Discovery BoxPsalms 134:1-3
ContextA song of ascents. 2
134:1 Attention! 3 Praise the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord,
who serve 4 in the Lord’s temple during the night.
134:2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary
and praise the Lord!
134:3 May the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth,
Psalms 134:1
ContextA song of ascents. 8
134:1 Attention! 9 Praise the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord,
who serve 10 in the Lord’s temple during the night.
Psalms 2:5
Context2:5 Then he angrily speaks to them
and terrifies them in his rage, 11 saying, 12
Revelation 1:6
Context1:6 and has appointed 13 us as a kingdom, 14 as priests 15 serving his God and Father – to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! 16 Amen.
Revelation 4:7-11
Context4:7 The 17 first living creature was like a lion, the 18 second creature like an ox, the third creature had a face like a man’s, and the fourth creature looked like an eagle flying. 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!”
4:9 And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, 23 and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 4:10 the twenty-four elders throw themselves to the ground 24 before the one who sits on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever, and they offer their crowns 25 before his 26 throne, saying:
4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
since you created all things,
and because of your will they existed and were created!” 27
Revelation 5:8-10
Context5:8 and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground 28 before the Lamb. Each 29 of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the saints). 30 5:9 They were singing a new song: 31
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals
because you were killed, 32
and at the cost of your own blood 33 you have purchased 34 for God
persons 35 from every tribe, language, 36 people, and nation.
5:10 You have appointed 37 them 38 as a kingdom and priests 39 to serve 40 our God, and they will reign 41 on the earth.”
[134:1] 1 sn Psalm 134. The psalmist calls on the temple servants to praise God (vv. 1-2). They in turn pronounce a blessing on the psalmist (v. 3).
[134:1] 2 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
[134:3] 5 tn The pronominal suffix is second masculine singular, suggesting that the servants addressed in vv. 1-2 are responding to the psalmist.
[134:3] 6 tn Heb “may the
[134:1] 7 sn Psalm 134. The psalmist calls on the temple servants to praise God (vv. 1-2). They in turn pronounce a blessing on the psalmist (v. 3).
[134:1] 8 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
[2:5] 11 sn And terrifies them in his rage. This line focuses on the effect that God’s angry response (see previous line) has on the rebellious kings.
[2:5] 12 tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for clarification to indicate that the speaker is the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV).
[1:6] 13 tn The verb ποιέω (poiew) can indicate appointment or assignment rather than simply “make” or “do.” See Mark 3:14 (L&N 37.106).
[1:6] 14 tn See BDAG 168 s.v. βασιλεία 1.a for the idea of “he made us a kingdom,” which was translated as “he appointed us (to be or function) as a kingdom” (see the note on the word “appointed” earlier in the verse).
[1:6] 15 tn Grk “a kingdom, priests.” The term ἱερεῖς (Jiereis) is either in apposition to βασιλείαν (basileian) or as a second complement to the object “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas). The translation retains this ambiguity.
[1:6] 16 tc Both the longer reading τῶν αἰώνων (twn aiwnwn, “to the ages of the ages” or, more idiomatically, “for ever and ever”; found in א C Ï) and the shorter (“for ever”; found in Ì18 A P 2050 pc bo) have good ms support. The author uses the longer expression (εἰς [τοὺς] αἰῶνας [τῶν] αἰώνων, ei" [tou"] aiwna" [twn] aiwnwn) in every other instance of αἰών in Revelation, twelve passages in all (1:18; 4:9, 10; 5:13; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 14:11; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5). Thus, on the one hand, the style of the author is consistent, while on the other hand, the scribes may have been familiar with such a stylistic feature, causing them to add the words here. The issues are more complex than can be presented here; the longer reading, however, is probably original (the shorter reading arising from accidental omission of the genitive phrase due to similarity with the preceding words).
[4:7] 17 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[4:7] 18 tn Both here and before the phrase “the third,” καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
[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.”
[4:9] 23 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
[4:10] 24 tn Grk “the twenty-four elders fall down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”
[4:10] 25 sn See the note on the word crown in Rev 3:11.
[4:10] 26 tn The pronoun “his” is understood from the demonstrative force of the article τοῦ (tou) before θρόνου (qronou).
[4:11] 27 tc The past tense of “they existed” (ἦσαν, hsan) and the order of the expression “they existed and were created” seems backwards both logically and chronologically. The text as it stands is the more difficult reading and seems to have given rise to codex A omitting the final “they were created,” 2329 replacing “they existed” (ἦσαν) with “have come into being” (ἐγένοντο, egeneto), and 046 adding οὐκ (ouk, “not”) before ἦσαν (“they did not exist, [but were created]”). Several
[5:8] 28 tn Grk “fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”
[5:8] 29 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[5:8] 30 sn This interpretive comment by the author forms a parenthesis in the narrative.
[5:9] 31 tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.
[5:9] 32 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”
[5:9] 33 tn The preposition ἐν (en) is taken to indicate price here, like the Hebrew preposition ב (bet) does at times. BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 5.b states, “The ἐν which takes the place of the gen. of price is also instrumental ἠγόρασας ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου Rv 5:9 (cp. 1 Ch 21:24 ἀγοράζω ἐν ἀργυρίῳ).”
[5:9] 34 tc The Greek text as it stands above (i.e., the reading τῷ θεῷ [tw qew] alone) is found in codex A. א 2050 2344 Ï sy add the term “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas), either before or after τῷ θεῷ, as an attempt to clarify the object of “purchased” (ἠγόρασας, hgorasa"). A few
[5:9] 35 tn The word “persons” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
[5:9] 36 tn Grk “and language,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
[5:10] 37 tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoihsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.
[5:10] 38 tc The vast majority of witnesses have αὐτούς (autous, “them”) here, while the Textus Receptus reads ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”) with insignificant support (pc gig vgcl sa Prim Bea). There is no question that the original text read αὐτούς here.
[5:10] 39 tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”
[5:10] 40 tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”
[5:10] 41 tc The textual problem here between the present tense βασιλεύουσιν (basileuousin, “they are reigning”; so A 1006 1611 ÏK pc) and the future βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, “they will reign”; so א 1854 2053 ÏA pc lat co) is a difficult one. Both readings have excellent support. On the one hand, the present tense seems to be the harder reading in this context. On the other hand, codex A elsewhere mistakes the future for the present (20:6). Further, the lunar sigma in uncial script could have been overlooked by some scribes, resulting in the present tense. All things considered, there is a slight preference for the future.
