Psalms 48:4-5

48:4 For ¹  look, the kings assemble; ² 

they advance together.

48:5 As soon as they see, ³  they are shocked; ⁴ 

they are terrified, they quickly retreat. ⁵ 

Psalms 58:10-11

58:10 The godly ⁶  will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out;

they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.

58:11 Then ⁷  observers ⁸  will say,

“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded! ⁹ 

Yes indeed, there is a God who judges ¹⁰  in the earth!”

Psalms 68:1-3

Psalm 68 ¹¹ 

For the music director; by David, a psalm, a song.

68:1 God springs into action! ¹² 

His enemies scatter;

his adversaries ¹³  run from him. ¹⁴ 

68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ¹⁵ 

As wax melts before fire,

so the wicked are destroyed before God.

68:3 But the godly ¹⁶  are happy;

they rejoice before God

and are overcome with joy. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 83:9-18

83:9 Do to them as you did to Midian ¹⁸  –

as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River! ¹⁹ 

83:10 They were destroyed at Endor; ²⁰ 

their corpses were like manure ²¹  on the ground.

83:11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, ²² 

and all their rulers like Zebah and Zalmunna, ²³ 

83:12 who said, ²⁴  “Let’s take over ²⁵  the pastures of God!”

83:13 O my God, make them like dead thistles, ²⁶ 

like dead weeds blown away by ²⁷  the wind!

83:14 Like the fire that burns down the forest,

or the flames that consume the mountainsides, ²⁸ 

83:15 chase them with your gale winds,

and terrify ²⁹  them with your windstorm.

83:16 Cover ³⁰  their faces with shame,

so they might seek ³¹  you, ³²  O Lord.

83:17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified! ³³ 

May they die in shame! ³⁴ 

83:18 Then they will know ³⁵  that you alone are the Lord, ³⁶ 

the sovereign king ³⁷  over all the earth.

Psalms 92:9

92:9 Indeed, ³⁸  look at your enemies, O Lord!

Indeed, ³⁹  look at how your enemies perish!

All the evildoers are scattered!

Psalms 97:8

97:8 Zion hears and rejoices,

the towns ⁴⁰  of Judah are happy,

because of your judgments, O Lord.

Revelation 6:10

6:10 They ⁴¹  cried out with a loud voice, ⁴²  “How long, ⁴³  Sovereign Master, ⁴⁴  holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?”

Revelation 18:20

18:20 (Rejoice over her, O heaven,

and you saints and apostles and prophets,

for God has pronounced judgment ⁴⁵  against her on your behalf!) ⁴⁶ 

Revelation 19:2-3

19:2 because his judgments are true and just. ⁴⁷ 

For he has judged ⁴⁸  the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,

and has avenged the blood of his servants ⁴⁹  poured out by her own hands!” ⁵⁰ 

19:3 Then ⁵¹  a second time the crowd shouted, “Hallelujah!” The smoke rises from her forever and ever. ⁵² 

[48:4]  ¹ tn The logical connection between vv. 3-4 seems to be this: God is the protector of Zion and reveals himself as the city’s defender – this is necessary because hostile armies threaten the city.

[48:4]  ² tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 4-6 are understood as descriptive. In dramatic style (note הִנֵּה, hinneh, “look”) the psalm describes an enemy attack against the city as if it were occurring at this very moment. Another option is to take the perfects as narrational (“the kings assembled, they advanced”), referring to a particular historical event, such as Sennacherib’s siege of the city in 701 b.c. (cf. NIV, NRSV). Even if one translates the verses in a dramatic-descriptive manner (as the present translation does), the Lord’s victory over the Assyrians was probably what served as the inspiration of the description (see v. 8).

[48:5]  ³ tn The object of “see” is omitted, but v. 3b suggests that the Lord’s self-revelation as the city’s defender is what they see.

[48:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “they look, so they are shocked.” Here כֵּן (ken, “so”) has the force of “in the same measure.”

[48:5]  ⁵ tn The translation attempts to reflect the staccato style of the Hebrew text, where the main clauses of vv. 4-6 are simply juxtaposed without connectives.

[58:10]  ⁶ tn The singular is representative here, as is the singular from “wicked” in the next line.

[58:11]  ⁷ tn Following the imperfects of v. 10, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates a result or consequence of what precedes.

[58:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “man.” The singular is representative here.

[58:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “surely [there] is fruit for the godly.”

[58:11]  ¹⁰ tn The plural participle is unusual here if the preceding אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is here a plural of majesty, referring to the one true God. Occasionally the plural of majesty does take a plural attributive (see GKC 428-29 §132.h). It is possible that the final mem (ם) on the participle is enclitic, and that it was later misunderstood as a plural ending. Another option is to translate, “Yes indeed, there are gods who judge in the earth.” In this case, the statement reflects the polytheistic mindset of pagan observers who, despite their theological ignorance, nevertheless recognize divine retribution when they see it.

[68:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 68. The psalmist depicts God as a mighty warrior and celebrates the fact that God exerts his power on behalf of his people.

[68:1]  ¹² tn Or “rises up.” The verb form is an imperfect, not a jussive. The psalmist is describing God’s appearance in battle in a dramatic fashion.

[68:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “those who hate him.”

[68:1]  ¹⁴ sn The wording of v. 1 echoes the prayer in Num 10:35: “Spring into action, Lord! Then your enemies will be scattered and your adversaries will run from you.”

[68:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”

[68:3]  ¹⁶ tn By placing the subject first the psalmist highlights the contrast between God’s ecstatic people and his defeated enemies (vv. 1-2).

[68:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and they are happy with joy” (cf. NEB). Some translate the prefixed verbal forms of v. 3 as jussives, “Let the godly be happy, let them rejoice before God, and let them be happy with joy!” (Cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV; note the call to praise in v. 4.)

[83:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “do to them like Midian.”

[83:9]  ¹⁹ sn The psalmist alludes here to Gideon’s victory over the Midianites (see Judg 7-8) and to Barak’s victory over Jabin’s army, which was led by his general Sisera (Judg 4-5).

[83:10]  ²⁰ sn Endor is not mentioned in the accounts of Gideon’s or Barak’s victories, but both battles took place in the general vicinity of the town. (See Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Bible Atlas, 46, 54.) Because Sisera and Jabin are mentioned in v. 9b, many understand them to be the subject of the verbs in v. 10, though they relate v. 10 to Gideon’s victory, which is referred to in v. 9a, 11. (See, for example, Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 263.)

[83:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “they were manure.” In addition to this passage, corpses are compared to manure in 2 Kgs 9:37; Jer 8:2; 9:21; 16:4; 25:33.

[83:11]  ²² sn Oreb and Zeeb were the generals of the Midianite army that was defeated by Gideon. The Ephraimites captured and executed both of them and sent their heads to Gideon (Judg 7:24-25).

[83:11]  ²³ sn Zebah and Zalmunna were the Midianite kings. Gideon captured them and executed them (Judg 8:1-21).

[83:12]  ²⁴ tn The translation assumes that “Zebah and Zalmunna” are the antecedents of the relative pronoun (“who [said]”). Another option is to take “their nobles…all their rulers” as the antecedent and to translate, “those who say.”

[83:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “let’s take possession for ourselves.”

[83:13]  ²⁶ tn Or “tumbleweed.” The Hebrew noun גַּלְגַּל (galgal) refers to a “wheel” or, metaphorically, to a whirling wind (see Ps 77:18). If taken in the latter sense here, one could understand the term as a metonymical reference to dust blown by a whirlwind (cf. NRSV “like whirling dust”). However, HALOT 190 s.v. II גַּלְגַּל understands the noun as a homonym referring to a “dead thistle” here and in Isa 17:13. The parallel line, which refers to קַשׁ (qash, “chaff”), favors this interpretation.

[83:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “before.”

[83:14]  ²⁸ sn The imagery of fire and flames suggests unrelenting, destructive judgment.

[83:15]  ²⁹ tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 15 express the psalmist’s wish or prayer.

[83:16]  ³⁰ tn Heb “fill.”

[83:16]  ³¹ tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose or result (“then they will seek”).

[83:16]  ³² tn Heb “your name,” which stands here for God’s person.

[83:17]  ³³ tn Heb “and may they be terrified to perpetuity.” The Hebrew expression עֲדֵי־עַד (’adey-’ad, “to perpetuity”) can mean “forevermore” (see Pss 92:7; 132:12, 14), but here it may be used hyperbolically, for the psalmist asks that the experience of judgment might lead the nations to recognize (v. 18) and even to seek (v. 16) God.

[83:17]  ³⁴ tn Heb “may they be ashamed and perish.” The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling severe judgment down on his enemies. The strong language of the imprecation seems to run contrary to the positive outcome of divine judgment envisioned in v. 16b. Perhaps the language of v. 17 is overstated for effect. Another option is that v. 16b expresses an ideal, while the strong imprecation of vv. 17-18 anticipates reality. It would be nice if the defeated nations actually pursued a relationship with God, but if judgment does not bring them to that point, the psalmist asks that they be annihilated so that they might at least be forced to acknowledge God’s power.

[83:18]  ³⁵ tn After the preceding jussives (v. 17), the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose (“so that they may know”) or result.

[83:18]  ³⁶ tn Heb “that you, your name [is] the Lord, you alone.”

[83:18]  ³⁷ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[92:9]  ³⁸ tn Or “for.”

[92:9]  ³⁹ tn Or “for.”

[97:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “daughters.” The term “daughters” refers to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 48:11 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).

[6:10]  ⁴¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:10]  ⁴² tn Grk “voice, saying”; the participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[6:10]  ⁴³ tn The expression ἕως πότε (ews pote) was translated “how long.” Cf. BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 1.b.γ.

[6:10]  ⁴⁴ tn The Greek term here is δεσπότης (despoths; see L&N 37.63).

[18:20]  ⁴⁵ tn On the phrase “pronounced judgment” BDAG 567 s.v. κρίμα 4.b states, “The OT is the source of the expr. κρίνειν τὸ κρ. (cp. Zech 7:9; 8:16; Ezk 44:24) ἔκρινεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς God has pronounced judgment for you against her or God has pronounced on her the judgment she wished to impose on you (HHoltzmann, Hdb. 1893 ad loc.) Rv 18:20.”

[18:20]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “God has judged a judgment of you of her.” Verse 20 is set in parentheses because in it the saints, etc. are addressed directly in the second person.

[19:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Compare the similar phrase in Rev 16:7.

[19:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “has punished.” See BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α, describing the OT background which involves both the vindication of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty.

[19:2]  ⁴⁹ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[19:2]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “from her hand” (referring to her responsibility in causing the blood of God’s followers to be shed).

[19:3]  ⁵¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:3]  ⁵² tn Or “her smoke ascends forever and ever.”