Job 23:13-14

23:13 But he is unchangeable, ¹  and who can change ²  him?

Whatever he ³  has desired, he does.

23:14 For he fulfills his decree against me, ⁴ 

and many such things are his plans. ⁵ 

Psalms 104:9

104:9 You set up a boundary for them that they could not cross,

so that they would not cover the earth again. ⁶ 

Psalms 104:29

104:29 When you ignore them, they panic. ⁷ 

When you take away their life’s breath, they die

and return to dust.

Daniel 4:35

4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ⁸ 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ⁹  his hand

and says to him, ‘What have you done?’

Revelation 1:18

1:18 and the one who lives! I ¹⁰  was dead, but look, now I am alive – forever and ever – and I hold the keys of death and of Hades! ¹¹ 

Revelation 3:7

To the Church in Philadelphia

3:7 “To ¹²  the angel of the church in Philadelphia write the following: ¹³ 

“This is the solemn pronouncement of ¹⁴  the Holy One, the True One, who holds the key of David, who opens doors ¹⁵  no one can shut, and shuts doors ¹⁶  no one can open:

[23:13]  ¹ tc The MT has “But he [is] in one.” Many add the word “mind” to capture the point that God is resolute and unchanging. Some commentators find this too difficult, and so change the text from בְאֶחָד (bÿ’ekhad, here “unchangeable”) to בָחָר (bakhar, “he has chosen”). The wording in the text is idiomatic and should be retained. R. Gordis (Job, 262) translates it “he is one, i.e., unchangeable, fixed, determined.” The preposition בּ (bet) is a bet essentiae – “and he [is] as one,” or “he is one” (see GKC 379 §119.i).

[23:13]  ² tn Heb “cause him to return.”

[23:13]  ³ tn Or “his soul.”

[23:14]  ⁴ tn The text has “my decree,” which means “the decree [plan] for/against me.” The suffix is objective, equivalent to a dative of disadvantage. The Syriac and the Vulgate actually have “his decree.” R. Gordis (Job, 262) suggests taking it in the same sense as in Job 14:5: “my limit.”.

[23:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “and many such [things] are with him.”

[104:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “a boundary you set up, they will not cross, they will not return to cover the earth.”

[104:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “you hide your face, they are terrified.”

[4:35]  ⁸ tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

[4:35]  ⁹ tn Aram “strikes against.”

[1:18]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:18]  ¹¹ tn Concerning “Hades” BDAG 19 s.v. ᾅδης 1 and 2 states: “Orig. proper noun, god of the nether world, ‘Hades’, then the nether world, Hades as place of the dead, Ac 2:27, 31 (Ps 15:10; Eccl 9:10; PGM 1, 179; 16, 8; Philo, Mos. 1, 195; Jos., Bell. 1, 596, Ant. 6, 332). Of Jonah’s fish ἐκ τοῦ κατωτάτου ᾅδου. In the depths, contrasted w. heaven ἕως (τοῦ) ᾅδου Mt 11:23; Lk 10:15 (PsSol 15:10; cp.; Is 14:11, 15); ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ 16:23; ἐν ῝Αιδου ApcPt Rainer. Accessible by gates (but the pl. is also used [e.g. Hom., X., Ael. Aristid. 47, 20 K.=23 p. 450 D.] when only one gate is meant), hence πύλαι ᾅδου (Il. 5, 646; Is 38:10; Wsd 16:13; 3 Macc 5:51; Pss. Sol. 16:2. – Lucian, Menipp. 6 the magicians can open τοῦ ῝Αιδου τὰς πύλας and conduct people in and out safely) Mt 16:18…locked ἔχω τὰς κλεῖς τοῦ θανάτου καὶ τοῦ ᾅδου Rv 1:18 (the genitives are either obj. [Ps.-Apollod. 3, 12, 6, 10 Aeacus, the son of Zeus holds the κλεῖς τοῦ ῝Αιδου; SEG VIII, 574, 3 (III ad) τῷ τὰς κλεῖδας ἔχοντι τῶν καθ᾿ ῝Αιδου (restored)] or possess.; in the latter case death and Hades are personif.; s. 2)…Hades personif.…w. θάνατος (cp. Is 28:15; Job 38:17…) Rv 6:8; 20:13f.”

[3:7]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated due to differences between Greek and English style.

[3:7]  ¹³ tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.

[3:7]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” See the note on the phrase “this is the solemn pronouncement of” in 2:1.

[3:7]  ¹⁵ tn The word “door” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied in the translation. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context. Since the following verse does contain the word “door” (θύραν, quran), that word has been supplied as the direct object here.

[3:7]  ¹⁶ tn See the note on the word “door” earlier in this verse.