Psalms 10:16

10:16 The Lord rules forever! ¹ 

The nations are driven out of his land. ² 

Psalms 44:4

44:4 You are my ³  king, O God!

Decree ⁴  Jacob’s ⁵  deliverance!

Psalms 47:6-7

47:6 Sing to God! Sing!

Sing to our king! Sing!

47:7 For God is king of the whole earth!

Sing a well-written song! ⁶ 

Psalms 74:12

74:12 But God has been my ⁷  king from ancient times,

performing acts of deliverance on the earth. ⁸ 

Psalms 89:18

89:18 For our shield ⁹  belongs to the Lord,

our king to the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 149:2

149:2 Let Israel rejoice in their Creator!

Let the people ¹¹  of Zion delight in their king! ¹² 

Isaiah 33:22

33:22 For the Lord, our ruler,

the Lord, our commander,

the Lord, our king –

he will deliver us.

Isaiah 43:15

43:15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, ¹³ 

the one who created Israel, your king.”

Jeremiah 8:19

8:19 I hear my dear people ¹⁴  crying out ¹⁵ 

throughout the length and breadth of the land. ¹⁶ 

They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion?

Is her divine King ¹⁷  no longer there?’”

The Lord answers, ¹⁸ 

“Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images,

with their worthless foreign idols?” ¹⁹ 

Zechariah 14:9

14:9 The Lord will then be king over all the earth. In that day the Lord will be seen as one with a single name. ²⁰ 

John 1:49

1:49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king ²¹  of Israel!” ²² 

[10:16]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord is king forever and ever.”

[10:16]  ² tn Or “the nations perish from his land.” The perfect verb form may express what is typical or it may express rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude that God’s deliverance is “as good as done.”

[44:4]  ³ sn The speaker changes here to an individual, perhaps the worship leader or the king. The oscillation between singular (vv. 4, 6) and plural (vv. 1-3, 5, 7-8) in vv. 1-8 may reflect an antiphonal ceremony.

[44:4]  ⁴ tc The LXX assumes a participle here (מְצַוֶּה [mÿtsavveh], “the one who commands/decrees”) which would stand in apposition to “my God.” It is possible that the MT, which has the imperative (צַוֵּה, tsavveh) form, has suffered haplography of the letter mem (ם). Note that the preceding word (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) ends in mem. Another option is that the MT is divided in the wrong place; perhaps one could move the final mem from אֱלֹהִים to the beginning of the next word and read מְצַוֶּה אֱלֹהָי (’elohay mÿtsavveh, “[You are my king,] my God, the one who decrees”).

[44:4]  ⁵ tn That is, Israel. See Pss 14:7; 22:23.

[47:7]  ⁶ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term also occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142. Here, in a context of celebration, the meaning “skillful, well-written” would fit particularly well.

[74:12]  ⁷ tn The psalmist speaks as Israel’s representative here.

[74:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the midst of the earth.”

[89:18]  ⁹ tn The phrase “our shield” refers metaphorically to the Davidic king, who, as God’s vice-regent, was the human protector of the people. Note the parallelism with “our king" here and with “your anointed one” in Ps 84:9.

[89:18]  ¹⁰ sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah.

[149:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “sons.”

[149:2]  ¹² sn The Lord is the king here, as the parallelism in the previous line (“their creator”) indicates.

[43:15]  ¹³ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[8:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[8:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Behold the voice of the crying of the daughter of my people.”

[8:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Land of distances, i.e., of wide extent.” For parallel usage cf. Isa 33:17.

[8:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “her King” but this might be misunderstood by some to refer to the Davidic ruler even with the capitalization.

[8:19]  ¹⁸ tn The words, “The Lord would answer” are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation for clarity. Another option would be to add “And I can just hear the Lord reply.”

[8:19]  ¹⁹ sn The people’s cry and the Lord’s interruption reflect the same argument that was set forth in the preceding chapter. They have misguided confidence that the Lord is with them regardless of their actions and he responds that their actions have provoked him to the point of judging them. See especially 7:4 and 7:30.

[14:9]  ²⁰ sn The expression the Lord will be seen as one with a single name is an unmistakable reference to the so-called Shema, the crystallized statement of faith in the Lord as the covenant God of Israel (cf. Deut 6:4-5). Zechariah, however, universalizes the extent of the Lord’s dominion – he will be “king over all the earth.”

[1:49]  ²¹ tn Although βασιλεύς (basileus) lacks the article it is definite due to contextual and syntactical considerations. See ExSyn 263.

[1:49]  ²² sn Nathanael’s confession – You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel – is best understood as a confession of Jesus’ messiahship. It has strong allusions to Ps 2:6-7, a well-known messianic psalm. What Nathanael’s exact understanding was at this point is hard to determine, but “son of God” was a designation for the Davidic king in the OT, and Nathanael parallels it with King of Israel here.