Ezra 9:14-15

9:14 Shall we once again break your commandments and intermarry with these abominable peoples? Would you not be so angered by us that you would wipe us out, with no survivor or remnant? 9:15 O Lord God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left as a remnant this day. Indeed, we stand before you in our guilt. However, because of this guilt ¹  no one can really stand before you.”

Psalms 69:22-28

69:22 May their dining table become a trap before them!

May it be a snare for that group of friends! ² 

69:23 May their eyes be blinded! ³ 

Make them shake violently! ⁴ 

69:24 Pour out your judgment ⁵  on them!

May your raging anger ⁶  overtake them!

69:25 May their camp become desolate,

their tents uninhabited! ⁷ 

69:26 For they harass ⁸  the one whom you discipline; ⁹ 

they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish. ¹⁰ 

69:27 Hold them accountable for all their sins! ¹¹ 

Do not vindicate them! ¹² 

69:28 May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living! ¹³ 

Do not let their names be listed with the godly! ¹⁴ 

Daniel 9:5-8

9:5 we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards. 9:6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority ¹⁵  to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, ¹⁶  and to all the inhabitants ¹⁷  of the land as well.

9:7 “You are righteous, ¹⁸  O Lord, but we are humiliated this day ¹⁹  – the people ²⁰  of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you. 9:8 O LORD, we have been humiliated ²¹  – our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors – because we have sinned against you.

John 15:2

15:2 He takes away ²²  every branch that does not bear ²³  fruit in me. He ²⁴  prunes ²⁵  every branch that bears ²⁶  fruit so that it will bear more fruit.

John 15:1

The Vine and the Branches

15:1 “I am the true vine ²⁷  and my Father is the gardener. ²⁸ 

John 2:15

2:15 So he made a whip of cords ²⁹  and drove them all out of the temple courts, ³⁰  with the sheep and the oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers ³¹  and overturned their tables.

Hebrews 6:8

6:8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; ³²  its fate is to be burned.

Revelation 15:3-4

15:3 They ³³  sang the song of Moses the servant ³⁴  of God and the song of the Lamb: ³⁵ 

“Great and astounding are your deeds,

Lord God, the All-Powerful! ³⁶ 

Just ³⁷  and true are your ways,

King over the nations! ³⁸ 

15:4 Who will not fear you, O Lord,

and glorify ³⁹  your name, because you alone are holy? ⁴⁰ 

All nations ⁴¹  will come and worship before you

for your righteous acts ⁴²  have been revealed.”

Revelation 16:5-7

16:5 Now ⁴³  I heard the angel of the waters saying:

“You are just ⁴⁴  – the one who is and who was,

the Holy One – because you have passed these judgments, ⁴⁵ 

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

so ⁴⁶  you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!” ⁴⁷ 

16:7 Then ⁴⁸  I heard the altar reply, ⁴⁹  “Yes, Lord God, the All-Powerful, ⁵⁰  your judgments are true and just!”

[9:15]  ¹ tn Heb “this”; the referent (the guilt mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[69:22]  ² tc Heb “and to the friends for a snare.” The plural of שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) is used in Ps 55:20 of one’s “friends.” If the reading of the MT is retained here, the term depicts the psalmist’s enemies as a close-knit group of friends who are bound together by their hatred for the psalmist. Some prefer to revocalize the text as וּלְשִׁלּוּמִים (ulÿshillumim, “and for retribution”). In this case the noun stands parallel to פַּח (pakh, “trap”) and מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), and one might translate, “may their dining table become a trap before them, [a means of] retribution and a snare” (cf. NIV).

[69:23]  ³ tn Heb “may their eyes be darkened from seeing.”

[69:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “make their hips shake continually.”

[69:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger.

[69:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971), 17-81.

[69:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “in their tents may there not be one who dwells.”

[69:26]  ⁸ tn Or “persecute”; Heb “chase.”

[69:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “for you, the one whom you strike, they chase.”

[69:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they announce the pain of your wounded ones” (i.e., “the ones whom you wounded,” as the parallel line makes clear).

[69:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “place sin upon their sin.”

[69:27]  ¹² tn Heb “let them not come into your vindication.”

[69:28]  ¹³ tn Heb “let them be wiped out of the scroll of the living.”

[69:28]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and with the godly let them not be written.”

[9:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in your name.” Another option is to translate, “as your representatives.”

[9:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “our fathers” (also in vv. 8, 16). The Hebrew term translated “father” can refer to more distant relationships such as grandfathers or ancestors.

[9:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “people.”

[9:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to you (belongs) righteousness.”

[9:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and to us (belongs) shame of face like this day.”

[9:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “men.”

[9:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “to us (belongs) shame of face.”

[15:2]  ²² tn Or “He cuts off.”

[15:2]  ²³ tn Or “does not yield.”

[15:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “And he”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been omitted in the translation in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[15:2]  ²⁵ tn Or “trims”; Grk “cleanses” (a wordplay with “clean” in v. 3). Καθαίρει (kaqairei) is not the word one would have expected here, but it provides the transition from the vine imagery to the disciples – there is a wordplay (not reproducible in English) between αἴρει (airei) and καθαίρει in this verse. While the purpose of the Father in cleansing his people is clear, the precise means by which he does so is not immediately obvious. This will become clearer, however, in the following verse.

[15:2]  ²⁶ tn Or “that yields.”

[15:1]  ²⁷ sn I am the true vine. There are numerous OT passages which refer to Israel as a vine: Ps 80:8-16, Isa 5:1-7, Jer 2:21, Ezek 15:1-8, 17:5-10, 19:10-14, and Hos 10:1. The vine became symbolic of Israel, and even appeared on some coins issued by the Maccabees. The OT passages which use this symbol appear to regard Israel as faithless to Yahweh (typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT) and/or the object of severe punishment. Ezek 15:1-8 in particular talks about the worthlessness of wood from a vine (in relation to disobedient Judah). A branch cut from a vine is worthless except to be burned as fuel. This fits more with the statements about the disciples (John 15:6) than with Jesus’ description of himself as the vine. Ezek 17:5-10 contains vine imagery which refers to a king of the house of David, Zedekiah, who was set up as king in Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah allied himself to Egypt and broke his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar (and therefore also with God), which would ultimately result in his downfall (17:20-21). Ezek 17:22-24 then describes the planting of a cedar sprig which grows into a lofty tree, a figurative description of Messiah. But it is significant that Messiah himself is not described in Ezek 17 as a vine, but as a cedar tree. The vine imagery here applies to Zedekiah’s disobedience. Jesus’ description of himself as the true vine in John 15:1 ff. is to be seen against this background, but it differs significantly from the imagery surveyed above. It represents new imagery which differs significantly from OT concepts; it appears to be original with Jesus. The imagery of the vine underscores the importance of fruitfulness in the Christian life and the truth that this results not from human achievement, but from one’s position in Christ. Jesus is not just giving some comforting advice, but portraying to the disciples the difficult path of faithful service. To some degree the figure is similar to the head-body metaphor used by Paul, with Christ as head and believers as members of the body. Both metaphors bring out the vital and necessary connection which exists between Christ and believers.

[15:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “the farmer.”

[2:15]  ²⁹ tc Several witnesses, two of which are quite ancient (Ì^66,75 L N ˹ 33 565 892 1241 al lat), have ὡς (Jws, “like”) before φραγέλλιον (fragellion, “whip”). A decision based on external evidence would be difficult to make because the shorter reading also has excellent witnesses, as well as the majority, on its side (א A B Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï co). Internal evidence, though, leans toward the shorter reading. Scribes tended to add to the text, and the addition of ὡς here clearly softens the assertion of the evangelist: Instead of making a whip of cords, Jesus made “[something] like a whip of cords.”

[2:15]  ³⁰ tn Grk “the temple.”

[2:15]  ³¹ sn Because of the imperial Roman portraits they carried, Roman denarii and Attic drachmas were not permitted to be used in paying the half-shekel temple-tax (the Jews considered the portraits idolatrous). The money changers exchanged these coins for legal Tyrian coinage at a small profit.

[6:8]  ³² tn Grk “near to a curse.”

[15:3]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[15:3]  ³⁴ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[15:3]  ³⁵ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:3]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

[15:3]  ³⁸ 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.

[15:4]  ³⁹ tn Or “and praise.”

[15:4]  ⁴⁰ sn Because you alone are holy. In the Greek text the sentence literally reads “because alone holy.” Three points can be made in connection with John’s language here: (1) Omitting the second person, singular verb “you are” lays stress on the attribute of God’s holiness. (2) The juxtaposition of alone with holy stresses the unique nature of God’s holiness and complete “otherness” in relationship to his creation. It is not just moral purity which is involved in the use of the term holy, though it certainly includes that. It is also the pervasive OT idea that although God is deeply involved in the governing of his creation, he is to be regarded as separate and distinct from it. (3) John’s use of the term holy is also intriguing since it is the term ὅσιος (Josios) and not the more common NT term ἅγιος (Jagios). The former term evokes images of Christ’s messianic status in early Christian preaching. Both Peter in Acts 2:27 and Paul in Acts 13:35 apply Psalm 16:10 (LXX) to Jesus, referring to him as the “holy one” (ὅσιος). It is also the key term in Acts 13:34 (Isa 55:3 [LXX]) where it refers to the “holy blessings” (i.e., forgiveness and justification) brought about through Jesus in fulfillment of Davidic promise. Thus, in Rev 15:3-4, when John refers to God as “holy,” using the term ὅσιος in a context where the emphasis is on both God and Christ, there might be an implicit connection between divinity and the Messiah. This is bolstered by the fact that the Lamb is referred to in other contexts as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (cf. 1:5; 17:14; 19:16 and perhaps 11:15; G. K. Beale, Revelation [NIGTC], 796-97).

[15:4]  ⁴¹ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[15:4]  ⁴² tn Or perhaps, “your sentences of condemnation.” On δικαίωμα (dikaiwma) in this context BDAG 249 s.v. 2. states, “righteous deed…δι᾿ ἑνὸς δικαιώματος (opp. παράπτωμα) Ro 5:18. – B 1:2 (cp. Wengst, Barnabas-brief 196, n.4); Rv 15:4 (here perh.= ‘sentence of condemnation’ [cp. Pla., Leg. 9, 864e; ins fr. Asia Minor: LBW 41, 2 [κατὰ] τὸ δι[καί]ωμα τὸ κυρω[θέν]= ‘acc. to the sentence which has become valid’]; difft. Wengst, s. above); 19:8.”

[16:5]  ⁴³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the somewhat parenthetical nature of the remarks that follow.

[16:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

[16:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “because you have judged these things.” The pronoun ταῦτα (tauta) is neuter gender.

[16:6]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “They are worthy”; i.e., of this kind of punishment. By extension, “they got what they deserve.”

[16:7]  ⁴⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[16:7]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “the altar saying.”

[16:7]  ⁵⁰ 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.”