Psalms 18:4

18:4 The waves ¹  of death engulfed me,

the currents ²  of chaos ³  overwhelmed me. ⁴ 

Psalms 18:16

18:16 He reached down ⁵  from above and took hold of me;

he pulled me from the surging water. ⁶ 

Psalms 42:7

42:7 One deep stream calls out to another ⁷  at the sound of your waterfalls; ⁸ 

all your billows and waves overwhelm me. ⁹ 

Psalms 65:7

65:7 You calm the raging seas ¹⁰ 

and their roaring waves,

as well as the commotion made by the nations. ¹¹ 

Psalms 93:3

93:3 The waves ¹²  roar, O Lord,

the waves roar,

the waves roar and crash. ¹³ 

Isaiah 8:7-8

8:7 So look, the sovereign master ¹⁴  is bringing up against them the turbulent and mighty waters of the Euphrates River ¹⁵  – the king of Assyria and all his majestic power. It will reach flood stage and overflow its banks. ¹⁶  8:8 It will spill into Judah, flooding and engulfing, as it reaches to the necks of its victims. He will spread his wings out over your entire land, ¹⁷  O Immanuel.” ¹⁸ 

Ezekiel 27:26-34

27:26 Your rowers have brought you into surging waters.

The east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas.

27:27 Your wealth, products, and merchandise, your sailors and captains,

your ship’s carpenters, ¹⁹  your merchants,

and all your fighting men within you,

along with all your crew who are in you,

will fall into the heart of the seas on the day of your downfall.

27:28 At the sound of your captains’ cry the waves will surge; ²⁰ 

27:29 They will descend from their ships – all who handle the oar,

the sailors and all the sea captains – they will stand on the land.

27:30 They will lament loudly ²¹  over you and cry bitterly.

They will throw dust on their heads and roll in the ashes; ²² 

27:31 they will tear out their hair because of you and put on sackcloth,

and they will weep bitterly over you with intense mourning. ²³ 

27:32 As they wail they will lament over you, chanting:

“Who was like Tyre, like a tower ²⁴  in the midst of the sea?”

27:33 When your products went out from the seas,

you satisfied many peoples;

with the abundance of your wealth and merchandise

you enriched the kings of the earth.

27:34 Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depths of the waters;

your merchandise and all your company have sunk ²⁵  along with you. ²⁶ 

Daniel 9:26

9:26 Now after the sixty-two weeks,

an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. ²⁷ 

As for the city and the sanctuary,

the people of the coming prince will destroy ²⁸  them.

But his end will come speedily ²⁹  like a flood. ³⁰ 

Until the end of the war that has been decreed

there will be destruction.

Luke 21:25

The Arrival of the Son of Man

21:25 “And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, ³¹  and on the earth nations will be in distress, ³²  anxious ³³  over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves.

Revelation 17:15-16

17:15 Then ³⁴  the angel ³⁵  said to me, “The waters you saw (where the prostitute is seated) are peoples, multitudes, ³⁶  nations, and languages. 17:16 The ³⁷  ten horns that you saw, and the beast – these will hate the prostitute and make her desolate and naked. They ³⁸  will consume her flesh and burn her up with fire. ³⁹ 

[18:4]  ¹ tc Ps 18:4 reads “ropes,” while 2 Sam 22:5 reads “waves.” The reading of the psalm has been influenced by the next verse (note “ropes of Sheol”) and perhaps also by Ps 116:3 (where “ropes of death” appears, as here, with the verb אָפַף, ’afaf). However, the parallelism of v. 4 (note “currents” in the next line) favors the reading “waves.” While the verb אָפַף is used with “ropes” as subject in Ps 116:3, it can also be used with engulfing “waters” as subject (see Jonah 2:5). Death is compared to surging waters in v. 4 and to a hunter in v. 5.

[18:4]  ² tn The Hebrew noun נַחַל (nakhal) usually refers to a river or stream, but in this context the plural form likely refers to the currents of the sea (see vv. 15-16).

[18:4]  ³ tn The noun בְלִיַּעַל (vÿliyya’al) is used here as an epithet for death. Elsewhere it is a common noun meaning “wickedness, uselessness.” It is often associated with rebellion against authority and other crimes that result in societal disorder and anarchy. The phrase “man/son of wickedness” refers to one who opposes God and the order he has established. The term becomes an appropriate title for death, which, through human forces, launches an attack against God’s chosen servant.

[18:4]  ⁴ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. (Note the perfect verbal form in the parallel/preceding line.) The verb בָּעַת (ba’at) sometimes by metonymy carries the nuance “frighten,” but the parallelism (see “engulfed”) favors the meaning “overwhelm” here.

[18:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “stretched.” Perhaps “his hand” should be supplied by ellipsis (see Ps 144:7). In this poetic narrative context the three prefixed verbal forms in this verse are best understood as preterites indicating past tense, not imperfects.

[18:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see v. 4 and Ps 144:7).

[42:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “deep calls to deep.” The Hebrew noun תְּהוֹם (tÿhom) often refers to the deep sea, but here, where it is associated with Hermon, it probably refers to mountain streams. The word can be used of streams and rivers (see Deut 8:7; Ezek 31:4).

[42:7]  ⁸ tn The noun צִנּוֹר (tsinnor, “waterfall”) occurs only here and in 2 Sam 5:8, where it apparently refers to a water shaft. The psalmist alludes to the loud rushing sound of mountain streams and cascading waterfalls. Using the poetic device of personification, he imagines the streams calling out to each other as they hear the sound of the waterfalls.

[42:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “pass over me” (see Jonah 2:3). As he hears the sound of the rushing water, the psalmist imagines himself engulfed in the current. By implication he likens his emotional distress to such an experience.

[65:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the roar of the seas.”

[65:7]  ¹¹ sn The raging seas…the commotion made by the nations. The raging seas symbolize the turbulent nations of the earth (see Ps 46:2-3, 6; Isa 17:12).

[93:3]  ¹² tn The Hebrew noun translated “waves” often refers to rivers or streams, but here it appears to refer to the surging waves of the sea (see v. 4, Ps 24:2).

[93:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “the waves lift up, O Lord, the waves lift up their voice, the waves lift up their crashing.”

[8:7]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[8:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the mighty and abundant waters of the river.” The referent of “the river” here, the Euphrates River, has been specified in the translation for clarity. As the immediately following words indicate, these waters symbolize the Assyrian king and his armies which will, as it were, inundate the land.

[8:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “it will go up over all its stream beds and go over all its banks.”

[8:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and the spreading out of his wings [will be over] the fullness of the breadth of your land.” The metaphor changes here from raging flood to predatory bird.

[8:8]  ¹⁸ sn The appearance of the name Immanuel (“God is with us”) is ironic at this point, for God is present with his people in judgment. Immanuel is addressed here as if he has already been born and will see the judgment occur. This makes excellent sense if his birth has just been recorded. There are several reasons for considering Immanuel and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz one and the same. 8:3 is a birth account which could easily be understood as recording the fulfillment of the birth prophecy of 7:14. The presence of a formal record/witnesses (8:1-2) suggests a sign function for the child (cf. 7:14). As in 7:14-16, the removal of Judah’s enemies would take place before the child reached a specified age (cf. 8:4). Both 7:17-25 and 8:7-8 speak of an Assyrian invasion of Judah which would follow the defeat of Israel/Syria. The major objection to this view is the fact that different names appear, but such a phenomenon is not without parallel in the OT (cf. Gen 35:18). The name Immanuel may emphasize the basic fact of God’s presence, while the name Maher focuses on the specific nature of God’s involvement. In 7:14 the mother is viewed as naming the child, while in 8:3 Isaiah is instructed to give the child’s name, but one might again point to Gen 35:18 for a precedent. The sign child’s age appears to be different in 8:4 than in 7:15-16, but 7:15-16 pertains to the judgment on Judah, as well as the defeat of Israel/Syria (cf. vv. 17-25), while 8:4 deals only with the downfall of Israel/Syria. Some argue that the suffixed form “your land” in 8:8 points to a royal referent (a child of Ahaz or the Messiah), but usage elsewhere shows that the phrase does not need to be so restricted. While the suffix can refer to the king of a land (cf. Num 20:17; 21:22; Deut 2:27; Judg 11:17, 19; 2 Sam 24:13; 1 Kgs 11:22; Isa 14:20), it can also refer to one who is a native of a particular land (cf. Gen 12:1; 32:9; Jonah 1:8). (See also the use of “his land” in Isa 13:14 [where the suffix refers to a native of a land] and 37:7 [where it refers to a king].)

[27:27]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “your repairers of damage.” See v. 9.

[27:28]  ²⁰ tn Compare this phrase to Isa 57:20 and Amos 8:8. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:561.

[27:30]  ²¹ tn Heb “make heard over you with their voice.”

[27:30]  ²² tn Note a similar expression to “roll in the ashes” in Mic 1:10.

[27:31]  ²³ tn Heb “and they will weep concerning you with bitterness of soul, (with) bitter mourning.”

[27:32]  ²⁴ tn As it stands, the meaning of the Hebrew text is unclear. The translation follows the suggestion of M. Dahood, “Accadian-Ugaritic dmt in Ezekiel 27:32,” Bib 45 (1964): 83-84. Several other explanations and emendations have been offered. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:83, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:85-86, for a list of options.

[27:34]  ²⁵ tn Heb “fallen.”

[27:34]  ²⁶ tn Heb “in the midst of you.”

[9:26]  ²⁷ sn The expression have nothing is difficult. Presumably it refers to an absence of support or assistance for the anointed one at the time of his “cutting off.” The KJV rendering “but not for himself,” apparently suggesting a vicarious death, cannot be defended.

[9:26]  ²⁸ tc Some witnesses (e.g., the Syriac) understand a passive verb and the preposition עִם (’im, “with) rather than the noun עַם (’am, “people”), thus reading “the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed with the coming prince.”

[9:26]  ²⁹ tn The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[9:26]  ³⁰ sn Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.

[21:25]  ³¹ sn Signs in the sun and moon and stars are cosmic signs that turn our attention to the end and the Son of Man’s return for the righteous. OT imagery is present: See Isa 13:9-10; 24:18-20; 34:4; Ezek 32:7-8; Joel 2:1, 30-31; 3:15.

[21:25]  ³² tn Grk “distress of nations.”

[21:25]  ³³ tn Or “in consternation” (L&N 32.9).

[17:15]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[17:15]  ³⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:15]  ³⁶ tn Grk “and multitudes,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here and before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[17:16]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ³⁸ tn A new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ³⁹ tn The final clause could also be turned into an adverbial clause of means: “They will consume her flesh by burning her with fire.”