Psalms 111:9

111:9 He delivered his people; ¹ 

he ordained that his covenant be observed forever. ² 

His name is holy and awesome.

Psalms 145:17

145:17 The Lord is just in all his actions, ³ 

and exhibits love in all he does. ⁴ 

Joshua 24:19

24:19 Joshua warned ⁵  the people, “You will not keep worshiping ⁶  the Lord, for ⁷  he is a holy God. ⁸  He is a jealous God who will not forgive ⁹  your rebellion or your sins.

Joshua 24:1

Israel Renews its Commitment to the Lord

24:1 Joshua assembled all the Israelite tribes at Shechem. He summoned Israel’s elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and they appeared before God.

Joshua 2:2

2:2 The king of Jericho received this report: “Note well! ¹⁰  Israelite men have come here tonight ¹¹  to spy on the land.”

Isaiah 6:3

6:3 They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy ¹²  is the Lord who commands armies! ¹³  His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!”

John 17:11

17:11 I ¹⁴  am no longer in the world, but ¹⁵  they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe ¹⁶  in your name ¹⁷  that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. ¹⁸ 

Revelation 4:8

4:8 Each one of the four living creatures had six wings ¹⁹  and was full of eyes all around and inside. ²⁰  They never rest day or night, saying: ²¹ 

“Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God, the All-Powerful, ²² 

Who was and who is, and who is still to come!”

Revelation 15:3-4

15:3 They ²³  sang the song of Moses the servant ²⁴  of God and the song of the Lamb: ²⁵ 

“Great and astounding are your deeds,

Lord God, the All-Powerful! ²⁶ 

Just ²⁷  and true are your ways,

King over the nations! ²⁸ 

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

and glorify ²⁹  your name, because you alone are holy? ³⁰ 

All nations ³¹  will come and worship before you

for your righteous acts ³²  have been revealed.”

[111:9]  ¹ tn Heb “redemption he sent for his people.”

[111:9]  ² tn Heb “he commanded forever his covenant.”

[145:17]  ³ tn Heb “in all his ways.”

[145:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “and [is] loving in all his deeds.”

[24:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “said to.”

[24:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “you are not able to serve.”

[24:19]  ⁷ sn For an excellent discussion of Joshua’s logical argument here, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 274-75.

[24:19]  ⁸ tn In the Hebrew text both the divine name (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) and the adjective (קְדֹשִׁים, qÿdoshim, “holy”) are plural. Normally the divine name, when referring to the one true God, takes singular modifiers, but this is a rare exception where the adjective agrees grammatically with the honorific plural noun. See GKC §124.i and IBHS 122.

[24:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “lift up” or “take away.”

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “look.”

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “men have come here tonight from the sons of Israel.”

[6:3]  ¹² tn Some have seen a reference to the Trinity in the seraphs’ threefold declaration, “holy, holy, holy.” This proposal has no linguistic or contextual basis and should be dismissed as allegorical. Hebrew sometimes uses repetition for emphasis. (See IBHS 233-34 §12.5a; and GKC 431-32 §133.k.) By repeating the word “holy,” the seraphs emphasize the degree of the Lord’s holiness. For another example of threefold repetition for emphasis, see Ezek 21:27 (Heb. v. 32). (Perhaps Jer 22:29 provides another example.)

[6:3]  ¹³ tn Perhaps in this context, the title has a less militaristic connotation and pictures the Lord as the ruler of the heavenly assembly. See the note at 1:9.

[17:11]  ¹⁴ tn Grk And I.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:11]  ¹⁵ tn The context indicates that this should be translated as an adversative or contrastive conjunction.

[17:11]  ¹⁶ tn Or “protect them”; Grk “keep them.”

[17:11]  ¹⁷ tn Or “by your name.”

[17:11]  ¹⁸ tn The second repetition of “one” is implied, and is supplied here for clarity.

[4:8]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “six wings apiece,” but this is redundant with “each one” in English.

[4:8]  ²⁰ tn Some translations render ἔσωθεν (eswqen) as “under [its] wings,” but the description could also mean “filled all around on the outside and on the inside with eyes.” Since the referent is not available to the interpreter, the exact force is difficult to determine.

[4:8]  ²¹ tn Or “They never stop saying day and night.”

[4:8]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[15:3]  ²⁴ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[15:3]  ²⁵ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:3]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

[15:3]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Or “and praise.”

[15:4]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[15:4]  ³² 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.”