Psalms 11:4

11:4 The Lord is in his holy temple; ¹ 

the Lord’s throne is in heaven. ² 

His eyes ³  watch; ⁴ 

his eyes ⁵  examine ⁶  all people. ⁷ 

Psalms 68:33

68:33 to the one who rides through the sky from ancient times! ⁸ 

Look! He thunders loudly. ⁹ 

Psalms 115:3

115:3 Our God is in heaven!

He does whatever he pleases! ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 40:22

40:22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; ¹¹ 

its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. ¹² 

He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, ¹³ 

and spreads it out ¹⁴  like a pitched tent. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ¹⁶  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ¹⁷ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 66:1

66:1 This is what the Lord says:

“The heavens are my throne

and the earth is my footstool.

Where then is the house you will build for me?

Where is the place where I will rest?

[11:4]  ¹ tn Because of the royal imagery involved here, one could translate “lofty palace.” The Lord’s heavenly temple is in view here (see Mic 1:2-4).

[11:4]  ² sn The Lord’s throne is in heaven. The psalmist is confident that the Lord reigns as sovereign king, “keeps an eye on” all people, and responds in a just manner to the godly and wicked.

[11:4]  ³ sn His eyes. The anthropomorphic language draws attention to God’s awareness of and interest in the situation on earth. Though the enemies are hidden by the darkness (v. 2), the Lord sees all.

[11:4]  ⁴ tn The two Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this verse describe the Lord’s characteristic activity.

[11:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “eyelids.”

[11:4]  ⁶ tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 7:9; 26:2; 139:23.

[11:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “test the sons of men.”

[68:33]  ⁸ tc Heb “to the one who rides through the skies of skies of ancient times.” If the MT is retained, one might translate, “to the one who rides through the ancient skies.” (שְׁמֵי [shÿmey, “skies of”] may be accidentally repeated.) The present translation assumes an emendation to בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִקֶּדֶם (bashamayim miqqedem, “[to the one who rides] through the sky from ancient times”), that is, God has been revealing his power through the storm since ancient times.

[68:33]  ⁹ tn Heb “he gives his voice a strong voice.” In this context God’s “voice” is the thunder that accompanies the rain (see vv. 8-9, as well as Deut 33:26).

[115:3]  ¹⁰ sn He does whatever he pleases. Such sovereignty is characteristic of kings (see Eccl 8:3).

[40:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the circle of the earth” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[40:22]  ¹² tn The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[40:22]  ¹³ tn The otherwise unattested noun דֹּק (doq), translated here “thin curtain,” is apparently derived from the verbal root דקק (“crush”) from which is derived the adjective דַּק (daq, “thin”; see HALOT 229 s.v. דקק). The nuance “curtain” is implied from the parallelism (see “tent” in the next line).

[40:22]  ¹⁴ tn The meaning of the otherwise unattested verb מָתַח (matakh, “spread out”) is determined from the parallelism (note the corresponding verb “stretch out” in the previous line) and supported by later Hebrew and Aramaic cognates. See HALOT 654 s.v. *מתה.

[40:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “like a tent [in which] to live”; NAB, NASB “like a tent to dwell (live NIV, NRSV) in.”

[57:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”