Exodus 15:6

15:6 Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic ¹  in power,

your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.

Jude 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ²  a slave ³  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ⁴  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ⁵  God the Father and kept for ⁶  Jesus Christ.

Psalms 2:9

2:9 You will break them ⁷  with an iron scepter; ⁸ 

you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” ⁹ 

Psalms 21:8-9

21:8 You ¹⁰  prevail over ¹¹  all your enemies;

your power is too great for those who hate you. ¹² 

21:9 You burn them up like a fiery furnace ¹³  when you appear; ¹⁴ 

the Lord angrily devours them; ¹⁵ 

the fire consumes them.

Psalms 68:1-2

Psalm 68 ¹⁶ 

For the music director; by David, a psalm, a song.

68:1 God springs into action! ¹⁷ 

His enemies scatter;

his adversaries ¹⁸  run from him. ¹⁹ 

68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ²⁰ 

As wax melts before fire,

so the wicked are destroyed before God.

Psalms 92:9

92:9 Indeed, ²¹  look at your enemies, O Lord!

Indeed, ²²  look at how your enemies perish!

All the evildoers are scattered!

Luke 19:27

19:27 But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, ²³  bring them here and slaughter ²⁴  them ²⁵  in front of me!’”

[15:6]  ¹ tn The form נֶאְדָּרִי (ne’dari) may be an archaic infinitive with the old ending i, used in place of the verb and meaning “awesome.” Gesenius says that the vowel ending may be an old case ending, especially when a preposition is inserted between the word and its genitive (GKC 253 §90.l), but he suggests a reconstruction of the form.

[1:1]  ² tn Grk “Judas,” traditionally “Jude” in English versions to distinguish him from the one who betrayed Jesus. The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). At the same time, perhaps “servant” is apt in that the δοῦλος of Jesus Christ took on that role voluntarily, unlike a slave. The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ⁴ sn Although Jude was half-brother of Jesus, he humbly associates himself with James, his full brother. By first calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ, it is evident that he wants no one to place stock in his physical connections. At the same time, he must identify himself further: Since Jude was a common name in the 1st century (two of Jesus’ disciples were so named, including his betrayer), more information was needed, that is to say, brother of James.

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “loved in.” The perfect passive participle suggests that the audience’s relationship to God is not recent; the preposition ἐν (en) before πατρί (patri) could be taken as sphere or instrument (agency is unlikely, however). Another possible translation would be “dear to God.”

[1:1]  ⁶ tn Or “by.” Datives of agency are quite rare in the NT (and other ancient Greek), almost always found with a perfect verb. Although this text qualifies, in light of the well-worn idiom of τηρέω (threw) in eschatological contexts, in which God or Christ keeps the believer safe until the parousia (cf. 1 Thess 5:23; 1 Pet 1:4; Rev 3:10; other terms meaning “to guard,” “to keep” are also found in similar eschatological contexts [cf. 2 Thess 3:3; 2 Tim 1:12; 1 Pet 1:5; Jude 24]), it is probably better to understand this verse as having such an eschatological tinge. It is at the same time possible that Jude’s language was intentionally ambiguous, implying both ideas (“kept by Jesus Christ [so that they might be] kept for Jesus Christ”). Elsewhere he displays a certain fondness for wordplays; this may be a hint of things to come.

[2:9]  ⁷ tc The LXX reads “you will shepherd them.” This reading, quoted in the Greek text of the NT in Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, assumes a different vocalization of the consonantal Hebrew text and understands the verb as רָעָה (ra’ah, “to shepherd”) rather than רָעָע (ra’a’, “to break”). But the presence of נָפַץ (nafats, “to smash”) in the next line strongly favors the MT vocalization.

[2:9]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term שֵׁבֶט (shevet) can refer to a “staff” or “rod,” but here it probably refers to the Davidic king’s royal scepter, symbolizing his sovereignty.

[2:9]  ⁹ sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.

[21:8]  ¹⁰ tn The king is now addressed. One could argue that the Lord is still being addressed, but v. 9 militates against this proposal, for there the Lord is mentioned in the third person and appears to be distinct from the addressee (unless, of course, one takes “Lord” in v. 9 as vocative; see the note on “them” in v. 9b). Verse 7 begins this transition to a new addressee by referring to both the king and the Lord in the third person (in vv. 1-6 the Lord is addressed and only the king referred to in the third person).

[21:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your hand finds.” The idiom pictures the king grabbing hold of his enemies and defeating them (see 1 Sam 23:17). The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 8-12 may be translated with the future tense, as long as the future is understood as generalizing.

[21:8]  ¹² tn Heb “your right hand finds those who hate you.”

[21:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “you make them like a furnace of fire.” Although many modern translations retain the literal Hebrew, the statement is elliptical. The point is not that he makes them like a furnace, but like an object burned in a furnace (cf. NEB, “at your coming you shall plunge them into a fiery furnace”).

[21:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “at the time of your face.” The “face” of the king here refers to his angry presence. See Lam 4:16.

[21:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the Lord, in his anger he swallows them, and fire devours them.” Some take “the Lord” as a vocative, in which case he is addressed in vv. 8-9a. But this makes the use of the third person in v. 9b rather awkward, though the king could be the subject (see vv. 1-7).

[68:1]  ¹⁶ sn Psalm 68. The psalmist depicts God as a mighty warrior and celebrates the fact that God exerts his power on behalf of his people.

[68:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “rises up.” The verb form is an imperfect, not a jussive. The psalmist is describing God’s appearance in battle in a dramatic fashion.

[68:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “those who hate him.”

[68:1]  ¹⁹ sn The wording of v. 1 echoes the prayer in Num 10:35: “Spring into action, Lord! Then your enemies will be scattered and your adversaries will run from you.”

[68:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”

[92:9]  ²¹ tn Or “for.”

[92:9]  ²² tn Or “for.”

[19:27]  ²³ tn Grk “to rule over them.”

[19:27]  ²⁴ tn This term, when used of people rather than animals, has some connotations of violence and mercilessness (L&N 20.72).

[19:27]  ²⁵ sn Slaughter them. To reject the king is to face certain judgment from him.