Psalms 67:2-5

67:2 Then those living on earth will know what you are like;

all nations will know how you deliver your people. ¹ 

67:3 Let the nations thank you, O God!

Let all the nations thank you! ² 

67:4 Let foreigners ³  rejoice and celebrate!

For you execute justice among the nations,

and govern the people living on earth. ⁴  (Selah)

67:5 Let the nations thank you, O God!

Let all the nations thank you! ⁵ 

Psalms 100:1

Psalm 100 ⁶ 

A thanksgiving psalm.

100:1 Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth!

Psalms 117:1-2

Psalm 117 ⁷ 

117:1 Praise the Lord, all you nations!

Applaud him, all you foreigners! ⁸ 

117:2 For his loyal love towers ⁹  over us,

and the Lord’s faithfulness endures.

Praise the Lord!

Deuteronomy 32:43

32:43 Cry out, O nations, with his people,

for he will avenge his servants’ blood;

he will take vengeance against his enemies,

and make atonement for his land and people.

Romans 15:10-11

15:10 And again it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” ¹⁰  15:11 And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him.” ¹¹ 

Revelation 15:4

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

and glorify ¹²  your name, because you alone are holy? ¹³ 

All nations ¹⁴  will come and worship before you

for your righteous acts ¹⁵  have been revealed.”

[67:2]  ¹ tn Heb “to know in the earth your way, among all nations your deliverance.” The infinitive with -לְ (lamed) expresses purpose/result. When God demonstrates his favor to his people, all nations will recognize his character as a God who delivers. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) refers here to God’s characteristic behavior, more specifically, to the way he typically saves his people.

[67:3]  ² tn Heb “let the nations, all of them, thank you.” The prefixed verbal forms in vv. 3-4a are understood as jussives in this call to praise.

[67:4]  ³ tn Or “peoples.”

[67:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “for you judge nations fairly, and [as for the] peoples in the earth, you lead them.” The imperfects are translated with the present tense because the statement is understood as a generalization about God’s providential control of the world. Another option is to understand the statement as anticipating God’s future rule (“for you will rule…and govern”).

[67:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “let the nations, all of them, thank you.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 5 are understood as jussives in this call to praise.

[100:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 100. The psalmist celebrates the fact that Israel has a special relationship to God and summons worshipers to praise the Lord for his faithfulness.

[117:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 117. The psalmist tells the nations to praise the Lord for his loyal love and faithfulness.

[117:1]  ⁸ tn Or “peoples” (see Ps 108:3).

[117:2]  ⁹ tn For this sense of the Hebrew verb גָּבַר (gavar), see Ps 103:11 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.

[15:10]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Deut 32:43.

[15:11]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Ps 117:1.

[15:4]  ¹² tn Or “and praise.”

[15:4]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[15:4]  ¹⁵ 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.”