Psalms 145:3

145:3 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise!

No one can fathom his greatness! ¹ 

Jeremiah 23:24

23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself

where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. ² 

“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” ³ 

the Lord asks. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 32:17-19

32:17 ‘Oh, Lord God, ⁵  you did indeed ⁶  make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. ⁷  Nothing is too hard for you! 32:18 You show unfailing love to thousands. ⁸  But you also punish children for the sins of their parents. ⁹  You are the great and powerful God who is known as the Lord who rules over all. ¹⁰  32:19 You plan great things and you do mighty deeds. ¹¹  You see everything people do. ¹²  You reward each of them for the way they live and for the things they do. ¹³ 

Revelation 1:13-20

1:13 and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man. ¹⁴  He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet and he wore a wide golden belt ¹⁵  around his chest. 1:14 His ¹⁶  head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, ¹⁷  and his eyes were like a fiery ¹⁸  flame. 1:15 His feet were like polished bronze ¹⁹  refined ²⁰  in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar ²¹  of many waters. 1:16 He held ²²  seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His ²³  face shone like the sun shining at full strength. 1:17 When ²⁴  I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but ²⁵  he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, 1:18 and the one who lives! I ²⁶  was dead, but look, now I am alive – forever and ever – and I hold the keys of death and of Hades! ²⁷  1:19 Therefore write what you saw, what is, and what will be after these things. ²⁸  1:20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands is this: ²⁹  The seven stars are the angels ³⁰  of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

[145:3]  ¹ tn Heb “and concerning his greatness there is no searching.”

[23:24]  ² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:24]  ³ tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[32:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” For an explanation of the rendering here see the study note on 1:6.

[32:17]  ⁶ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle normally translated “behold.” See the translator’s note on 1:6 for the usage of this particle.

[32:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “by your great power and your outstretched arm.” See 21:5; 27:5 and the marginal note on 27:5 for this idiom.

[32:18]  ⁸ tn Or “to thousands of generations.” The contrast of showing steadfast love to “thousands” to the limitation of punishing the third and fourth generation of children for their parents’ sins in Exod 20:5-6; Deut 5:9-10; Exod 34:7 has suggested to many commentators and translators (cf., e.g., NRSV, TEV, NJPS) that reference here is to “thousands of generations.” The statement is, of course, rhetorical emphasizing God’s great desire to bless as opposed to the reluctant necessity to punish. It is part of the attributes of God spelled out in Exod 34:6-7.

[32:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “pays back into the bosom of their children the sin of their parents.”

[32:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Nothing is too hard for you who show…and who punishes…the great [and] powerful God whose name is Yahweh of armies, [you who are] great in counsel…whose eyes are open…who did signs…” Jer 32:18-22 is a long series of relative clauses introduced by participles or relative pronouns in vv. 18-20a followed by second person vav consecutive imperfects carrying on the last of these relative clauses in vv. 20b-22. This is typical of hymnic introductions to hymns of praise (cf., e.g., Ps 136) but it is hard to sustain the relative subordination which all goes back to the suffix on “hard for you.” The sentences have been broken up but the connection with the end of v. 17 has been sacrificed for conformity to contemporary English style.

[32:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[you are] great in counsel and mighty in deed.”

[32:19]  ¹² tn Heb “your eyes are open to the ways of the sons of men.”

[32:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “giving to each according to his way [= behavior/conduct] and according to the fruit of his deeds.”

[1:13]  ¹⁴ tn This phrase constitutes an allusion to Dan 7:13. Concerning υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (Juio" tou anqrwpou), BDAG 1026 s.v. υἱός 2.d.γ says: “ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου lit. ‘the son of the man’…‘the human being, the human one, the man’…On Israelite thought contemporary w. Jesus and alleged knowledge of a heavenly being looked upon as a ‘Son of Man’ or ‘Man’, who exercises Messianic functions such as judging the world (metaph., pictorial passages in En 46-48; 4 Esdr 13:3, 51f)…Outside the gospels: Ac 7:56…Rv 1:13; 14:14 (both after Da 7:13…).” The term “son” here in this expression is anarthrous and as such lacks specificity. Some commentators and translations take the expression as an allusion to Daniel 7:13 and not to “the son of man” found in gospel traditions (e.g., Mark 8:31; 9:12; cf. D. E. Aune, Revelation [WBC], 2:800-801; cf. also NIV). Other commentators and versions, however, take the phrase “son of man” as definite, involving allusions to Dan 7:13 and “the son of man” gospel traditions (see G. K. Beale, Revelation [NIGTC], 771-72; NRSV).

[1:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “a wide golden sash,” but this would not be diagonal, as some modern sashes are, but horizontal. The Greek term can refer to a wide band of cloth or leather worn on the outside of one’s clothing (L&N 6.178).

[1:14]  ¹⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[1:14]  ¹⁷ tn The clause, “even as white as snow” seems to heighten the preceding clause and is so understood in this ascensive sense (“even”) in the translation.

[1:14]  ¹⁸ tn The genitive noun πυρός (puros) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:15]  ¹⁹ tn The precise meaning of the term translated “polished bronze” (χαλκολιβάνῳ, calkolibanw), which appears nowhere else in Greek literature outside of the book of Revelation (see 2:18), is uncertain. Without question it is some sort of metal. BDAG 1076 s.v. χαλκολίβανον suggests “fine brass/bronze.” L&N 2.57 takes the word to refer to particularly valuable or fine bronze, but notes that the emphasis here and in Rev 2:18 is more on the lustrous quality of the metal.

[1:15]  ²⁰ tn Or “that has been heated in a furnace until it glows.”

[1:15]  ²¹ tn Grk “sound,” but the idea is closer to the roar of a waterfall or rapids.

[1:16]  ²² tn Grk “and having.” In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but because contemporary English style employs much shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “he.”

[1:16]  ²³ tn This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:17]  ²⁴ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[1:17]  ²⁵ tn Here the Greek conjunction καί (kai) has been translated as a contrastive (“but”) due to the contrast between the two clauses.

[1:18]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:18]  ²⁷ tn Concerning “Hades” BDAG 19 s.v. ᾅδης 1 and 2 states: “Orig. proper noun, god of the nether world, ‘Hades’, then the nether world, Hades as place of the dead, Ac 2:27, 31 (Ps 15:10; Eccl 9:10; PGM 1, 179; 16, 8; Philo, Mos. 1, 195; Jos., Bell. 1, 596, Ant. 6, 332). Of Jonah’s fish ἐκ τοῦ κατωτάτου ᾅδου. In the depths, contrasted w. heaven ἕως (τοῦ) ᾅδου Mt 11:23; Lk 10:15 (PsSol 15:10; cp.; Is 14:11, 15); ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ 16:23; ἐν ῝Αιδου ApcPt Rainer. Accessible by gates (but the pl. is also used [e.g. Hom., X., Ael. Aristid. 47, 20 K.=23 p. 450 D.] when only one gate is meant), hence πύλαι ᾅδου (Il. 5, 646; Is 38:10; Wsd 16:13; 3 Macc 5:51; Pss. Sol. 16:2. – Lucian, Menipp. 6 the magicians can open τοῦ ῝Αιδου τὰς πύλας and conduct people in and out safely) Mt 16:18…locked ἔχω τὰς κλεῖς τοῦ θανάτου καὶ τοῦ ᾅδου Rv 1:18 (the genitives are either obj. [Ps.-Apollod. 3, 12, 6, 10 Aeacus, the son of Zeus holds the κλεῖς τοῦ ῝Αιδου; SEG VIII, 574, 3 (III ad) τῷ τὰς κλεῖδας ἔχοντι τῶν καθ᾿ ῝Αιδου (restored)] or possess.; in the latter case death and Hades are personif.; s. 2)…Hades personif.…w. θάνατος (cp. Is 28:15; Job 38:17…) Rv 6:8; 20:13f.”

[1:19]  ²⁸ tn Grk “Therefore write the things that you saw, and the things that are, and the things that will take place after these things.” Verse 19 could also be translated (taking καί…καί [kai…kai] as “both…and”): “Therefore write what you have seen, both what things currently are and what is going to happen after these things.” The structure of this verse is debated.

[1:20]  ²⁹ tn The words “is this” are supplied to make a complete sentence in English.

[1:20]  ³⁰ tn Or perhaps “the messengers.”