Psalms 68:1-2

Psalm 68 ¹ 

For the music director; by David, a psalm, a song.

68:1 God springs into action! ² 

His enemies scatter;

his adversaries ³  run from him. ⁴ 

68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ⁵ 

As wax melts before fire,

so the wicked are destroyed before God.

Psalms 76:7

76:7 You are awesome! Yes, you!

Who can withstand your intense anger? ⁶ 

Psalms 80:16

80:16 It is burned ⁷  and cut down.

They die because you are displeased with them. ⁸ 

Isaiah 64:3

64:3 When you performed awesome deeds that took us by surprise, ⁹ 

you came down, and the mountains trembled ¹⁰  before you.

Isaiah 64:2

64:2 (64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood,

or fire makes water boil,

let your adversaries know who you are, ¹¹ 

and may the nations shake at your presence!

Isaiah 1:9

1:9 If the Lord who commands armies ¹²  had not left us a few survivors,

we would have quickly become like Sodom, ¹³ 

we would have become like Gomorrah.

Revelation 6:12-17

6:12 Then ¹⁴  I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge ¹⁵  earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, ¹⁶  and the full moon became blood red; ¹⁷  6:13 and the stars in the sky ¹⁸  fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping ¹⁹  its unripe figs ²⁰  when shaken by a fierce ²¹  wind. 6:14 The sky ²²  was split apart ²³  like a scroll being rolled up, ²⁴  and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 6:15 Then ²⁵  the kings of the earth, the ²⁶  very important people, the generals, ²⁷  the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave ²⁸  and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 6:16 They ²⁹  said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ³⁰  6:17 because the great day of their ³¹  wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” ³² 

Revelation 20:11

The Great White Throne

20:11 Then ³³  I saw a large ³⁴  white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven ³⁵  fled ³⁶  from his presence, and no place was found for them.

[68:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 68. The psalmist depicts God as a mighty warrior and celebrates the fact that God exerts his power on behalf of his people.

[68:1]  ² tn Or “rises up.” The verb form is an imperfect, not a jussive. The psalmist is describing God’s appearance in battle in a dramatic fashion.

[68:1]  ³ tn Heb “those who hate him.”

[68:1]  ⁴ sn The wording of v. 1 echoes the prayer in Num 10:35: “Spring into action, Lord! Then your enemies will be scattered and your adversaries will run from you.”

[68:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”

[76:7]  ⁶ tc Heb “and who can stand before you from the time of your anger?” The Hebrew expression מֵאָז (me’az, “from the time of”) is better emended to מֵאֹז (me’oz, “from [i.e., “because of”] the strength of your anger”; see Ps 90:11).

[80:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “burned with fire.”

[80:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “because of the rebuke of your face they perish.”

[64:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “[for which] we were not waiting.”

[64:3]  ¹⁰ tn See the note at v. 1.

[64:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to make known your name to your adversaries.” Perhaps the infinitive construct with preposition -לְ (lamed) should be construed with “come down” in v. 1a, or subordinated to the following line: “To make known your name to your adversaries, let the nations shake from before you.”

[1:9]  ¹² tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts.” The title pictures God as the sovereign king who has at his disposal a multitude of attendants, messengers, and warriors to do his bidding. In some contexts, like this one, the military dimension of his rulership is highlighted. In this case, the title pictures him as one who leads armies into battle against his enemies.

[1:9]  ¹³ tc The translation assumes that כִּמְעָט (kim’at, “quickly,” literally, “like a little”) goes with what follows, contrary to the MT accents, which take it with what precedes. In this case, one could translate the preceding line, “If the Lord who commands armies had not left us a few survivors.” If כִּמְעָט goes with the preceding line (following the MT accents), this expression highlights the idea that there would only be a few survivors (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:20; H. Zobel, TDOT 8:456). Israel would not be almost like Sodom but exactly like Sodom.

[6:12]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[6:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or “powerful”; Grk “a great.”

[6:12]  ¹⁶ tn Or “like hairy sackcloth” (L&N 8.13).

[6:12]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “like blood,” understanding αἷμα (aima) as a blood-red color rather than actual blood (L&N 8.64).

[6:13]  ¹⁸ tn Or “in heaven” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”). The genitive τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (tou ouranou) is taken as a genitive of place.

[6:13]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “throws [off]”; the indicative verb has been translated as a participle due to English style.

[6:13]  ²⁰ tn L&N 3.37 states, “a fig produced late in the summer season (and often falling off before it ripens) – ‘late fig.’ ὡς συκὴ βάλλει τοὺς ὀλύνθους αὐτῆς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου μεγάλου σειομένη ‘as the fig tree sheds its late figs when shaken by a great wind’ Re 6:13. In the only context in which ὄλυνθος occurs in the NT (Re 6:13), one may employ an expression such as ‘unripe fig’ or ‘fig which ripens late.’”

[6:13]  ²¹ tn Grk “great wind.”

[6:14]  ²² tn Or “The heavens were.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) can mean either “heaven” or “sky.”

[6:14]  ²³ tn BDAG 125 s.v. ἀποχωρίζω states, “ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀπεχωρίσθη the sky was split Rv 6:14.” Although L&N 79.120 gives the meaning “the sky disappeared like a rolled-up scroll” here, a scroll that is rolled up does not “disappear,” and such a translation could be difficult for modern readers to understand.

[6:14]  ²⁴ tn On this term BDAG 317 s.v. ἑλίσσω states, “ὡς βιβλίον ἑλισσόμενον like a scroll that is rolled up…Rv 6:14.”

[6:15]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[6:15]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated; nor is it translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[6:15]  ²⁷ tn Grk “chiliarchs.” A chiliarch was normally a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).

[6:15]  ²⁸ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[6:16]  ²⁹ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:16]  ³⁰ tn It is difficult to say where this quotation ends. The translation ends it after “withstand it” at the end of v. 17, but it is possible that it should end here, after “Lamb” at the end of v. 16. If it ends after “Lamb,” v. 17 is a parenthetical explanation by the author.

[6:17]  ³¹ tc Most mss (A Ï bo) change the pronoun “their” to “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou) in order to bring the text in line with the mention of the one seated on the throne in the immediately preceding verse, and to remove the ambiguity about whose wrath is in view here. The reading αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”) is well supported by א C 1611 1854 2053 2329 2344 pc latt sy. On both internal and external grounds, it should be regarded as original.

[6:17]  ³² tn The translation “to withstand (it)” for ἵστημι (Jisthmi) is based on the imagery of holding one’s ground in a military campaign or an attack (BDAG 482 s.v. B.4).

[20:11]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[20:11]  ³⁴ tn Traditionally, “great,” but μέγας (megas) here refers to size rather than importance.

[20:11]  ³⁵ tn Or “and the sky.” The same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky,” and context usually determines which is meant. In this apocalyptic scene, however, it is difficult to be sure what referent to assign the term.

[20:11]  ³⁶ tn Or “vanished.”