Habakkuk 3:15

3:15 But you trample on the sea with your horses,

on the surging, raging waters. ¹ 

Deuteronomy 33:26-27

General Praise and Blessing

33:26 There is no one like God, O Jeshurun, ² 

who rides through the sky ³  to help you,

on the clouds in majesty.

33:27 The everlasting God is a refuge,

and underneath you are his eternal arms; ⁴ 

he has driven out enemies before you,

and has said, “Destroy!”

Psalms 18:10

18:10 He mounted ⁵  a winged angel ⁶  and flew;

he glided ⁷  on the wings of the wind. ⁸ 

Psalms 45:4

45:4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious! ⁹ 

Ride forth for the sake of what is right, ¹⁰ 

on behalf of justice! ¹¹ 

Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts! ¹² 

Psalms 68:4

68:4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!

Exalt the one who rides on the clouds! ¹³ 

For the Lord is his name! ¹⁴ 

Rejoice before him!

Psalms 68:17

68:17 God has countless chariots;

they number in the thousands. ¹⁵ 

The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 104:3

104:3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds. ¹⁷ 

He makes the clouds his chariot,

and travels along on the wings of the wind. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 19:1

The Lord Will Judge Egypt

19:1 Here is a message about Egypt:

Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud

and approaches Egypt.

The idols of Egypt tremble before him;

the Egyptians lose their courage. ¹⁹ 

Revelation 6:2

6:2 So ²⁰  I looked, ²¹  and here came ²²  a white horse! The ²³  one who rode it ²⁴  had a bow, and he was given a crown, ²⁵  and as a conqueror ²⁶  he rode out to conquer.

Revelation 19:11

The Son of God Goes to War

19:11 Then ²⁷  I saw heaven opened and here came ²⁸  a white horse! The ²⁹  one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice ³⁰  he judges and goes to war.

Revelation 19:14

19:14 The ³¹  armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, ³²  were following him on white horses.

[3:15]  ¹ tn Heb “the foaming of the mighty [or “many”] waters.”

[33:26]  ² sn Jeshurun is a term of affection referring to Israel, derived from the Hebrew verb יָשַׁר (yashar, “be upright”). See note on the term in Deut 32:15.

[33:26]  ³ tn Or “(who) rides (on) the heavens” (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT). This title depicts Israel’s God as sovereign over the elements of the storm (cf. Ps 68:33). The use of the phrase here may be polemical; Moses may be asserting that Israel’s God, not Baal (called the “rider of the clouds” in the Ugaritic myths), is the true divine king (cf. v. 5) who controls the elements of the storm, grants agricultural prosperity, and delivers his people from their enemies. See R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature,” BSac 151 (1994): 275.

[33:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “and from under, arms of perpetuity.” The words “you” and “his” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Some have perceived this line to be problematic and have offered alternative translations that differ significantly from the present translation: “He spread out the primeval tent; he extended the ancient canopy” (NAB); “He subdues the ancient gods, shatters the forces of old” (NRSV). These are based on alternate meanings or conjectural emendations rather than textual variants in the mss and versions.

[18:10]  ⁵ tn Or “rode upon.”

[18:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “a cherub.” Because of the typical associations of the word “cherub” in English with chubby winged babies, the term has been rendered “winged angel” in the translation.

[18:10]  ⁷ tc 2 Sam 22:11 reads “appeared” (from רָאָה, ra’ah); the relatively rare verb דָאָה (da’ah, “glide”) is more difficult and probably the original reading here in Ps 18.

[18:10]  ⁸ sn The wings of the wind. Verse 10 may depict (1) the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option (2) is that two different vehicles (a cherub and the wind) are envisioned. Yet another option (3) is that the wind is personified as a cherub. For a discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in v. 10, see M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.

[45:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “and your majesty, be successful.” The syntax is awkward. The phrase “and your majesty” at the beginning of the verse may be accidentally repeated (dittography); it appears at the end of v. 3.

[45:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “for the sake of truth.”

[45:4]  ¹¹ tc The precise meaning of the MT is uncertain. The form עַנְוָה (’anvah) occurs only here. One could emend the text to עֲנָוָה וְצֶדֶק (’anavah vÿtsedeq, “[for the sake of truth], humility, and justice”). In this case “humility” would perhaps allude to the king’s responsibility to “serve” his people by promoting justice (cf. NIV “in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness”). The present translation assumes an emendation to יַעַן (ya’an, “because; on account of”) which would form a suitable parallel to עַל־דְּבַר (’al-dÿvar, “because; for the sake of”) in the preceding line.

[45:4]  ¹² tn Heb “and your right hand will teach you mighty acts”; or “and may your right hand teach you mighty acts.” After the imperatives in the first half of the verse, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive likely indicates purpose (“so that your right hand might teach you mighty acts”) or result (see the present translation). The “right hand” here symbolizes the king’s military strength. His right hand will “teach” him mighty acts by performing them and thereby causing him to experience their magnificence.

[68:4]  ¹³ tn Traditionally the Hebrew term עֲרָבוֹת (’aravot) is taken as “steppe-lands” (often rendered “deserts”), but here the form is probably a homonym meaning “clouds.” Verse 33, which depicts God as the one who “rides on the sky” strongly favors this (see as well Deut 33:26), as does the reference in v. 9 to God as the source of rain. The term עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “cloud”) is cognate with Akkadian urpatu/erpetu and with Ugaritic ’rpt. The phrase rkb ’rpt (“one who rides on the clouds”) appears in Ugaritic mythological texts as an epithet of the storm god Baal. The nonphonemic interchange of the bilabial consonants b and p is attested elsewhere in roots common to Hebrew and Ugaritic, though the phenomenon is relatively rare.

[68:4]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “in the Lord his name.” If the MT is retained, the preposition -בְ (bet) is introducing the predicate (the so-called bet of identity), “the Lord is his name.” However, some prefer to emend the text to כִּי יָהּ שְׁמוֹ (ki yah shÿmo, “for Yah is his name”). This emendation, reflected in the present translation, assumes a confusion of bet (ב) and kaf (כ) and haplography of yod (י).

[68:17]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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).

[104:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “one who lays the beams on water [in] his upper rooms.” The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 44-45.

[104:3]  ¹⁸ sn Verse 3 may depict the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option is that the wind is personified as a cherub. See Ps 18:10 and the discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.

[19:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and the heart of Egypt melts within it.”

[6:2]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of hearing the voice summon the first rider.

[6:2]  ²¹ tc The reading “and I looked” (καὶ εἶδον, kai eidon) or some slight variation (e.g., ἶδον, idon) has excellent ms support ({א A C P 1611}) and its omission seems to come through the mss that have already placed “and look” (καὶ ἴδε or καὶ βλέπε [kai ide or kai blepe]) after the verb “come” (ἔρχου, ercou) as mentioned in the text-critical note on 6:1. Thus, for these copyists it was redundant to add “and I looked” again.

[6:2]  ²² tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[6:2]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “the one sitting on it.”

[6:2]  ²⁵ sn See the note on the word crown in Rev 3:11.

[6:2]  ²⁶ tn The participle νικῶν (nikwn) has been translated as substantival, the subject of the verb ἐξῆλθεν (exhlqen). Otherwise, as an adverbial participle of manner, it is somewhat redundant: “he rode out conquering and to conquer.”

[19:11]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:11]  ²⁸ tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[19:11]  ²⁹ tn A new sentence was started in the translation at this point and καί (kai) was not translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:11]  ³⁰ tn Or “in righteousness,” but since the context here involves the punishment of the wicked and the vindication of the saints, “justice” was preferred.

[19:14]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:14]  ³² tn On the term translated “fine linen,” BDAG 185 s.v. βύσσινος states, “made of fine linen, subst. τὸ β. fine linen, linen garment…Rv 18:12, 16; 19:8, 14.”