Genesis 28:12

28:12 and had a dream. ¹  He saw ²  a stairway ³  erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it

Genesis 32:1-2

Jacob Wrestles at Peniel

32:1 So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God ⁴  met him. 32:2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, ⁵  “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. ⁶ 

Genesis 32:1

Jacob Wrestles at Peniel

32:1 So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God ⁷  met him.

Genesis 22:19

22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together ⁸  for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. ⁹ 

Job 38:7

38:7 when the morning stars ¹⁰  sang ¹¹  in chorus, ¹² 

and all the sons of God ¹³  shouted for joy?

Psalms 68:17

68:17 God has countless chariots;

they number in the thousands. ¹⁴ 

The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 103:20-21

103:20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his,

you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees

and obey his orders! ¹⁶ 

103:21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his, ¹⁷ 

you servants of his who carry out his desires! ¹⁸ 

Psalms 148:2

148:2 Praise him, all his angels! ¹⁹ 

Praise him, all his heavenly assembly! ²⁰ 

Isaiah 6:2-3

6:2 Seraphs ²¹  stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, ²²  and they used the remaining two to fly. 6:3 They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy ²³  is the Lord who commands armies! ²⁴  His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!”

Ezekiel 3:12

Ezekiel Before the Exiles

3:12 Then a wind lifted me up ²⁵  and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me as the glory of the Lord rose from its place, ²⁶ 

Daniel 7:10

7:10 A river of fire was streaming forth

and proceeding from his presence.

Many thousands were ministering to him;

Many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him. ²⁷ 

The court convened ²⁸ 

and the books were opened.

Luke 15:10

15:10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels ²⁹  over one sinner who repents.”

Ephesians 3:10

3:10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that ³⁰  through the church the multifaceted wisdom ³¹  of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms.

Hebrews 1:14

1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to serve those ³²  who will inherit salvation?

Hebrews 1:1

Introduction: God Has Spoken Fully and Finally in His Son

1:1 After God spoke long ago ³³  in various portions ³⁴  and in various ways ³⁵  to our ancestors ³⁶  through the prophets,

Hebrews 1:12

1:12 and like a robe you will fold them up

and like a garment ³⁷  they will be changed,

but you are the same and your years will never run out.” ³⁸ 

Revelation 5:11

5:11 Then ³⁹  I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their ⁴⁰  number was ten thousand times ten thousand ⁴¹  – thousands times thousands –

[28:12]  ¹ tn Heb “and dreamed.”

[28:12]  ² tn Heb “and look.” The scene which Jacob witnessed is described in three clauses introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh). In this way the narrator invites the reader to witness the scene through Jacob’s eyes. J. P. Fokkelman points out that the particle goes with a lifted arm and an open mouth: “There, a ladder! Oh, angels! and look, the Lord himself” (Narrative Art in Genesis [SSN], 51-52).

[28:12]  ³ tn The Hebrew noun סֻלָּם (sullam, “ladder, stairway”) occurs only here in the OT, but there appears to be an Akkadian cognate simmiltu (with metathesis of the second and third consonants and a feminine ending) which has a specialized meaning of “stairway, ramp.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 34. For further discussion see C. Houtman, “What Did Jacob See in His Dream at Bethel? Some Remarks on Genesis 28:10-22,” VT 27 (1977): 337-52; J. G. Griffiths, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 76 (1964/65): 229-30; and A. R. Millard, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 78 (1966/67): 86-87.

[32:1]  ⁴ sn The phrase angels of God occurs only here and in Gen 28:12 in the OT. Jacob saw a vision of angels just before he left the promised land. Now he encounters angels as he prepares to return to it. The text does not give the details of the encounter, but Jacob’s response suggests it was amicable. This location was a spot where heaven made contact with earth, and where God made his presence known to the patriarch. See C. Houtman, “Jacob at Mahanaim: Some Remarks on Genesis XXXII 2-3,” VT 28 (1978): 37-44.

[32:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and Jacob said when he saw them.”

[32:2]  ⁶ sn The name Mahanaim apparently means “two camps.” Perhaps the two camps were those of God and of Jacob.

[32:1]  ⁷ sn The phrase angels of God occurs only here and in Gen 28:12 in the OT. Jacob saw a vision of angels just before he left the promised land. Now he encounters angels as he prepares to return to it. The text does not give the details of the encounter, but Jacob’s response suggests it was amicable. This location was a spot where heaven made contact with earth, and where God made his presence known to the patriarch. See C. Houtman, “Jacob at Mahanaim: Some Remarks on Genesis XXXII 2-3,” VT 28 (1978): 37-44.

[22:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “and they arose and went together.”

[22:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Abraham stayed in Beer Sheba. This has been translated as a relative clause for stylistic reasons.

[38:7]  ¹⁰ sn The expression “morning stars” (Heb “stars of the morning”) is here placed in parallelism to the angels, “the sons of God.” It may refer to the angels under the imagery of the stars, or, as some prefer, it may poetically include all creation. There is a parallel also with the foundation of the temple which was accompanied by song (see Ezra 3:10,11). But then the account of the building of the original tabernacle was designed to mirror creation (see M. Fishbane, Biblical Text and Texture).

[38:7]  ¹¹ tn The construction, an adverbial clause of time, uses רָנָן (ranan), which is often a ringing cry, an exultation. The parallelism with “shout for joy” shows this to be enthusiastic acclamation. The infinitive is then continued in the next colon with the vav (ו) consecutive preterite.

[38:7]  ¹² tn Heb “together.” This is Dhorme’s suggestion for expressing how they sang together.

[38:7]  ¹³ tn See Job 1:6.

[68:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “thousands of [?].” The meaning of the word שִׁנְאָן (shin’an), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Perhaps the form should be emended to שַׁאֲנָן (sha’anan, “at ease”) and be translated here “held in reserve.”

[68:17]  ¹⁵ tc The MT reads, “the Lord [is] among them, Sinai, in holiness,” which is syntactically difficult. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֲדֹנָי בָּא מִסִּינַי (’adonay ba’ missinay; see BHS note b-b and Deut 33:2).

[103:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[you] mighty ones of strength, doers of his word, by listening to the voice of his word.”

[103:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “all his hosts.”

[103:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his attendants, doers of his desire.”

[148:2]  ¹⁹ tn Or “heavenly messengers.”

[148:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “all his host.”

[6:2]  ²¹ tn Hebrew שָׂרָף (saraf, “seraph”) literally means “burning one,” perhaps suggesting that these creatures had a fiery appearance (cf. TEV, CEV “flaming creatures”; NCV “heavenly creatures of fire”). Elsewhere in the OT the word “seraph” refers to poisonous snakes (Num 21:6; Deut 8:15; Isa 14:29; 30:6). Perhaps they were called “burning ones” because of their appearance or the effect of their venomous bites, which would cause a victim to burn up with fever. It is possible that the seraphs seen by Isaiah were at least partially serpentine in appearance. Though it might seem strange for a snake-like creature to have wings, two of the texts where “seraphs” are snakes describe them as “flying” (Isa 14:29; 30:6), perhaps referring to their darting movements. See the note at 14:29.

[6:2]  ²² sn Some understand “feet” here as a euphemistic reference to the genitals.

[6:3]  ²³ tn Some have seen a reference to the Trinity in the seraphs’ threefold declaration, “holy, holy, holy.” This proposal has no linguistic or contextual basis and should be dismissed as allegorical. Hebrew sometimes uses repetition for emphasis. (See IBHS 233-34 §12.5a; and GKC 431-32 §133.k.) By repeating the word “holy,” the seraphs emphasize the degree of the Lord’s holiness. For another example of threefold repetition for emphasis, see Ezek 21:27 (Heb. v. 32). (Perhaps Jer 22:29 provides another example.)

[6:3]  ²⁴ tn Perhaps in this context, the title has a less militaristic connotation and pictures the Lord as the ruler of the heavenly assembly. See the note at 1:9.

[3:12]  ²⁵ sn See note on “wind” in 2:2.

[3:12]  ²⁶ tc This translation accepts the emendation suggested in BHS of בְּרוּם (bÿrum) for בָּרוּךְ (barukh). The letters mem (מ) and kaph (כ) were easily confused in the old script while בָּרוּךְ (“blessed be”) both implies a quotation which is out of place here and also does not fit the later phrase, “from its place,” which requires a verb of motion.

[7:10]  ²⁷ tn Aram “were standing before him.”

[7:10]  ²⁸ tn Aram “judgment sat.”

[15:10]  ²⁹ sn The whole of heaven is said to rejoice. Joy in the presence of God’s angels is a way of referring to God’s joy as well without having to name him explicitly. Contemporary Judaism tended to refer to God indirectly where possible out of reverence or respect for the divine name.

[3:10]  ³⁰ tn Grk “that.” Verse 10 is a subordinate clause to the verb “enlighten” in v. 9.

[3:10]  ³¹ tn Or “manifold wisdom,” “wisdom in its rich variety.”

[1:14]  ³² tn Grk “sent for service for the sake of those.”

[1:1]  ³³ tn Or “spoke formerly.”

[1:1]  ³⁴ tn Or “parts.” The idea is that God’s previous revelation came in many parts and was therefore fragmentary or partial (L&N 63.19), in comparison with the final and complete revelation contained in God’s Son. However, some interpret πολυμερῶς (polumerw") in Heb 1:1 to mean “on many different occasions” and would thus translate “many times” (L&N 67.11). This is the option followed by the NIV: “at many times and in various ways.” Finally, this word is also understood to refer to the different manners in which something may be done, and would then be translated “in many different ways” (L&N 89.81). In this last case, the two words πολυμερῶς and πολυτρόπως (polutropw") mutually reinforce one another (“in many and various ways,” NRSV).

[1:1]  ³⁵ tn These two phrases are emphasized in Greek by being placed at the beginning of the sentence and by alliteration.

[1:1]  ³⁶ tn Grk “to the fathers.”

[1:12]  ³⁷ tc The words “like a garment” (ὡς ἱμάτιον, Jw" Jimation) are found in excellent and early mss (Ì⁴⁶ א A B D* 1739) though absent in a majority of witnesses (D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1881 Ï lat sy bo). Although it is possible that longer reading was produced by overzealous scribes who wanted to underscore the frailty of creation, it is much more likely that the shorter reading was produced by scribes who wanted to conform the wording to that of Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX), which here lacks the second “like a garment.” Both external and internal considerations decidedly favor the longer reading, and point to the author of Hebrews as the one underscoring the difference between the Son and creation.

[1:12]  ³⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 102:25-27.

[5:11]  ³⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:11]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “elders, and the number of them was.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[5:11]  ⁴¹ tn Or “myriads of myriads.” Although μυριάς (murias) literally means “10,000,” the point of the combination here may simply be to indicate an incalculably huge number. See L&N 60.9.