Psalms 18:13-15

18:13 The Lord thundered ¹  in ²  the sky;

the sovereign One ³  shouted. ⁴ 

18:14 He shot his ⁵  arrows and scattered them, ⁶ 

many lightning bolts ⁷  and routed them. ⁸ 

18:15 The depths ⁹  of the sea ¹⁰  were exposed;

the inner regions ¹¹  of the world were uncovered

by ¹²  your battle cry, ¹³  Lord,

by the powerful breath from your nose. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 77:16-19

77:16 The waters ¹⁵  saw you, O God,

the waters saw you and trembled. ¹⁶ 

Yes, the depths of the sea ¹⁷  shook with fear. ¹⁸ 

77:17 The clouds poured down rain; ¹⁹ 

the skies thundered. ²⁰ 

Yes, your arrows ²¹  flashed about.

77:18 Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind;

the lightning bolts lit up the world;

the earth trembled and shook. ²² 

77:19 You walked through the sea; ²³ 

you passed through the surging waters, ²⁴ 

but left no footprints. ²⁵ 

Matthew 8:26-27

8:26 But ²⁶  he said to them, “Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked ²⁷  the winds and the sea, ²⁸  and it was dead calm. 8:27 And the men ²⁹  were amazed and said, ³⁰  “What sort of person is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!” ³¹ 

Revelation 17:14-15

17:14 They will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those accompanying ³²  the Lamb are the called, chosen, and faithful.”

17:15 Then ³³  the angel ³⁴  said to me, “The waters you saw (where the prostitute is seated) are peoples, multitudes, ³⁵  nations, and languages.

[18:13]  ¹ sn Thunder is a common motif in OT theophanies and in ancient Near Eastern portrayals of the storm god and warring kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 179-83.

[18:13]  ² tn 2 Sam 22:14 has “from.”

[18:13]  ³ tn Heb “the Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.

[18:13]  ⁴ tc The text of Ps 18:13 adds at this point, “hail and coals of fire.” These words are probably accidentally added from v. 12b; they do not appear in 2 Sam 22:14.

[18:14]  ⁵ tn 2 Sam 22:15 omits the pronominal suffix (“his”).

[18:14]  ⁶ tn The pronominal suffixes on the verbs “scattered” and “routed” (see the next line) refer to the psalmist’s enemies. Some argue that the suffixes refer to the arrows, in which case one might translate “shot them far and wide” and “made them move noisily,” respectively. They argue that the enemies have not been mentioned since v. 4 and are not again mentioned until v. 17. However, usage of the verbs פוּץ (puts, “scatter”) and הָמַם (hamam, “rout”) elsewhere in Holy War accounts suggests the suffixes refer to enemies. Enemies are frequently pictured in such texts as scattered and/or routed (see Exod 14:24; 23:27; Num 10:35; Josh 10:10; Judg 4:15; 1 Sam 7:10; 11:11; Ps 68:1).

[18:14]  ⁷ sn Lightning is a common motif in in OT theophanies and in ancient Near Eastern portrayals of the storm god and warring kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 190-92.

[18:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “lightning bolts, many.” 2 Sam 22:15 has simply “lightning” (בָּרָק, baraq). The identity of the word רָב (rav) in Ps 18:14 is problematic. (1) It may be a form of a rare verb רָבַב (ravav, “to shoot”), perhaps attested in Gen 49:23 as well. In this case one might translate, “he shot lightning bolts and routed them.” Other options include (2) understanding רָב (rav) as an adverbial use of the adjective, “lightning bolts in abundance,” or (3) emending the form to רַבּוּ (rabbu), from רָבַב (ravav, “be many”) or to רָבוּ (ravu), from רָבָה (ravah, “be many”) – both a haplography of the vav (ו); note the initial vav on the immediately following form – and translating “lightning bolts were in abundance.”

[18:15]  ⁹ tn Or “channels.”

[18:15]  ¹⁰ tc Ps 18:15 reads “water” (cf. Ps 42:1); “sea” is the reading of 2 Sam 22:16.

[18:15]  ¹¹ tn Or “foundations.”

[18:15]  ¹² tn Heb “from.” The preposition has a causal sense here.

[18:15]  ¹³ tn The noun is derived from the verb גָּעַר (ga’ar), which is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Pss 68:30; 106:9; and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 9:5; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

[18:15]  ¹⁴ tn 2 Sam 22:16 reads “by the battle cry of the Lord, by the blast of the breath of his nose.” The phrase “blast of the breath” (Heb “breath of breath”) employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[77:16]  ¹⁵ tn The waters of the Red Sea are here personified; they are portrayed as seeing God and fearing him.

[77:16]  ¹⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

[77:16]  ¹⁷ tn The words “of the sea” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[77:16]  ¹⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

[77:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “water.”

[77:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a sound the clouds gave.”

[77:17]  ²¹ tn The lightning accompanying the storm is portrayed as the Lord’s “arrows” (see v. 18).

[77:18]  ²² tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

[77:19]  ²³ tn Heb “in the sea [was] your way.”

[77:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and your paths [were] in the mighty waters.”

[77:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and your footprints were not known.”

[8:26]  ²⁶ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:26]  ²⁷ tn Or “commanded” (often with the implication of a threat, L&N 33.331).

[8:26]  ²⁸ sn Who has authority over the seas and winds is discussed in the OT: Ps 104:3; 135:7; 107:23-30. When Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea he was making a statement about who he was.

[8:27]  ²⁹ tn It is difficult to know whether ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi) should be translated as “men” or “people” (in a generic sense) here. At issue is whether (1) only the Twelve were with Jesus in the boat, as opposed to other disciples (cf. v. 23), and (2) whether any of those other disciples would have been women. The issue is complicated further by the parallel in Mark (4:35-41), where the author writes (4:36) that other boats accompanied them on this journey.

[8:27]  ³⁰ tn Grk “the men were amazed, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) has been translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.

[8:27]  ³¹ sn Jesus’ authority over creation raised a question for the disciples about his identity (What sort of person is this?). This verse shows that the disciples followed Jesus even though they did not know all about him yet.

[17:14]  ³² tn See BDAG 636 s.v. μετά A.2.a.α.

[17:15]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[17:15]  ³⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:15]  ³⁵ tn Grk “and multitudes,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here and before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.