Psalms 48:4-6

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 

48:6 Look at them shake uncontrollably, ⁶ 

like a woman writhing in childbirth. ⁷ 

Psalms 139:7-10

139:7 Where can I go to escape your spirit?

Where can I flee to escape your presence? ⁸ 

139:8 If I were to ascend ⁹  to heaven, you would be there.

If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be. ¹⁰ 

139:9 If I were to fly away ¹¹  on the wings of the dawn, ¹² 

and settle down on the other side ¹³  of the sea,

139:10 even there your hand would guide me,

your right hand would grab hold of me.

Isaiah 2:10-12

2:10 Go up into the rocky cliffs,

hide in the ground.

Get away from the dreadful judgment of the Lord, ¹⁴ 

from his royal splendor!

2:11 Proud men will be brought low,

arrogant men will be humiliated; ¹⁵ 

the Lord alone will be exalted ¹⁶ 

in that day.

2:12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment, ¹⁷ 

for ¹⁸  all the high and mighty,

for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;

Amos 9:2

9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ¹⁹ 

my hand would pull them up from there.

Even if they could climb up to heaven,

I would drag them down from there.

Revelation 6:15

6:15 Then ²⁰  the kings of the earth, the ²¹  very important people, the generals, ²²  the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave ²³  and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.

[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.

[48:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “trembling seizes them there.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here, as often in poetic texts, to point “to a spot in which a scene is localized vividly in the imagination” (BDB 1027 s.v.).

[48:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “[with] writhing like one giving birth.”

[139:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “Where can I go from your spirit, and where from your face can I flee?” God’s “spirit” may refer here (1) to his presence (note the parallel term, “your face,” and see Ps 104:29-30, where God’s “face” is his presence and his “spirit” is the life-giving breath he imparts) or (2) to his personal Spirit (see Ps 51:10).

[139:8]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew verb סָלַק (salaq, “to ascend”) occurs only here in the OT, but the word is well-attested in Aramaic literature from different time periods and displays a wide semantic range (see DNWSI 2:788-90).

[139:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “look, you.”

[139:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “rise up.”

[139:9]  ¹² sn On the wings of the dawn. This personification of the “dawn” may find its roots in mythological traditions about the god Shachar, whose birth is described in an Ugaritic myth (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 126) and who is mentioned in Isa 14:12 as the father of Helel.

[139:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “at the end.”

[2:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from the dread of the Lord,” that is, from the dread that he produces in the objects of his judgment.” The words “get away” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the eyes of the pride of men will be brought low, and the arrogance of men will be brought down.” The repetition of the verbs שָׁפַל (shafal) and שָׁחָח (shakhakh) from v. 9 draws attention to the appropriate nature of the judgment. Those proud men who “bow low” before idols will be forced to “bow low” before God when he judges their sin.

[2:11]  ¹⁶ tn Or “elevated”; CEV “honored.”

[2:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] has a day.”

[2:12]  ¹⁸ tn Or “against” (NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[9:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”

[6:15]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[6:15]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated; nor is it translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[6:15]  ²² tn Grk “chiliarchs.” A chiliarch was normally 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).

[6:15]  ²³ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.