Psalms 2:12

2:12 Give sincere homage! ¹ 

Otherwise he ²  will be angry, ³ 

and you will die because of your behavior, ⁴ 

when his anger quickly ignites. ⁵ 

How blessed ⁶  are all who take shelter in him! ⁷ 

John 5:23

5:23 so that all people ⁸  will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Hebrews 1:6

1:6 But when he again brings ⁹  his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him!” ¹⁰ 

Revelation 5:9-13

5:9 They were singing a new song: ¹¹ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ¹² 

and at the cost of your own blood ¹³  you have purchased ¹⁴  for God

persons ¹⁵  from every tribe, language, ¹⁶  people, and nation.

5:10 You have appointed ¹⁷  them ¹⁸  as a kingdom and priests ¹⁹  to serve ²⁰  our God, and they will reign ²¹  on the earth.”

5:11 Then ²²  I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their ²³  number was ten thousand times ten thousand ²⁴  – thousands times thousands – 5:12 all of whom ²⁵  were singing ²⁶  in a loud voice:

“Worthy is the lamb who was killed ²⁷ 

to receive power and wealth

and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and praise!”

5:13 Then ²⁸  I heard every creature – in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them – singing: ²⁹ 

“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb

be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power ³⁰  forever and ever!”

[2:12]  ¹ tn Traditionally, “kiss the son” (KJV). But בַּר (bar) is the Aramaic word for “son,” not the Hebrew. For this reason many regard the reading as suspect. Some propose emendations of vv. 11b-12a. One of the more popular proposals is to read בִּרְעָדָה נַשְּׁקוּ לְרַגְלָיו (bir’adah nashÿqu lÿraslayv, “in trembling kiss his feet”). It makes better sense to understand בַּר (bar) as an adjective meaning “pure” (see Pss 24:4; 73:1 and BDB 141 s.v. בַּר 3) functioning here in an adverbial sense. If read this way, then the syntactical structure of exhortation (imperative followed by adverbial modifier) corresponds to the two preceding lines (see v. 11). The verb נָשַׁק (nashaq, “kiss”) refers metonymically to showing homage (see 1 Sam 10:1; Hos 13:2). The exhortation in v. 12a advocates a genuine expression of allegiance and warns against insincerity. When swearing allegiance, vassal kings would sometimes do so insincerely, with the intent of rebelling when the time was right. The so-called “Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon” also warn against such an attitude. In this treaty the vassal is told: “If you, as you stand on the soil where this oath [is sworn], swear the oath with your words and lips [only], do not swear with your entire heart, do not transmit it to your sons who will live after this treaty, if you take this curse upon yourselves but do not plan to keep the treaty of Esarhaddon…may your sons and grandsons because of this fear in the future” (see J. B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East, 2:62).

[2:12]  ² tn Throughout the translation of this verse the third person masculine pronouns refer to the Lord (cf. v. 11).

[2:12]  ³ tn The implied subject of the verb is the Lord, mentioned in v. 11. Elsewhere the subject of this verb is consistently the Lord, suggesting it may be a technical term for divine anger. Anger is here used metonymically for judgment, as the following statement makes clear. A Moabite cognate occurs in the Mesha inscription, where it is used of the Moabite god Chemosh’s anger at his people (see J. B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East, 1:209).

[2:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “and you will perish [in the] way.” The Hebrew word דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) here refers to their rebellious behavior (not to a pathway, as often understood). It functions syntactically as an adverbial accusative in relation to the verb “perish.”

[2:12]  ⁵ tn Or “burns.” The Lord’s anger is compared here to fire, the most destructive force known in ancient Israel.

[2:12]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[2:12]  ⁷ sn Who take shelter in him. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[5:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “all.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for stylistic reasons and for clarity (cf. KJV “all men”).

[1:6]  ⁹ tn Or “And again when he brings.” The translation adopted in the text looks forward to Christ’s second coming to earth. Some take “again” to introduce the quotation (as in 1:5) and understand this as Christ’s first coming, but this view does not fit well with Heb 2:7. Others understand it as his exaltation/ascension to heaven, but this takes the phrase “into the world” in an unlikely way.

[1:6]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation combining themes from Deut 32:43 and Ps 97:7.

[5:9]  ¹¹ tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

[5:9]  ¹² tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:9]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoihsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.

[5:10]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”

[5:10]  ²⁰ tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”

[5:10]  ²¹ 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.

[5:11]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:11]  ²³ tn Grk “elders, and the number of them was.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[5:11]  ²⁴ tn Or “myriads of myriads.” Although μυριάς (murias) literally means “10,000,” the point of the combination here may simply be to indicate an incalculably huge number. See L&N 60.9.

[5:12]  ²⁵ tn The words “all of whom” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to indicate the resumption of the phrase “the voice of many angels” at the beginning of the verse.

[5:12]  ²⁶ tn Grk “saying.”

[5:12]  ²⁷ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:13]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:13]  ²⁹ tn Grk “saying.”

[5:13]  ³⁰ tn Or “dominion.”