Discovery BoxIsaiah 41:11
Context41:11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;
your adversaries 1 will be reduced to nothing 2 and perish.
Psalms 2:1-12
Context2:1 Why 4 do the nations rebel? 5
Why 6 are the countries 7 devising 8 plots that will fail? 9
2:2 The kings of the earth 10 form a united front; 11
the rulers collaborate 12
against the Lord and his anointed king. 13
2:3 They say, 14 “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! 15
Let’s free ourselves from 16 their ropes!”
2:4 The one enthroned 17 in heaven laughs in disgust; 18
the Lord taunts 19 them.
2:5 Then he angrily speaks to them
and terrifies them in his rage, 20 saying, 21
2:6 “I myself 22 have installed 23 my king
on Zion, my holy hill.”
2:7 The king says, 24 “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: 25
‘You are my son! 26 This very day I have become your father!
2:8 Ask me,
and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, 27
the ends of the earth as your personal property.
2:9 You will break them 28 with an iron scepter; 29
you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” 30
2:10 So now, you kings, do what is wise; 31
you rulers of the earth, submit to correction! 32
2:11 Serve 33 the Lord in fear!
Repent in terror! 34
Otherwise he 36 will be angry, 37
and you will die because of your behavior, 38
when his anger quickly ignites. 39
How blessed 40 are all who take shelter in him! 41
Psalms 21:8-9
Context21:8 You 42 prevail over 43 all your enemies;
your power is too great for those who hate you. 44
21:9 You burn them up like a fiery furnace 45 when you appear; 46
the Lord angrily devours them; 47
the fire consumes them.
Psalms 72:9
Context72:9 Before him the coastlands 48 will bow down,
and his enemies will lick the dust. 49
Psalms 110:2
Context110:2 The Lord 50 extends 51 your dominion 52 from Zion.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!
Luke 13:17
Context13:17 When 53 he said this all his adversaries were humiliated, 54 but 55 the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things 56 he was doing. 57
Luke 19:27
Context19:27 But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, 58 bring them here and slaughter 59 them 60 in front of me!’”
Revelation 11:18
Context11:18 The 61 nations 62 were enraged,
but 63 your wrath has come,
and the time has come for the dead to be judged,
and the time has come to give to your servants, 64
the prophets, their reward,
as well as to the saints
and to those who revere 65 your name, both small and great,
and the time has come 66 to destroy those who destroy 67 the earth.”
[41:11] 1 tn Heb “the men of your strife”; NASB “those who contend with you.”
[41:11] 2 tn Heb “like nothing”; NAB “come to nought.”
[2:1] 3 sn Psalm 2. In this royal psalm the author asserts the special status of the divinely chosen Davidic king and warns the nations and their rulers to submit to the authority of God and his chosen vice-regent.
[2:1] 4 tn The question is rhetorical. Rather than seeking information, the psalmist expresses his outrage that the nations would have the audacity to rebel against God and his chosen king.
[2:1] 5 tn The Hebrew verb רָגַשׁ (ragash) occurs only here. In Dan 6:6, 11, 15 the Aramaic cognate verb describes several officials acting as a group. A Hebrew nominal derivative is used in Ps 55:14 of a crowd of people in the temple.
[2:1] 6 tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
[2:1] 7 tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).
[2:1] 8 tn The Hebrew imperfect form describes the rebellion as underway. The verb הָגָה (hagah), which means “to recite quietly, meditate,” here has the metonymic nuance “devise, plan, plot” (see Ps 38:12; Prov 24:2).
[2:1] 9 tn Heb “devising emptiness.” The noun רִיק (riq, “emptiness”) may characterize their behavior as “worthless, morally bankrupt” but more likely refers to the outcome of their plots (i.e., failure). As the rest of the psalm emphasizes, their rebellion will fail.
[2:2] 10 sn The expression kings of the earth refers somewhat hyperbolically to the kings who had been conquered by and were subject to the Davidic king.
[2:2] 11 tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.
[2:2] 12 tn Or “conspire together.” The verbal form is a Niphal from יָסַד (yasad). BDB 413-14 s.v. יָסַד defines the verb as “establish, found,” but HALOT 417 s.v. II יסד proposes a homonym meaning “get together, conspire” (an alternate form of סוּד, sud).
[2:2] 13 tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).
[2:3] 14 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The quotation represents the words of the rebellious kings.
[2:3] 15 tn Heb “their (i.e., the
[2:3] 16 tn Heb “throw off from us.”
[2:4] 17 tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12; 123:1).
[2:4] 18 tn As the next line indicates, this refers to derisive laughter. The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in vv. 4-5 describe the action from the perspective of an eyewitness who is watching the divine response as it unfolds before his eyes.
[2:4] 19 tn Or “scoffs at”; “derides”; “mocks.”
[2:5] 20 sn And terrifies them in his rage. This line focuses on the effect that God’s angry response (see previous line) has on the rebellious kings.
[2:5] 21 tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for clarification to indicate that the speaker is the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV).
[2:6] 22 tn The first person pronoun appears before the first person verbal form for emphasis, reflected in the translation by “myself.”
[2:6] 23 tn Or perhaps “consecrated.”
[2:7] 24 tn The words “the king says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The speaker is the Lord’s chosen king.
[2:7] 25 tn Or “I will relate the decree. The
[2:7] 26 sn ‘You are my son!’ The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 89:26-27). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.
[2:8] 27 sn I will give you the nations. The
[2:9] 28 tc The LXX reads “you will shepherd them.” This reading, quoted in the Greek text of the NT in Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, assumes a different vocalization of the consonantal Hebrew text and understands the verb as רָעָה (ra’ah, “to shepherd”) rather than רָעָע (ra’a’, “to break”). But the presence of נָפַץ (nafats, “to smash”) in the next line strongly favors the MT vocalization.
[2:9] 29 tn The Hebrew term שֵׁבֶט (shevet) can refer to a “staff” or “rod,” but here it probably refers to the Davidic king’s royal scepter, symbolizing his sovereignty.
[2:9] 30 sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.
[2:10] 31 sn The speaker here is either the psalmist or the Davidic king, who now addresses the rebellious kings.
[2:10] 32 tn The Niphal has here a tolerative nuance; the kings are urged to submit themselves to the advice being offered.
[2:11] 33 tn The Hebrew verb translated “serve” refers here to submitting to the Lord’s sovereignty as expressed through the rule of the Davidic king. Such “service” would involve maintaining allegiance to the Davidic king by paying tribute on a regular basis.
[2:11] 34 tn Traditionally, “rejoice with trembling” (KJV). The verb גִּיל (gil) normally means “rejoice,” but this meaning does not fit well here in conjunction with “in trembling.” Some try to understand “trembling” (and the parallel יִרְאָה, yir’ah, “fear”) in the sense of “reverential awe” and then take the verbs “serve” and “rejoice” in the sense of “worship” (cf. NASB). But רְעָדָה (rÿ’adah, “trembling”) and its related terms consistently refer to utter terror and fear (see Exod 15:15; Job 4:14; Pss 48:6; 55:5; 104:32; Isa 33:14; Dan 10:11) or at least great emotional distress (Ezra 10:9). It seems more likely here that גִּיל carries its polarized meaning “mourn, lament,” as in Hos 10:5. “Mourn, lament” would then be metonymic in this context for “repent” (referring to one’s rebellious ways). On the meaning of the verb in Hos 10:5, see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea (AB), 556-57.
[2:12] 35 tn Traditionally, “kiss the son” (KJV). But בַּר (bar) is the Aramaic word for “son,” not the Hebrew. For this reason many regard the reading as suspect. Some propose emendations of vv. 11b-12a. One of the more popular proposals is to read בִּרְעָדָה נַשְּׁקוּ לְרַגְלָיו (bir’adah nashÿqu lÿraslayv, “in trembling kiss his feet”). It makes better sense to understand בַּר (bar) as an adjective meaning “pure” (see Pss 24:4; 73:1 and BDB 141 s.v. בַּר 3) functioning here in an adverbial sense. If read this way, then the syntactical structure of exhortation (imperative followed by adverbial modifier) corresponds to the two preceding lines (see v. 11). The verb נָשַׁק (nashaq, “kiss”) refers metonymically to showing homage (see 1 Sam 10:1; Hos 13:2). The exhortation in v. 12a advocates a genuine expression of allegiance and warns against insincerity. When swearing allegiance, vassal kings would sometimes do so insincerely, with the intent of rebelling when the time was right. The so-called “Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon” also warn against such an attitude. In this treaty the vassal is told: “If you, as you stand on the soil where this oath [is sworn], swear the oath with your words and lips [only], do not swear with your entire heart, do not transmit it to your sons who will live after this treaty, if you take this curse upon yourselves but do not plan to keep the treaty of Esarhaddon…may your sons and grandsons because of this fear in the future” (see J. B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East, 2:62).
[2:12] 36 tn Throughout the translation of this verse the third person masculine pronouns refer to the
[2:12] 37 tn The implied subject of the verb is the
[2:12] 38 tn Heb “and you will perish [in the] way.” The Hebrew word דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) here refers to their rebellious behavior (not to a pathway, as often understood). It functions syntactically as an adverbial accusative in relation to the verb “perish.”
[2:12] 39 tn Or “burns.” The
[2:12] 40 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
[2:12] 41 sn Who take shelter in him. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).
[21:8] 42 tn The king is now addressed. One could argue that the
[21:8] 43 tn Heb “your hand finds.” The idiom pictures the king grabbing hold of his enemies and defeating them (see 1 Sam 23:17). The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 8-12 may be translated with the future tense, as long as the future is understood as generalizing.
[21:8] 44 tn Heb “your right hand finds those who hate you.”
[21:9] 45 tn Heb “you make them like a furnace of fire.” Although many modern translations retain the literal Hebrew, the statement is elliptical. The point is not that he makes them like a furnace, but like an object burned in a furnace (cf. NEB, “at your coming you shall plunge them into a fiery furnace”).
[21:9] 46 tn Heb “at the time of your face.” The “face” of the king here refers to his angry presence. See Lam 4:16.
[21:9] 47 tn Heb “the
[72:9] 48 tn Or “islands.” The term here refers metonymically to those people who dwell in these regions.
[72:9] 49 sn As they bow down before him, it will appear that his enemies are licking the dust.
[110:2] 50 tn Since the
[110:2] 51 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing, though it could be taken as future.
[110:2] 52 tn Heb “your strong scepter,” symbolic of the king’s royal authority and dominion.
[13:17] 53 tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[13:17] 54 tn Or “were put to shame.”
[13:17] 55 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
[13:17] 56 sn Concerning all the wonderful things see Luke 7:16; 19:37.
[13:17] 57 tn Grk “that were being done by him.” The passive has been converted to an active construction in the translation.
[19:27] 58 tn Grk “to rule over them.”
[19:27] 59 tn This term, when used of people rather than animals, has some connotations of violence and mercilessness (L&N 20.72).
[19:27] 60 sn Slaughter them. To reject the king is to face certain judgment from him.
[11:18] 61 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[11:18] 62 tn Or “The Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
[11:18] 63 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
[11:18] 64 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
[11:18] 66 tn The words “the time has come” do not occur except at the beginning of the verse; the phrase has been repeated for emphasis and contrast. The Greek has one finite verb (“has come”) with a compound subject (“your wrath,” “the time”), followed by three infinitive clauses (“to be judged,” “to give,” “to destroy”). The rhetorical power of the repetition of the finite verb in English thus emulates the rhetorical power of its lone instance in Greek.
[11:18] 67 tn Or “who deprave.” There is a possible wordplay here on two meanings for διαφθείρω (diafqeirw), with the first meaning “destroy” and the second meaning either “to ruin” or “to make morally corrupt.” See L&N 20.40.
