly balanced, though αἰώνων has somewhat better support. The replacement of “ages” with “nations” is possibly a scribal attempt to harmonize this verse with the use of “nations” in the following verse. On the other hand, the idea of “nations” fits well with v. 4 and it may be that “ages” is a scribal attempt to assimilate this text to 1 Tim 1:17: “the king of the ages” (βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων, basileu" twn aiwnwn). The decision is a difficult one since both scenarios deal well with the evidence, though the verbal parallel with 1 Tim 1:17 is exact while the parallel with v. 4 is not. The term “king” occurs 17 other times (most occurrences refer to earthly kings) in Revelation and it is not used with either “ages” or “nations” apart from this verse. Probably the reading “nations” should be considered original due to the influence of 1 Tim 1:17.

[16:5]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the somewhat parenthetical nature of the remarks that follow.

[16:5]  ¹² tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

[16:5]  ¹³ tn Or “because you have judged these things.” The pronoun ταῦτα (tauta) is neuter gender.

[16:6]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that this judgment is the result of what these wicked people did to the saints and prophets.

[16:6]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “They are worthy”; i.e., of this kind of punishment. By extension, “they got what they deserve.”

[16:7]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[16:7]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the altar saying.”

[16:7]  ¹⁸ 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.”

[19:2]  ¹⁹ tn Compare the similar phrase in Rev 16:7.

[19:2]  ²⁰ tn Or “has punished.” See BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α, describing the OT background which involves both the vindication of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty.

[19:2]  ²¹ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[19:2]  ²² tn Grk “from her hand” (referring to her responsibility in causing the blood of God’s followers to be shed).

[19:3]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:3]  ²⁴ tn Or “her smoke ascends forever and ever.”

[19:4]  ²⁵ tn Grk “creatures fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

[19:5]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:6]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:6]  ²⁸ 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.”

[19:6]  ²⁹ 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.

[19:6]  ³⁰ 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.”