Exodus 18:11

18:11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, for in the thing in which they dealt proudly against them he has destroyed them.” ¹ 

Job 40:11-12

40:11 Scatter abroad ²  the abundance ³  of your anger.

Look at every proud man ⁴  and bring him low;

40:12 Look at every proud man and abase him;

crush the wicked on the spot! ⁵ 

Isaiah 2:11

2:11 Proud men will be brought low,

arrogant men will be humiliated; ⁶ 

the Lord alone will be exalted ⁷ 

in that day.

Isaiah 2:17

2:17 Proud men will be humiliated,

arrogant men will be brought low; ⁸ 

the Lord alone will be exalted ⁹ 

in that day.

Ezekiel 28:2-9

28:2 “Son of man, say to the prince ¹⁰  of Tyre, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Your heart is proud ¹¹  and you said, “I am a god; ¹² 

I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas” –

yet you are a man and not a god,

though you think you are godlike. ¹³ 

28:3 Look, you are wiser than Daniel; ¹⁴ 

no secret is hidden from you. ¹⁵ 

28:4 By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself;

you have amassed gold and silver in your treasuries.

28:5 By your great skill ¹⁶  in trade you have increased your wealth,

and your heart is proud because of your wealth.

28:6 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:

Because you think you are godlike, ¹⁷ 

28:7 I am about to bring foreigners ¹⁸  against you, the most terrifying of nations.

They will draw their swords against the grandeur made by your wisdom, ¹⁹ 

and they will defile your splendor.

28:8 They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die violently ²⁰  in the heart of the seas.

28:9 Will you still say, “I am a god,” before the one who kills you –

though you are a man and not a god –

when you are in the power of those who wound you?

Daniel 4:37

4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all his deeds are right and his ways are just. He is able to bring down those who live ²¹  in pride.

Daniel 5:20-24

5:20 And when his mind ²²  became arrogant ²³  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 ²⁴  was changed to that of an animal, he lived ²⁵  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 ²⁶  Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, ²⁷  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 ²⁸  that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control ²⁹  your very breath and all your ways! 5:24 Therefore the palm of a hand was sent from him, and this writing was inscribed.

Acts 12:22-23

12:22 But the crowd ³⁰  began to shout, ³¹  “The voice of a god, ³²  and not of a man!” 12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord ³³  struck ³⁴  Herod ³⁵  down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. ³⁶ 

[18:11]  ¹ tn The end of this sentence seems not to have been finished, or it is very elliptical. In the present translation the phrase “he has destroyed them” is supplied. Others take the last prepositional phrase to be the completion and supply only a verb: “[he was] above them.” U. Cassuto (Exodus, 216) takes the word “gods” to be the subject of the verb “act proudly,” giving the sense of “precisely (כִּי, ki) in respect of these things of which the gods of Egypt boasted – He is greater than they (עֲלֵיהֶם, ‘alehem).” He suggests rendering the clause, “excelling them in the very things to which they laid claim.”

[40:11]  ² tn The verb was used for scattering lightning (Job 37:11). God is challenging Job to unleash his power and judge wickedness in the world.

[40:11]  ³ tn Heb “the overflowings.”

[40:11]  ⁴ tn The word was just used in the positive sense of excellence or majesty; now the exalted nature of the person refers to self-exaltation, or pride.

[40:12]  ⁵ tn The expression translated “on the spot” is the prepositional phrase תַּחְתָּם (takhtam, “under them”). “Under them” means in their place. But it can also mean “where someone stands, on the spot” (see Exod 16:29; Jos 6:5; Judg 7:21, etc.).

[2:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the eyes of the pride of men will be brought low, and the arrogance of men will be brought down.” The repetition of the verbs שָׁפַל (shafal) and שָׁחָח (shakhakh) from v. 9 draws attention to the appropriate nature of the judgment. Those proud men who “bow low” before idols will be forced to “bow low” before God when he judges their sin.

[2:11]  ⁷ tn Or “elevated”; CEV “honored.”

[2:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the pride of men will be brought down, and the arrogance of men will be brought low.” As in v. 11, the repetition of the verbs שָׁפַל (shafal) and שָׁחָח (shakhakh) from v. 9 draws attention to the appropriate nature of the judgment. Those proud men who “bow low” before idols will be forced to “bow low” before God when he judges their sin.

[2:17]  ⁹ tn Or “elevated”; NCV “praised”; CEV “honored.”

[28:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “ruler” (NIV, NCV).

[28:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “lifted up.”

[28:2]  ¹² tn Or “I am divine.”

[28:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and you made your heart (mind) like the heart (mind) of gods.”

[28:3]  ¹⁴ sn Or perhaps “Danel” (so TEV), referring to a ruler known from Canaanite legend. See the note on “Daniel” in 14:14. A reference to Danel (preserved in legend at Ugarit, near the northern end of the Phoenician coast) makes more sense here when addressing Tyre than in 14:14.

[28:3]  ¹⁵ sn The tone here is sarcastic, reflecting the ruler’s view of himself.

[28:5]  ¹⁶ tn Or “wisdom.”

[28:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “because of your making your heart like the heart of gods.”

[28:7]  ¹⁸ sn This is probably a reference to the Babylonians.

[28:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom.”

[28:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “you will die the death of the slain.”

[4:37]  ²¹ tn Aram “walk.”

[5:20]  ²² tn Aram “heart.”

[5:20]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Aram “heart.”

[5:21]  ²⁵ tn Aram “his dwelling.”

[5:22]  ²⁶ tn Or “descendant”; or “successor.”

[5:22]  ²⁷ tn Aram “your heart.”

[5:23]  ²⁸ tn Aram “which.”

[5:23]  ²⁹ tn Aram “in whose hand [are].”

[12:22]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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]  ³² sn The voice of a god. Contrast the response of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14:13-15.

[12:23]  ³³ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

[12:23]  ³⁴ sn On being struck…down by an angel, see Acts 23:3; 1 Sam 25:28; 2 Sam 12:15; 2 Kgs 19:35; 2 Chr 13:20; 2 Macc 9:5.

[12:23]  ³⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:23]  ³⁶ sn He was eaten by worms and died. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.343-352), states that Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44. The account by Josephus, while not identical to Luke’s account, is similar in many respects: On the second day of a festival, Herod Agrippa appeared in the theater with a robe made of silver. When it sparkled in the sun, the people cried out flatteries and declared him to be a god. The king, carried away by the flattery, saw an owl (an omen of death) sitting on a nearby rope, and immediately was struck with severe stomach pains. He was carried off to his house and died five days later. The two accounts can be reconciled without difficulty, since while Luke states that Herod was immediately struck down by an angel, his death could have come several days later. The mention of worms with death adds a humiliating note to the scene. The formerly powerful ruler had been thoroughly reduced to nothing (cf. Jdt 16:17; 2 Macc 9:9; cf. also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.5 [17.168-170], which details the sickness which led to Herod the Great’s death).