Psalms 2:8-12

2:8 Ask me,

and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, ¹ 

the ends of the earth as your personal property.

2:9 You will break them ²  with an iron scepter; ³ 

you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” ⁴ 

2:10 So now, you kings, do what is wise; ⁵ 

you rulers of the earth, submit to correction! ⁶ 

2:11 Serve ⁷  the Lord in fear!

Repent in terror! ⁸ 

2:12 Give sincere homage! ⁹ 

Otherwise he ¹⁰  will be angry, ¹¹ 

and you will die because of your behavior, ¹² 

when his anger quickly ignites. ¹³ 

How blessed ¹⁴  are all who take shelter in him! ¹⁵ 

Psalms 110:5-6

110:5 O sovereign Lord, ¹⁶  at your right hand

he strikes down ¹⁷  kings in the day he unleashes his anger. ¹⁸ 

110:6 He executes judgment ¹⁹  against ²⁰  the nations;

he fills the valleys with corpses; ²¹ 

he shatters their heads over the vast battlefield. ²² 

Psalms 149:6-9

149:6 May they praise God

while they hold a two-edged sword in their hand, ²³ 

149:7 in order to take ²⁴  revenge on the nations,

and punish foreigners.

149:8 They bind ²⁵  their kings in chains,

and their nobles in iron shackles,

149:9 and execute the judgment to which their enemies ²⁶  have been sentenced. ²⁷ 

All his loyal followers will be vindicated. ²⁸ 

Praise the Lord!

Isaiah 60:12

60:12 Indeed, ²⁹  nations or kingdoms that do not serve you will perish;

such nations will be totally destroyed. ³⁰ 

Zechariah 12:3

12:3 Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden ³¹  for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; ³²  yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it.

Revelation 17:14

17:14 They will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those accompanying ³³  the Lamb are the called, chosen, and faithful.”

Revelation 19:11-21

The Son of God Goes to War

19:11 Then ³⁴  I saw heaven opened and here came ³⁵  a white horse! The ³⁶  one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice ³⁷  he judges and goes to war. 19:12 His eyes are like a fiery ³⁸  flame and there are many diadem crowns ³⁹  on his head. He has ⁴⁰  a name written ⁴¹  that no one knows except himself. 19:13 He is dressed in clothing dipped ⁴²  in blood, and he is called ⁴³  the Word of God. 19:14 The ⁴⁴  armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, ⁴⁵  were following him on white horses. 19:15 From his mouth extends a sharp sword, so that with it he can strike the nations. ⁴⁶  He ⁴⁷  will rule ⁴⁸  them with an iron rod, ⁴⁹  and he stomps the winepress ⁵⁰  of the furious ⁵¹  wrath of God, the All-Powerful. ⁵²  19:16 He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

19:17 Then ⁵³  I saw one angel standing in ⁵⁴  the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: ⁵⁵ 

“Come, gather around for the great banquet ⁵⁶  of God,

19:18 to eat ⁵⁷  your fill ⁵⁸  of the flesh of kings,

the flesh of generals, ⁵⁹ 

the flesh of powerful people,

the flesh of horses and those who ride them,

and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, ⁶⁰ 

and small and great!”

19:19 Then ⁶¹  I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army. 19:20 Now ⁶²  the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf ⁶³  – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. ⁶⁴  19:21 The ⁶⁵  others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged ⁶⁶  themselves with their flesh.

[2:8]  ¹ sn I will give you the nations. The Lord promises the Davidic king universal dominion.

[2:9]  ² tc The LXX reads “you will shepherd them.” This reading, quoted in the Greek text of the NT in Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, assumes a different vocalization of the consonantal Hebrew text and understands the verb as רָעָה (ra’ah, “to shepherd”) rather than רָעָע (ra’a’, “to break”). But the presence of נָפַץ (nafats, “to smash”) in the next line strongly favors the MT vocalization.

[2:9]  ³ tn The Hebrew term שֵׁבֶט (shevet) can refer to a “staff” or “rod,” but here it probably refers to the Davidic king’s royal scepter, symbolizing his sovereignty.

[2:9]  ⁴ sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.

[2:10]  ⁵ sn The speaker here is either the psalmist or the Davidic king, who now addresses the rebellious kings.

[2:10]  ⁶ tn The Niphal has here a tolerative nuance; the kings are urged to submit themselves to the advice being offered.

[2:11]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew verb translated “serve” refers here to submitting to the Lord’s sovereignty as expressed through the rule of the Davidic king. Such “service” would involve maintaining allegiance to the Davidic king by paying tribute on a regular basis.

[2:11]  ⁸ tn Traditionally, “rejoice with trembling” (KJV). The verb גִּיל (gil) normally means “rejoice,” but this meaning does not fit well here in conjunction with “in trembling.” Some try to understand “trembling” (and the parallel יִרְאָה, yir’ah, “fear”) in the sense of “reverential awe” and then take the verbs “serve” and “rejoice” in the sense of “worship” (cf. NASB). But רְעָדָה (rÿ’adah, “trembling”) and its related terms consistently refer to utter terror and fear (see Exod 15:15; Job 4:14; Pss 48:6; 55:5; 104:32; Isa 33:14; Dan 10:11) or at least great emotional distress (Ezra 10:9). It seems more likely here that גִּיל carries its polarized meaning “mourn, lament,” as in Hos 10:5. “Mourn, lament” would then be metonymic in this context for “repent” (referring to one’s rebellious ways). On the meaning of the verb in Hos 10:5, see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea (AB), 556-57.

[2:12]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Throughout the translation of this verse the third person masculine pronouns refer to the Lord (cf. v. 11).

[2:12]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Or “burns.” The Lord’s anger is compared here to fire, the most destructive force known in ancient Israel.

[2:12]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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).

[110:5]  ¹⁶ tn As pointed in the Hebrew text, this title refers to God (many medieval Hebrew mss read יְהוָה, yehveh, “Lord” here). The present translation assumes that the psalmist here addresses the Lord as he celebrates what the king is able to accomplish while positioned at God’s “right hand.” According to this view the king is the subject of the third person verb forms in vv. 5b-7. (2) Another option is to understand the king as the addressee (as in vv. 2-3). In this case “the Lord” is the subject of the third person verbs throughout vv. 5-7 and is depicted as a warrior in a very anthropomorphic manner. In this case the Lord is pictured as being at the psalmist’s right hand (just the opposite of v. 1). See Pss 16:8; 121:5. (3) A third option is to revocalize אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”) as אֲדֹנִי (’adoniy, “my lord”; see v. 1). In this case one may translate, “My lord, at his [God’s] right hand, strikes down.” In this case the king is the subject of the third person verbs in vv. 5b-7.

[110:5]  ¹⁷ tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 5-6 are understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing. Another option is to take them as rhetorical. In this case the psalmist describes anticipated events as if they had already taken place.

[110:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in the day of his anger.”

[110:6]  ¹⁹ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 6-7 are understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing, though they could be taken as future.

[110:6]  ²⁰ tn Or “among.”

[110:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “he fills [with] corpses,” but one expects a double accusative here. The translation assumes an emendation to גְוִיּוֹת גֵאָיוֹת(בִּ) מִלֵּא or מִלֵּא גֵאָיוֹת גְּוִיוֹת (for a similar construction see Ezek 32:5). In the former case גֵאָיוֹת(ge’ayot) has accidentally dropped from the text due to homoioteleuton; in the latter case it has dropped out due to homoioarcton.

[110:6]  ²² tn Heb “he strikes [the verb is מָחַץ (makhats), translated “strikes down” in v. 5] head[s] over a great land.” The Hebrew term רַבָּה (rabbah, “great”) is here used of distance or spatial measurement (see 1 Sam 26:13).

[149:6]  ²³ tn Heb “[May] praises of God [be] in their throat, and a two-edged sword in their hand.”

[149:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to do.”

[149:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “to bind.”

[149:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the enemies of the people of God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[149:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “to do against them judgment [that] is written.”

[149:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “it is honor for all his godly ones.” The judgment of the oppressive kings will bring vindication and honor to God’s people (see vv. 4-5).

[60:12]  ²⁹ tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); TEV “But.”

[60:12]  ³⁰ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[12:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “heavy stone” (so NRSV, TEV, NLT); KJV “burdensome stone”; NIV “an immovable rock.”

[12:3]  ³² sn In Israel’s and Judah’s past they had been uprooted by various conquerors such as the Assyrians and the Babylonians. In the eschaton, however, they will be so “heavy” with God’s glory and so rooted in his promises that no nation will be able to move them.

[17:14]  ³³ tn See BDAG 636 s.v. μετά A.2.a.α.

[19:11]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:11]  ³⁵ tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[19:11]  ³⁶ tn A new sentence was started in the translation at this point and καί (kai) was not translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:11]  ³⁷ tn Or “in righteousness,” but since the context here involves the punishment of the wicked and the vindication of the saints, “justice” was preferred.

[19:12]  ³⁸ tn The genitive noun πυρός (puros) has been translated as an attributive genitive (see also Rev 1:14).

[19:12]  ³⁹ tn For the translation of διάδημα (diadhma) as “diadem crown” see L&N 6.196.

[19:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “head, having.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[19:12]  ⁴¹ tn Although many translations supply a prepositional phrase to specify what the name was written on (“upon Him,” NASB; “on him,” NIV), there is no location for the name specified in the Greek text.

[19:13]  ⁴² tc It appears that “dipped” (βεβαμμένον, bebammenon), supported by several uncials and other witnesses (A 051 Ï), is the original reading. Due to the lack of the preposition “in” (ἐν, en) after the verb (βεβαμμένον αἵματι, bebammenon {aimati), and also probably because of literary allusions to Isa 63:3, several mss and versions seem to have changed the text to “sprinkled” (either ῥεραντισμένον [rJerantismenon] in P 2329 al; ἐρραντισμένον [errantismenon] in 1006 1841; ἐρραμμένον [errammenon] in 2053 2062; or ῥεραμμένον [rJerammenon] in 1611; or in one case περιρεραμμένον [perirerammenon] in א^[2]). The reading most likely to give rise to the others is “dipped.”

[19:13]  ⁴³ tn Grk “the name of him is called.”

[19:14]  ⁴⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:14]  ⁴⁵ tn On the term translated “fine linen,” BDAG 185 s.v. βύσσινος states, “made of fine linen, subst. τὸ β. fine linen, linen garment…Rv 18:12, 16; 19:8, 14.”

[19:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[19:15]  ⁴⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:15]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “will shepherd.”

[19:15]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “scepter.” The Greek term ῥάβδος (rJabdo") can mean either “rod” or “scepter.”

[19:15]  ⁵⁰ sn He stomps the winepress. See Isa 63:3, where Messiah does this alone (usually several individuals would join in the process), and Rev 14:20.

[19:15]  ⁵¹ tn The genitive θυμοῦ (qumou) has been translated as an attributed genitive. Following BDAG 461 s.v. θυμός 2, the combination of the genitives of θυμός (qumos) and ὀργή (orgh) in Rev 16:19 and 19:15 are taken to be a strengthening of the thought as in the OT and Qumran literature (Exod 32:12; Jer 32:37; Lam 2:3; CD 10:9).

[19:15]  ⁵² tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

[19:17]  ⁵³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:17]  ⁵⁴ tn The precise significance of ἐν (en) here is difficult to determine.

[19:17]  ⁵⁵ tn On μεσουρανήματι (mesouranhmati) here see L&N 1.10: “high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.” The birds mentioned here are carrion birds like vultures, circling high overhead, and now being summoned to feast on the corpses.

[19:17]  ⁵⁶ tn This is the same Greek word (δεῖπνον, deipnon) used in 19:9.

[19:18]  ⁵⁷ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause, insofar as it is related to the first imperative, has the force of an imperative.

[19:18]  ⁵⁸ tn The idea of eating “your fill” is evident in the context with the use of χορτάζω (cortazw) in v. 21.

[19:18]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “chiliarchs”; normally a chiliarch was a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).

[19:18]  ⁶⁰ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[19:19]  ⁶¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:20]  ⁶² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of an unexpected development in the account: The opposing armies do not come together in battle; rather the leader of one side is captured.

[19:20]  ⁶³ tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”

[19:20]  ⁶⁴ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[19:21]  ⁶⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:21]  ⁶⁶ tn On the translation of ἐχορτάσθησαν (ecortasqhsan) BDAG 1087 s.v. χορτάζω 1.a states, “of animals, pass. in act. sense πάντα τὰ ὄρνεα ἐχορτάσθησαν ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτῶν all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh Rv 19:21 (cp. TestJud. 21:8).”