Exodus 28:40-41

28:40 “For Aaron’s sons you are to make tunics, sashes, and headbands ¹  for glory and for beauty.

28:41 “You are to clothe them – your brother Aaron and his sons with him – and anoint them ²  and ordain them ³  and set them apart as holy, ⁴  so that they may minister as my priests.

Exodus 29:8-9

29:8 You are to present his sons and clothe them with tunics 29:9 and wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons ⁵  and put headbands on them, and so the ministry of priesthood will belong to them by a perpetual ordinance. Thus you are to consecrate ⁶  Aaron and his sons.

Exodus 40:14-15

40:14 You are to bring ⁷  his sons and clothe them with tunics 40:15 and anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may minister as my priests; their anointing will make them a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.”

Psalms 132:9

132:9 May your priests be clothed with integrity! ⁸ 

May your loyal followers shout for joy!

Isaiah 61:6

61:6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,

servants of our God.’ ⁹ 

You will enjoy ¹⁰  the wealth of nations

and boast about ¹¹  the riches you receive from them. ¹² 

Isaiah 61:10

61:10 I ¹³  will greatly rejoice ¹⁴  in the Lord;

I will be overjoyed because of my God. ¹⁵ 

For he clothes me in garments of deliverance;

he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication. ¹⁶ 

I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would;

I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ¹⁸  me. ¹⁹ 

He has commissioned ²⁰  me to encourage ²¹  the poor,

to help ²²  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

Isaiah 2:5

2:5 O descendants ²³  of Jacob,

come, let us walk in the Lord’s guiding light. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 2:9

2:9 Men bow down to them in homage,

they lie flat on the ground in worship. ²⁵ 

Don’t spare them! ²⁶ 

Revelation 1:6

1:6 and has appointed ²⁷  us as a kingdom, ²⁸  as priests ²⁹  serving his God and Father – to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! ³⁰  Amen.

Revelation 5:10

5:10 You have appointed ³¹  them ³²  as a kingdom and priests ³³  to serve ³⁴  our God, and they will reign ³⁵  on the earth.”

[28:40]  ¹ sn This refers to a band of linen wrapped around the head, forming something like a brimless convex cap, resembling something like a half egg. It refers to the headgear of ordinary priests only (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 310-11).

[28:41]  ² sn The instructions in this verse anticipate chap. 29, as well as the ordination ceremony described in Lev 8 and 9. The anointing of Aaron is specifically required in the Law, for he is to be the High Priest. The expression “ordain them” might also be translated as “install them” or “consecrate them”; it literally reads “and fill their hands,” an expression for the consecration offering for priesthood in Lev 8:33. The final instruction to sanctify them will involve the ritual of the atoning sacrifices to make the priests acceptable in the sanctuary.

[28:41]  ³ tn Heb “fill their hand.” As a result of this installation ceremony they will be officially designated for the work. It seems likely that the concept derives from the notion of putting the priestly responsibilities under their control (i.e., “filling their hands” with work). See note on the phrase “ordained seven days” in Lev 8:33.

[28:41]  ⁴ tn Traditionally “sanctify them” (KJV, ASV).

[29:9]  ⁵ tc Hebrew has both the objective pronoun “them” and the names “Aaron and his sons.” Neither the LXX nor Leviticus 8:13 has “Aaron and his sons,” suggesting that this may have been a later gloss in the text.

[29:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “and you will fill the hand” and so “consecrate” or “ordain.” The verb draws together the individual acts of the process.

[40:14]  ⁷ tn The verb is also “bring near” or “present.”

[132:9]  ⁸ tn Or “righteousness.”

[61:6]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”

[61:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”

[61:6]  ¹¹ tc The form in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yit’ammÿru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (’amar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).

[61:6]  ¹² tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).

[61:10]  ¹³ sn The speaker in vv. 10-11 is not identified, but it is likely that the personified nation (or perhaps Zion) responds here to the Lord’s promise of restoration.

[61:10]  ¹⁴ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[61:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my being is happy in my God”; NAB “in my God is the joy of my soul.”

[61:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “robe of vindication”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “robe of righteousness.”

[61:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “like a bridegroom [who] acts like a priest [by wearing] a turban, and like a bride [who] wears her jewelry.” The words “I look” are supplied for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[61:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ¹⁹ sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ²¹ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ²² tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[2:5]  ²³ tn Heb “house,” referring to the family line or descendants (likewise in v. 6).

[2:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “let’s walk in the light of the Lord.” In this context, which speaks of the Lord’s instruction and commands, the “light of the Lord” refers to his moral standards by which he seeks to guide his people. One could paraphrase, “let’s obey the Lord’s commands.”

[2:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “men bow down, men are low.” Since the verbs שָׁחָח (shakhakh) and שָׁפַל (shafal) are used later in this discourse to describe how God will humiliate proud men (see vv. 11, 17), some understand v. 9a as a prediction of judgment, “men will be brought down, men will be humiliated.” However, these prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive appear to carry on the description that precedes and are better taken with the accusation. They draw attention to the fact that human beings actually bow down and worship before the lifeless products of their own hands.

[2:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “don’t lift them up.” The idiom “lift up” (נָשָׂא with לְ, nasa’ with preposition lamed) can mean “spare, forgive” (see Gen 18:24, 26). Here the idiom plays on the preceding verbs. The idolaters are bowed low as they worship their false gods; the prophet asks God not to “lift them up.”

[1:6]  ²⁷ tn The verb ποιέω (poiew) can indicate appointment or assignment rather than simply “make” or “do.” See Mark 3:14 (L&N 37.106).

[1:6]  ²⁸ tn See BDAG 168 s.v. βασιλεία 1.a for the idea of “he made us a kingdom,” which was translated as “he appointed us (to be or function) as a kingdom” (see the note on the word “appointed” earlier in the verse).

[1:6]  ²⁹ tn Grk “a kingdom, priests.” The term ἱερεῖς (Jiereis) is either in apposition to βασιλείαν (basileian) or as a second complement to the object “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas). The translation retains this ambiguity.

[1:6]  ³⁰ tc Both the longer reading τῶν αἰώνων (twn aiwnwn, “to the ages of the ages” or, more idiomatically, “for ever and ever”; found in א C Ï) and the shorter (“for ever”; found in ̹⁸ A P 2050 pc bo) have good ms support. The author uses the longer expression (εἰς [τοὺς] αἰῶνας [τῶν] αἰώνων, ei" [tou"] aiwna" [twn] aiwnwn) in every other instance of αἰών in Revelation, twelve passages in all (1:18; 4:9, 10; 5:13; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 14:11; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5). Thus, on the one hand, the style of the author is consistent, while on the other hand, the scribes may have been familiar with such a stylistic feature, causing them to add the words here. The issues are more complex than can be presented here; the longer reading, however, is probably original (the shorter reading arising from accidental omission of the genitive phrase due to similarity with the preceding words).

[5:10]  ³¹ tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoihsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.

[5:10]  ³² tc The vast majority of witnesses have αὐτούς (autous, “them”) here, while the Textus Receptus reads ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”) with insignificant support (pc gig vg^cl sa Prim Bea). There is no question that the original text read αὐτούς here.

[5:10]  ³³ tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”

[5:10]  ³⁴ tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”

[5:10]  ³⁵ tc The textual problem here between the present tense βασιλεύουσιν (basileuousin, “they are reigning”; so A 1006 1611 Ï^K pc) and the future βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, “they will reign”; so א 1854 2053 Ï^A pc lat co) is a difficult one. Both readings have excellent support. On the one hand, the present tense seems to be the harder reading in this context. On the other hand, codex A elsewhere mistakes the future for the present (20:6). Further, the lunar sigma in uncial script could have been overlooked by some scribes, resulting in the present tense. All things considered, there is a slight preference for the future.