Psalms 96:11

96:11 Let the sky rejoice, and the earth be happy!

Let the sea and everything in it shout!

Psalms 98:7-9

98:7 Let the sea and everything in it shout,

along with the world and those who live in it!

98:8 Let the rivers clap their hands!

Let the mountains sing in unison

98:9 before the Lord!

For he comes to judge the earth!

He judges the world fairly, ¹ 

and the nations in a just manner.

Psalms 114:1-8

Psalm 114 ² 

114:1 When Israel left Egypt,

when the family of Jacob left a foreign nation behind, ³ 

114:2 Judah became his sanctuary,

Israel his kingdom.

114:3 The sea looked and fled; ⁴ 

the Jordan River ⁵  turned back. ⁶ 

114:4 The mountains skipped like rams,

the hills like lambs. ⁷ 

114:5 Why do you flee, O sea?

Why do you turn back, O Jordan River?

114:6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains,

like lambs, O hills?

114:7 Tremble, O earth, before the Lord –

before the God of Jacob,

114:8 who turned a rock into a pool of water,

a hard rock into springs of water! ⁸ 

Isaiah 55:12

55:12 Indeed you will go out with joy;

you will be led along in peace;

the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you,

and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.

Habakkuk 2:11

2:11 For the stones in the walls will cry out,

and the wooden rafters will answer back. ⁹ 

Matthew 3:9

3:9 and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

Matthew 21:15-16

21:15 But when the chief priests and the experts in the law ¹⁰  saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts, ¹¹  “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant 21:16 and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of children and nursing infants you have prepared praise for yourself’?” ¹² 

Matthew 27:45

Jesus’ Death

27:45 Now from noon until three, ¹³  darkness came over all the land. ¹⁴ 

Matthew 27:51-54

27:51 Just then ¹⁵  the temple curtain ¹⁶  was torn in two, from top to bottom. The ¹⁷  earth shook and the rocks were split apart. 27:52 And tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had died ¹⁸  were raised. 27:53 (They ¹⁹  came out of the tombs after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.) 27:54 Now when the centurion ²⁰  and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were extremely terrified and said, “Truly this one was God’s Son!”

Matthew 27:2

27:2 They ²¹  tied him up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate ²²  the governor. ²³ 

Matthew 2:6

2:6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are in no way least among the rulers of Judah,

for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” ²⁴ 

[98:9]  ¹ tn The verbal forms in v. 9 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions (“will judge…”).

[114:1]  ² sn Psalm 114. The psalmist recalls the events of the exodus and conquest and celebrates God’s kingship over his covenant people.

[114:1]  ³ tn Heb “the house of Jacob from a nation speaking a foreign language.” The Hebrew verb לָעַז (la’at, “to speak a foreign language”) occurs only here in the OT.

[114:3]  ⁴ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Red Sea (Exod 14:21).

[114:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Jordan” (also in v. 5). The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[114:3]  ⁶ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Jordan River (Josh 3:13, 16).

[114:4]  ⁷ sn The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. This may recall the theophany at Sinai when the mountain shook before God’s presence (Exod 19:18).

[114:8]  ⁸ sn In v. 8 the psalmist recalls the event(s) recorded in Exod 17:6 and/or Num 20:11 (see also Deut 8:15 and Ps 78:15-16, 20).

[2:11]  ⁹ sn The house mentioned in vv. 9-10 represents the Babylonian empire, which became great through imperialism. Here the materials of this “house” (the stones in the walls, the wooden rafters) are personified as witnesses who testify that the occupants have built the house through wealth stolen from others.

[21:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[21:15]  ¹¹ tn Grk “crying out in the temple [courts] and saying.” The participle λέγοντας (legontas) is somewhat redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[21:16]  ¹² sn A quotation from Ps 8:2.

[27:45]  ¹³ tn Grk “from the sixth hour to the ninth hour.”

[27:45]  ¹⁴ sn This imagery has parallels to the Day of the Lord: Joel 2:10; Amos 8:9; Zeph 1:15.

[27:51]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And behold.”

[27:51]  ¹⁶ tn The referent of this term, καταπέτασμα (katapetasma), is not entirely clear. It could refer to the curtain separating the holy of holies from the holy place (Josephus, J. W. 5.5.5 [5.219]), or it could refer to one at the entrance of the temple court (Josephus, J. W. 5.5.4 [5.212]). Many argue that the inner curtain is meant because another term, κάλυμμα (kalumma), is also used for the outer curtain. Others see a reference to the outer curtain as more likely because of the public nature of this sign. Either way, the symbolism means that access to God has been opened up. It also pictures a judgment that includes the sacrifices.

[27:51]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:52]  ¹⁸ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

[27:53]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:54]  ²⁰ sn See the note on the word centurion in Matt 8:5.

[27:2]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:2]  ²² tc Most mss (A C W Θ 0250 Ë^1,13 Ï latt) have Ποντίῳ (Pontiw, “Pontius”) before Πιλάτῳ (Pilatw, “Pilate”), but there seems to be no reason for omitting the tribal name, either intentionally or unintentionally. Adding “Pontius,” however, is a natural expansion on the text, and is in keeping with several other NT and patristic references to the Roman governor (cf. Luke 3:1; Acts 4:27; 1 Tim 6:13; Ign. Magn. 11.1; Ign. Trall. 9.1; Ign. Smyrn. 1.2; Justin Martyr, passim). The shorter reading, supported by א B L 0281 33 pc co, is thus strongly preferred.

[27:2]  ²³ sn The Jews most assuredly wanted to put Jesus to death, but they lacked the authority to do so. For this reason they handed him over to Pilate in hopes of securing a death sentence. The Romans kept close control of the death penalty in conquered territories to prevent it from being used to execute Roman sympathizers.

[2:6]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Mic 5:2.