Exodus 28:2

28:2 You must make holy garments ¹  for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty. ² 

Psalms 50:2

50:2 From Zion, the most beautiful of all places, ³ 

God comes in splendor. ⁴ 

Psalms 90:16-17

90:16 May your servants see your work! ⁵ 

May their sons see your majesty! ⁶ 

90:17 May our sovereign God extend his favor to us! ⁷ 

Make our endeavors successful!

Yes, make them successful! ⁸ 

Psalms 149:4

149:4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;

he exalts the oppressed by delivering them. ⁹ 

Isaiah 4:2

The Branch of the Lord

4:2 At that time ¹⁰ 

the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor; ¹¹ 

the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight

to those who remain in Israel. ¹² 

Isaiah 4:1

4:1 Seven women will grab hold of

one man at that time. ¹³ 

They will say, “We will provide ¹⁴  our own food,

we will provide ¹⁵  our own clothes;

but let us belong to you ¹⁶  –

take away our shame!” ¹⁷ 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁸  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

[28:2]  ¹ sn The genitive “holiness” is the attribute for “garments” – “garments of holiness.” The point of the word “holy” is that these garments would be distinctive from ordinary garments, for they set Aaron apart to sanctuary service and ministry.

[28:2]  ² tn The expression is לְכָבוֹד וּלְתִפְארֶת (lÿkhavod ulÿtif’aret, “for glory and for beauty”). W. C. Kaiser (“Exodus,” EBC 2:465), quoting the NIV’s “to give him dignity and honor,” says that these clothes were to exalt the office of the high priest as well as beautify the worship of God (which explains more of what the text has than the NIV rendering). The meaning of the word “glory” has much to do with the importance of the office, to be sure, but in Exodus the word has been used also for the brilliance of the presence of Yahweh, and so the magnificence of these garments might indeed strike the worshiper with the sense of the exaltation of the service.

[50:2]  ³ tn Heb “the perfection of beauty.”

[50:2]  ⁴ tn Or “shines forth.”

[90:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “may your work be revealed to your servants.” In this context (note v. 17) the verb form יֵרָאֶה (yera’eh) is best understood as an unshortened jussive (see Gen 1:9; Isa 47:3).

[90:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “and your majesty to their sons.” The verb “be revealed” is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[90:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “and may the delight of the Master, our God, be on us.” The Hebrew term נֹעַם (no’am, “delight”) is used in Ps 27:4 of the Lord’s “beauty,” but here it seems to refer to his favor (see BDB 653 s.v.) or kindness (HALOT 706 s.v.).

[90:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the work of our hands establish over us, and the work of our hands, establish it.”

[149:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “he honors the oppressed [with] deliverance.”

[4:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[4:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the vegetation of the Lord will become beauty and honor.” Many English versions understand the phrase צֶמַח יְהוָה (tsemakh yÿhvah) as a messianic reference and render it, “the Branch of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, and others). Though צֶמַח (tsemakh) is used by later prophets of a royal descendant (Jer 23;5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12), those passages contain clear contextual indicators that a human ruler is in view and that the word is being used in a metaphorical way of offspring. However, in Isa 4:2 there are no such contextual indicators. To the contrary, in the parallel structure of the verse צֶמַח יְהוָה corresponds to “produce of the land,” a phrase that refers elsewhere exclusively to literal agricultural produce (see Num 13:20, 26; Deut 1:25). In the majority of its uses צֶמַח refers to literal crops or vegetation (in Ps 65:10 the Lord is the source of this vegetation). A reference to the Lord restoring crops would make excellent sense in Isa 4 and the prophets frequently included this theme in their visions of the future age (see Isa 30:23-24; 32:20; Jer 31:12; Ezek 34:26-29; and Amos 9:13-14).

[4:2]  ¹² tn Heb “and the fruit of the land will become pride and beauty for the remnant of Israel.”

[4:1]  ¹³ tn Or “in that day” (ASV).

[4:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “eat” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “buy.”

[4:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “wear” (so NASB, NRSV); NCV “make.”

[4:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “only let your name be called over us.” The Hebrew idiom “call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28, and BDB 896 s.v. I ָקרָא Niph. 2.d.(4). The language reflects the cultural reality of ancient Israel, where women were legally the property of their husbands.

[4:1]  ¹⁷ sn This refers to the humiliation of being unmarried and childless. The women’s words reflect the cultural standards of ancient Israel, where a woman’s primary duties were to be a wife and mother.

[1:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.