Psalms 89:7

89:7 a God who is honored ¹  in the great angelic assembly, ² 

and more awesome than ³  all who surround him?

Psalms 144:3-6

144:3 O Lord, of what importance is the human race, ⁴  that you should notice them?

Of what importance is mankind, ⁵  that you should be concerned about them? ⁶ 

144:4 People ⁷  are like a vapor,

their days like a shadow that disappears. ⁸ 

144:5 O Lord, make the sky sink ⁹  and come down! ¹⁰ 

Touch the mountains and make them smolder! ¹¹ 

144:6 Hurl lightning bolts and scatter them!

Shoot your arrows and rout them! ¹² 

Isaiah 40:12-17

The Lord is Incomparable

40:12 Who has measured out the waters ¹³  in the hollow of his hand,

or carefully ¹⁴  measured the sky, ¹⁵ 

or carefully weighed ¹⁶  the soil of the earth,

or weighed the mountains in a balance,

or the hills on scales? ¹⁷ 

40:13 Who comprehends ¹⁸  the mind ¹⁹  of the Lord,

or gives him instruction as his counselor? ²⁰ 

40:14 From whom does he receive directions? ²¹ 

Who ²²  teaches him the correct way to do things, ²³ 

or imparts knowledge to him,

or instructs him in skillful design? ²⁴ 

40:15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

they are regarded as dust on the scales.

He lifts ²⁵  the coastlands ²⁶  as if they were dust.

40:16 Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice; ²⁷ 

its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings. ²⁸ 

40:17 All the nations are insignificant before him;

they are regarded as absolutely nothing. ²⁹ 

Revelation 15:3-4

15:3 They ³⁰  sang the song of Moses the servant ³¹  of God and the song of the Lamb: ³² 

“Great and astounding are your deeds,

Lord God, the All-Powerful! ³³ 

Just ³⁴  and true are your ways,

King over the nations! ³⁵ 

15:4 Who will not fear you, O Lord,

and glorify ³⁶  your name, because you alone are holy? ³⁷ 

All nations ³⁸  will come and worship before you

for your righteous acts ³⁹  have been revealed.”

[89:7]  ¹ tn Heb “feared.”

[89:7]  ² tn Heb “in the great assembly of the holy ones.”

[89:7]  ³ tn Or perhaps “feared by.”

[144:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “What is mankind?” The singular noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) is used here in a collective sense and refers to the human race. See Ps 8:5.

[144:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the son of man.” The phrase “son of man” is used here in a collective sense and refers to human beings. For other uses of the phrase in a collective or representative manner, see Num 23:19; Ps 146:3; Isa 51:12.

[144:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “take account of him.” The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 describe God’s characteristic activity.

[144:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “man,” or “mankind.”

[144:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “his days [are] like a shadow that passes away,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness. See Ps 102:11.

[144:5]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “to [cause to] bend; to [cause to] bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the Lord causes the sky, pictured as a dome or vault, to sink down as he descends in the storm. See Ps 18:9.

[144:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “so you might come down.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The same type of construction is utilized in v. 6.

[144:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “so they might smolder.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative.

[144:6]  ¹² sn Arrows and lightning bolts are associated in other texts (see Pss 18:14; 77:17-18; Zech 9:14), as well as in ancient Near Eastern art (see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” [Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983], 187).

[40:12]  ¹³ tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has מי ים (“waters of the sea”), a reading followed by NAB.

[40:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “with a span.” A “span” was the distance between the ends of the thumb and the little finger of the spread hand” (BDB 285 s.v. זֶרֶת).

[40:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[40:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “or weighed by a third part [of a measure].”

[40:12]  ¹⁷ sn The implied answer to the rhetorical questions of v. 12 is “no one but the Lord. The Lord, and no other, created the world. Like a merchant weighing out silver or commodities on a scale, the Lord established the various components of the physical universe in precise proportions.

[40:13]  ¹⁸ tn Perhaps the verb is used metonymically here in the sense of “advises” (note the following line).

[40:13]  ¹⁹ tn In this context רוּחַ (ruakh) likely refers to the Lord’s “mind,” or mental faculties, rather than his personal Spirit (see BDB 925 s.v.).

[40:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “or [as] the man of his counsel causes him to know?”

[40:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “With whom did he consult, so that he gave discernment to him?”

[40:14]  ²² tn Heb “and taught him.” The vav (ו) consecutive with prefixed verbal form continues the previous line. The translation employs an interrogative pronoun for stylistic reasons.

[40:14]  ²³ tn The phrase אֹרַח מִשְׁפָּט (’orakh mishpat) could be translated “path of justice” (so NASB, NRSV), but in this context, where creative ability and skill is in view, the phrase is better understood in the sense of “the way that is proper or fitting” (see BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 6); cf. NIV, NCV “the right way.”

[40:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “or the way of understanding causes him to know?”

[40:15]  ²⁵ tn Or “weighs” (NIV); NLT “picks up.”

[40:15]  ²⁶ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV, NLT).

[40:16]  ²⁷ tn The words “for a sacrifice” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[40:16]  ²⁸ sn The point is that not even the Lebanon forest could supply enough wood and animals for an adequate sacrifice to the Lord.

[40:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “[as derived] from nothing and unformed.”

[15:3]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[15:3]  ³¹ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[15:3]  ³² tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:3]  ³³ 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.”

[15:3]  ³⁴ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

[15:3]  ³⁵ tc Certain mss (Ì⁴⁷ א*^,2 C 1006 1611 1841 pc) read “ages” (αἰώνων, aiwnwn) instead of “nations” (ἐθνῶν, eqnwn), which itself is supported by several mss (א¹ A 051 Ï). The ms evidence seems to be fairly balanced, though αἰώνων has somewhat better support. The replacement of “ages” with “nations” is possibly a scribal attempt to harmonize this verse with the use of “nations” in the following verse. On the other hand, the idea of “nations” fits well with v. 4 and it may be that “ages” is a scribal attempt to assimilate this text to 1 Tim 1:17: “the king of the ages” (βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων, basileu" twn aiwnwn). The decision is a difficult one since both scenarios deal well with the evidence, though the verbal parallel with 1 Tim 1:17 is exact while the parallel with v. 4 is not. The term “king” occurs 17 other times (most occurrences refer to earthly kings) in Revelation and it is not used with either “ages” or “nations” apart from this verse. Probably the reading “nations” should be considered original due to the influence of 1 Tim 1:17.

[15:4]  ³⁶ tn Or “and praise.”

[15:4]  ³⁷ sn Because you alone are holy. In the Greek text the sentence literally reads “because alone holy.” Three points can be made in connection with John’s language here: (1) Omitting the second person, singular verb “you are” lays stress on the attribute of God’s holiness. (2) The juxtaposition of alone with holy stresses the unique nature of God’s holiness and complete “otherness” in relationship to his creation. It is not just moral purity which is involved in the use of the term holy, though it certainly includes that. It is also the pervasive OT idea that although God is deeply involved in the governing of his creation, he is to be regarded as separate and distinct from it. (3) John’s use of the term holy is also intriguing since it is the term ὅσιος (Josios) and not the more common NT term ἅγιος (Jagios). The former term evokes images of Christ’s messianic status in early Christian preaching. Both Peter in Acts 2:27 and Paul in Acts 13:35 apply Psalm 16:10 (LXX) to Jesus, referring to him as the “holy one” (ὅσιος). It is also the key term in Acts 13:34 (Isa 55:3 [LXX]) where it refers to the “holy blessings” (i.e., forgiveness and justification) brought about through Jesus in fulfillment of Davidic promise. Thus, in Rev 15:3-4, when John refers to God as “holy,” using the term ὅσιος in a context where the emphasis is on both God and Christ, there might be an implicit connection between divinity and the Messiah. This is bolstered by the fact that the Lamb is referred to in other contexts as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (cf. 1:5; 17:14; 19:16 and perhaps 11:15; G. K. Beale, Revelation [NIGTC], 796-97).

[15:4]  ³⁸ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[15:4]  ³⁹ tn Or perhaps, “your sentences of condemnation.” On δικαίωμα (dikaiwma) in this context BDAG 249 s.v. 2. states, “righteous deed…δι᾿ ἑνὸς δικαιώματος (opp. παράπτωμα) Ro 5:18. – B 1:2 (cp. Wengst, Barnabas-brief 196, n.4); Rv 15:4 (here perh.= ‘sentence of condemnation’ [cp. Pla., Leg. 9, 864e; ins fr. Asia Minor: LBW 41, 2 [κατὰ] τὸ δι[καί]ωμα τὸ κυρω[θέν]= ‘acc. to the sentence which has become valid’]; difft. Wengst, s. above); 19:8.”