Job 20:6

20:6 Even though his stature ¹  reaches to the heavens

and his head touches the clouds,

Isaiah 14:13-16

14:13 You said to yourself, ² 

“I will climb up to the sky.

Above the stars of El ³ 

I will set up my throne.

I will rule on the mountain of assembly

on the remote slopes of Zaphon. ⁴ 

14:14 I will climb up to the tops ⁵  of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High!” ⁶ 

14:15 But you were brought down ⁷  to Sheol,

to the remote slopes of the pit. ⁸ 

14:16 Those who see you stare at you,

they look at you carefully, thinking: ⁹ 

“Is this the man who shook the earth,

the one who made kingdoms tremble?

Jeremiah 49:16

49:16 The terror you inspire in others ¹⁰ 

and the arrogance of your heart have deceived you.

You may make your home in the clefts of the rocks;

you may occupy the highest places in the hills. ¹¹ 

But even if you made your home where the eagles nest,

I would bring you down from there,”

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 51:53

51:53 Even if Babylon climbs high into the sky ¹² 

and fortifies her elevated stronghold, ¹³ 

I will send destroyers against her,” ¹⁴ 

says the Lord. ¹⁵ 

Ezekiel 28:13-16

28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. ¹⁶ 

Every precious stone was your covering,

the ruby, topaz, and emerald,

the chrysolite, onyx, and jasper,

the sapphire, turquoise, and beryl; ¹⁷ 

your settings and mounts were made of gold.

On the day you were created they were prepared.

28:14 I placed you there with an anointed ¹⁸  guardian ¹⁹  cherub; ²⁰ 

you were on the holy mountain of God;

you walked about amidst fiery stones.

28:15 You were blameless in your behavior ²¹  from the day you were created,

until sin was discovered in you.

28:16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, ²²  and you sinned;

so I defiled you and banished you ²³  from the mountain of God –

the guardian cherub expelled you ²⁴  from the midst of the stones of fire.

Obadiah 1:4

1:4 Even if you were to soar high like an eagle, ²⁵ 

even if you ²⁶  were to make your nest among the stars,

I can bring you down even from there!” says the Lord.

Luke 10:18

10:18 So ²⁷  he said to them, “I saw ²⁸  Satan fall ²⁹  like lightning ³⁰  from heaven.

[20:6]  ¹ tn The word שִׂיא (si’) has been connected with the verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift up”), and so interpreted here as “pride.” The form is parallel to “head” in the next part, and so here it refers to his stature, the part that rises up and is crowned. But the verse does describe the pride of such a person, with his head in the heavens.

[14:13]  ² tn Heb “you, you said in your heart.”

[14:13]  ³ sn In Canaanite mythology the stars of El were astral deities under the authority of the high god El.

[14:13]  ⁴ sn Zaphon, the Canaanite version of Olympus, was the “mountain of assembly” where the gods met.

[14:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “the high places.” This word often refers to the high places where pagan worship was conducted, but here it probably refers to the “backs” or tops of the clouds. See HALOT 136 s.v. בָּמָה.

[14:14]  ⁶ sn Normally in the OT the title “Most High” belongs to the God of Israel, but in this context, where the mythological overtones are so strong, it probably refers to the Canaanite high god El.

[14:15]  ⁷ tn The prefixed verb form is taken as a preterite. Note the use of perfects in v. 12 to describe the king’s downfall.

[14:15]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term בּוּר (bor, “cistern”) is sometimes used metaphorically to refer to the place of the dead or the entrance to the underworld.

[14:16]  ⁹ tn The word “thinking” is supplied in the translation in order to make it clear that the next line records their thoughts as they gaze at him.

[49:16]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of this Hebrew word (תִּפְלֶצֶת, tifletset) is uncertain because it occurs only here. However, it is related to a verb root that refers to the shaking of the pillars (of the earth) in Job 9:6 and a noun (מִפְלֶצֶת, mifletset) that refers to “horror” or “shuddering” used in Job 21:6; Isa 21:4; Ezek 7:18; Ps 55:6. This is the nuance that is accepted by BDB, KBL, HAL and a majority of the modern English versions. The suffix is an objective genitive. The fact that the following verb is masculine singular suggests that the text here (הִשִּׁיא אֹתָךְ, hishi’ ’otakh) is in error for הִשִּׁיאָתָךְ (hishi’atakh; so G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 327, n. 16.a).

[49:16]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text of the first four lines reads: “Your terror [= the terror you inspire] has deceived you, [and] the arrogance of your heart, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who occupy the heights of the hill.” The sentence is broken up and restructured to better conform with English style.

[51:53]  ¹² tn Or “ascends [into] heaven.” Note the use of the phrase in Deut 30:12; 2 Kgs 2:11; and Amos 9:2.

[51:53]  ¹³ tn Heb “and even if she fortifies her strong elevated place.”

[51:53]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from me destroyers will go against her.”

[51:53]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[28:13]  ¹⁶ sn The imagery of the lament appears to draw upon an extrabiblical Eden tradition about the expulsion of the first man (see v. 14 and the note there) from the garden due to his pride. The biblical Eden tradition speaks of cherubs placed as guardians at the garden entrance following the sin of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:24), but no guardian cherub like the one described in verse 14 is depicted or mentioned in the biblical account. Ezekiel’s imagery also appears to reflect Mesopotamian and Canaanite mythology at certain points. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:119-20.

[28:13]  ¹⁷ tn The exact identification of each gemstone is uncertain. The list should be compared to that of the priest in Exod 28:17-20, which lists twelve stones in rows of three. The LXX apparently imports the Exod 28 list. See reference to the types of stones in L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.

[28:14]  ¹⁸ tn Or “winged”; see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.

[28:14]  ¹⁹ tn The meaning of this phrase in Hebrew is uncertain. The word translated here “guards” occurs in Exod 25:20 in reference to the cherubim “covering” the ark.

[28:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “you (were) an anointed cherub that covers and I placed you.” In the Hebrew text the ruler of Tyre is equated with a cherub, and the verb “I placed you” is taken with what follows (“on the holy mountain of God”). However, this reading is problematic. The pronoun “you” at the beginning of verse 14 is feminine singular in the Hebrew text; elsewhere in this passage the ruler of Tyre is addressed with masculine singular forms. It is possible that the pronoun is a rare (see Deut 5:24; Num 11:15) or defectively written (see 1 Sam 24:19; Neh 9:6; Job 1:10; Ps 6:3; Eccl 7:22) masculine form, but it is more likely that the form should be repointed as the preposition “with” (see the LXX). In this case the ruler of Tyre is compared to the first man, not to a cherub. If this emendation is accepted, then the verb “I placed you” belongs with what precedes and concludes the first sentence in the verse. It is noteworthy that the verbs in the second and third lines of the verse also appear at the end of the sentence in the Hebrew text. The presence of a conjunction at the beginning of “I placed you” is problematic for the proposal, but it may reflect a later misunderstanding of the syntax of the verse. For a defense of the proposed emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.

[28:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “ways.”

[28:16]  ²² tn Heb “they filled your midst with violence.”

[28:16]  ²³ tn Heb “I defiled you.” The presence of the preposition “from” following the verb indicates that a verb of motion is implied as well. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.

[28:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and I expelled you, O guardian cherub.” The Hebrew text takes the verb as first person and understands “guardian cherub” as a vocative, in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the verb. However, if the emendation in verse 14a is accepted (see the note above), then one may follow the LXX here as well and emend the verb to a third person perfect. In this case the subject of the verb is the guardian cherub. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.

[1:4]  ²⁵ sn The eagle was often used in the ancient Near East as a symbol of strength and swiftness.

[1:4]  ²⁶ tc The present translation follows the reading תָּשִׂים (tasim; active) rather than שִׁים (sim; passive) of the MT (“and your nest be set among the stars,” NAB). Cf. LXX, Syriac, Vg.

[10:18]  ²⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Jesus’ reply in vv. 18-20 follows from the positive report of the messengers in v. 17.

[10:18]  ²⁸ tn This is an imperfect tense verb.

[10:18]  ²⁹ tn In Greek, this is a participle and comes at the end of the verse, making it somewhat emphatic.

[10:18]  ³⁰ tn This is probably best taken as allusion to Isa 14:12; the phrase in common is ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (ek tou ouranou). These exorcisms in Jesus’ name are a picture of Satan’s greater defeat at Jesus’ hands (D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 2:1006-7).