Numbers 16:3

16:3 And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, ¹  seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the Lord?”

Leviticus 21:6-8

21:6 “‘They must be holy to their God, and they must not profane ²  the name of their God, because they are the ones who present the Lord’s gifts, ³  the food of their God. Therefore they must be holy. ⁴  21:7 They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution, ⁵  nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband, ⁶  for the priest ⁷  is holy to his God. ⁸  21:8 You must sanctify him because he presents the food of your God. He must be holy to you because I, the Lord who sanctifies you all, ⁹  am holy.

Leviticus 21:12-15

21:12 He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane ¹⁰  the sanctuary of his God, because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord. 21:13 He must take a wife who is a virgin. ¹¹  21:14 He must not marry ¹²  a widow, a divorced woman, or one profaned by prostitution; he may only take a virgin from his people ¹³  as a wife. 21:15 He must not profane his children among his people, ¹⁴  for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”

Isaiah 61:5-6

61:5 ¹⁵ “Foreigners will take care of ¹⁶  your sheep;

foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards.

61:6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,

servants of our God.’ ¹⁷ 

You will enjoy ¹⁸  the wealth of nations

and boast about ¹⁹  the riches you receive from them. ²⁰ 

Isaiah 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ²¹  me. ²² 

He has commissioned ²³  me to encourage ²⁴  the poor,

to help ²⁵  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

Isaiah 2:5-9

2:5 O descendants ²⁶  of Jacob,

come, let us walk in the Lord’s guiding light. ²⁷ 

The Lord’s Day of Judgment

2:6 Indeed, O Lord, ²⁸  you have abandoned your people,

the descendants of Jacob.

For diviners from the east are everywhere; ²⁹ 

they consult omen readers like the Philistines do. ³⁰ 

Plenty of foreigners are around. ³¹ 

2:7 Their land is full of gold and silver;

there is no end to their wealth. ³² 

Their land is full of horses;

there is no end to their chariots. ³³ 

2:8 Their land is full of worthless idols;

they worship ³⁴  the product of their own hands,

what their own fingers have fashioned.

2:9 Men bow down to them in homage,

they lie flat on the ground in worship. ³⁵ 

Don’t spare them! ³⁶ 

Revelation 1:6

1:6 and has appointed ³⁷  us as a kingdom, ³⁸  as priests ³⁹  serving his God and Father – to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! ⁴⁰  Amen.

Revelation 5:9-10

5:9 They were singing a new song: ⁴¹ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ⁴² 

and at the cost of your own blood ⁴³  you have purchased ⁴⁴  for God

persons ⁴⁵  from every tribe, language, ⁴⁶  people, and nation.

5:10 You have appointed ⁴⁷  them ⁴⁸  as a kingdom and priests ⁴⁹  to serve ⁵⁰  our God, and they will reign ⁵¹  on the earth.”

[16:3]  ¹ tn The meaning of רַב־לָכֶם (rab-lakhem) is something like “you have assumed far too much authority.” It simply means “much to you,” perhaps “you have gone to far,” or “you are overreaching yourselves” (M. Noth, Numbers [OTL], 123). He is objecting to the exclusiveness of the system that Moses has been introducing.

[21:6]  ² sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.

[21:6]  ³ sn Regarding the Hebrew term for “gifts,” see the note on Lev 1:9 above (cf. also 3:11 and 16 in combination with the word for “food” that follows in the next phrase here).

[21:6]  ⁴ tc Smr and all early versions have the plural adjective “holy” rather than the MT singular noun “holiness.”

[21:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “A wife harlot and profaned they shall not take.” The structure of the verse (e.g., “wife” at the beginning of the two main clauses) suggests that “harlot and profaned” constitutes a hendiadys, meaning “a wife defiled by harlotry” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 143, as opposed to that in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 343, 348; cf. v. 14 below). Cf. NASB “a woman who is profaned by harlotry.”

[21:7]  ⁶ sn For a helpful discussion of divorce in general and as it relates to this passage see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 143-44.

[21:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:7]  ⁸ tn The pronoun “he” in this clause refers to the priest, not the former husband of the divorced woman.

[21:8]  ⁹ tn The three previous second person references in this verse are all singular, but this reference is plural. By adding “all” this grammatical distinction is preserved in the translation.

[21:12]  ¹⁰ sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.

[21:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And he, a wife in her virginity he shall take.”

[21:14]  ¹² tn Heb “take.” In context this means “take as wife,” i.e., “marry.”

[21:14]  ¹³ tc The MT has literally, “from his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “from his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.

[21:15]  ¹⁴ tc The MT has literally, “in his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.

[61:5]  ¹⁵ sn The Lord speaks in vv. 7-8 (and possibly v. 9). It is not clear where the servant’s speech (see vv. 1-3a) ends and the Lord’s begins. Perhaps the direct address to the people signals the beginning of the Lord’s speech.

[61:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will stand [in position] and shepherd.”

[61:6]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”

[61:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”

[61:6]  ¹⁹ tc The form in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yit’ammÿru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (’amar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).

[61:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).

[61:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ²² sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ²³ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ²⁴ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[2:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “house,” referring to the family line or descendants (likewise in v. 6).

[2:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “let’s walk in the light of the Lord.” In this context, which speaks of the Lord’s instruction and commands, the “light of the Lord” refers to his moral standards by which he seeks to guide his people. One could paraphrase, “let’s obey the Lord’s commands.”

[2:6]  ²⁸ tn The words “O Lord” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Isaiah addresses the Lord in prayer.

[2:6]  ²⁹ tc Heb “they are full from the east.” Various scholars retain the BHS reading and suggest that the prophet makes a general statement concerning Israel’s reliance on foreign customs (J. Watts, Isaiah [WBC], 1:32; J. de Waard, Isaiah, 12-13). Nevertheless, it appears that a word is missing. Based on the parallelism (note “omen readers” in 5:6c), many suggest that קֹסְמִים (qosÿmim, “diviners”) or מִקְסָם (miqsam, “divination”) has been accidentally omitted. Homoioteleuton could account for the omission of an original קֹסְמִים (note how this word and the following מִקֶּדֶם [miqqedem, “from the east”] both end in mem); an original מִקְסָם could have fallen out by homoioarcton (note how this word and the following מִקֶּדֶם both begin with mem).

[2:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and omen readers like the Philistines.” Through this line and the preceding, the prophet contends that Israel has heavily borrowed the pagan practices of the east and west (in violation of Lev 19:26; Deut 18:9-14).

[2:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “and with the children of foreigners they [?].” The precise meaning of the final word is uncertain. Some take this verb (I שָׂפַק, safaq) to mean “slap,” supply the object “hands,” and translate, “they slap [hands] with foreigners”; HALOT 1349 s.v. I שׂפק. This could be a reference to foreign alliances. This translation has two disadvantages: It requires the conjectural insertion of “hands” and the use of this verb with its object prefixed with a בְּ (bet) preposition with this meaning does not occur elsewhere. The other uses of this verb refer to clapping at someone, an indication of hostility. The translation above assumes the verb is derived from II שׂפק (“to suffice,” attested in the Qal in 1 Kgs 20:10; HALOT 1349 s.v. II שׂפק). In this case the point is that a sufficient number of foreigners (in this case, too many!) live in the land. The disadvantage of this option is that the preposition prefixed to “the children of foreigners” does not occur with this verb elsewhere. The chosen translation is preferred since it continues the idea of abundant foreign influence and does not require a conjectural insertion or emendation.

[2:7]  ³² tn Or “treasuries”; KJV “treasures.”

[2:7]  ³³ sn Judah’s royal bureaucracy had accumulated great wealth and military might, in violation of Deut 17:16-17.

[2:8]  ³⁴ tn Or “bow down to” (NIV, NRSV).

[2:9]  ³⁵ tn Heb “men bow down, men are low.” Since the verbs שָׁחָח (shakhakh) and שָׁפַל (shafal) are used later in this discourse to describe how God will humiliate proud men (see vv. 11, 17), some understand v. 9a as a prediction of judgment, “men will be brought down, men will be humiliated.” However, these prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive appear to carry on the description that precedes and are better taken with the accusation. They draw attention to the fact that human beings actually bow down and worship before the lifeless products of their own hands.

[2:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “don’t lift them up.” The idiom “lift up” (נָשָׂא with לְ, nasa’ with preposition lamed) can mean “spare, forgive” (see Gen 18:24, 26). Here the idiom plays on the preceding verbs. The idolaters are bowed low as they worship their false gods; the prophet asks God not to “lift them up.”

[1:6]  ³⁷ tn The verb ποιέω (poiew) can indicate appointment or assignment rather than simply “make” or “do.” See Mark 3:14 (L&N 37.106).

[1:6]  ³⁸ tn See BDAG 168 s.v. βασιλεία 1.a for the idea of “he made us a kingdom,” which was translated as “he appointed us (to be or function) as a kingdom” (see the note on the word “appointed” earlier in the verse).

[1:6]  ³⁹ tn Grk “a kingdom, priests.” The term ἱερεῖς (Jiereis) is either in apposition to βασιλείαν (basileian) or as a second complement to the object “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas). The translation retains this ambiguity.

[1:6]  ⁴⁰ tc Both the longer reading τῶν αἰώνων (twn aiwnwn, “to the ages of the ages” or, more idiomatically, “for ever and ever”; found in א C Ï) and the shorter (“for ever”; found in ̹⁸ A P 2050 pc bo) have good ms support. The author uses the longer expression (εἰς [τοὺς] αἰῶνας [τῶν] αἰώνων, ei" [tou"] aiwna" [twn] aiwnwn) in every other instance of αἰών in Revelation, twelve passages in all (1:18; 4:9, 10; 5:13; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 14:11; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5). Thus, on the one hand, the style of the author is consistent, while on the other hand, the scribes may have been familiar with such a stylistic feature, causing them to add the words here. The issues are more complex than can be presented here; the longer reading, however, is probably original (the shorter reading arising from accidental omission of the genitive phrase due to similarity with the preceding words).

[5:9]  ⁴¹ tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

[5:9]  ⁴² tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:9]  ⁴³ tn The preposition ἐν (en) is taken to indicate price here, like the Hebrew preposition ב (bet) does at times. BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 5.b states, “The ἐν which takes the place of the gen. of price is also instrumental ἠγόρασας ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου Rv 5:9 (cp. 1 Ch 21:24 ἀγοράζω ἐν ἀργυρίῳ).”

[5:9]  ⁴⁴ tc The Greek text as it stands above (i.e., the reading τῷ θεῷ [tw qew] alone) is found in codex A. א 2050 2344 Ï sy add the term “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas), either before or after τῷ θεῷ, as an attempt to clarify the object of “purchased” (ἠγόρασας, hgorasa"). A few mss (1 vg^ms) delete the reference to God altogether and simply replace it with “us” (ἡμᾶς). This too is an attempt to remove ambiguity in the phrase and provide an object for “purchased.” The shorter reading, supported by the best witness for Revelation, best accounts for the other readings.

[5:9]  ⁴⁵ tn The word “persons” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:9]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “and language,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[5:10]  ⁴⁷ tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoihsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.

[5:10]  ⁴⁸ tc The vast majority of witnesses have αὐτούς (autous, “them”) here, while the Textus Receptus reads ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”) with insignificant support (pc gig vg^cl sa Prim Bea). There is no question that the original text read αὐτούς here.

[5:10]  ⁴⁹ tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”

[5:10]  ⁵⁰ tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”

[5:10]  ⁵¹ tc The textual problem here between the present tense βασιλεύουσιν (basileuousin, “they are reigning”; so A 1006 1611 Ï^K pc) and the future βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, “they will reign”; so א 1854 2053 Ï^A pc lat co) is a difficult one. Both readings have excellent support. On the one hand, the present tense seems to be the harder reading in this context. On the other hand, codex A elsewhere mistakes the future for the present (20:6). Further, the lunar sigma in uncial script could have been overlooked by some scribes, resulting in the present tense. All things considered, there is a slight preference for the future.