Psalms 77:14
Context77:14 You are the God who does amazing things;
you have revealed your strength among the nations.
Psalms 86:10
Context86:10 For you are great and do amazing things.
You alone are God.
Psalms 105:5
Context105:5 Recall the miraculous deeds he performed,
his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed, 1
Psalms 136:4
Context136:4 to the one who performs magnificent, amazing deeds all by himself,
for his loyal love endures,
Psalms 139:14
Context139:14 I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing. 2
You knew me thoroughly; 3
Exodus 15:6
Context15:6 Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic 4 in power,
your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.
Exodus 15:11
Context15:11 Who is like you, 5 O Lord, among the gods? 6
Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, 7 working wonders?
Isaiah 43:18-20
Context43:18 “Don’t remember these earlier events; 8
don’t recall these former events.
43:19 “Look, I am about to do something new.
Now it begins to happen! 9 Do you not recognize 10 it?
Yes, I will make a road in the desert
and paths 11 in the wilderness.
43:20 The wild animals of the desert honor me,
the jackals and ostriches,
because I put water in the desert
and streams in the wilderness,
to quench the thirst of my chosen people,
Jeremiah 31:22
Context31:22 How long will you vacillate, 12
you who were once like an unfaithful daughter? 13
For I, the Lord, promise 14 to bring about something new 15 on the earth,
something as unique as a woman protecting a man!’” 16
Luke 1:49
Context1:49 because he who is mighty 17 has done great things for me, and holy is his name;
Luke 2:10-14
Context2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, 18 for I proclaim to you good news 19 that brings great joy to all the people: 2:11 Today 20 your Savior is born in the city 21 of David. 22 He is Christ 23 the Lord. 2:12 This 24 will be a sign 25 for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” 26 2:13 Suddenly 27 a vast, heavenly army 28 appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
2:14 “Glory 29 to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among people 30 with whom he is pleased!” 31
Acts 2:11
Context2:11 both Jews and proselytes, 32 Cretans and Arabs – we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!” 33
Revelation 15:3-4
Context15:3 They 34 sang the song of Moses the servant 35 of God and the song of the Lamb: 36
“Great and astounding are your deeds,
Lord God, the All-Powerful! 37
Just 38 and true are your ways,
King over the nations! 39
15:4 Who will not fear you, O Lord,
and glorify 40 your name, because you alone are holy? 41
All nations 42 will come and worship before you
for your righteous acts 43 have been revealed.”
[105:5] 1 tn Heb “and the judgments of his mouth.”
[139:14] 2 tc Heb “because awesome things, I am distinct, amazing [are] your works.” The text as it stands is syntactically problematic and makes little, if any, sense. The Niphal of פָּלָה (pala’) occurs elsewhere only in Exod 33:16. Many take the form from פָלָא (pala’; see GKC 216 §75.qq), which in the Niphal perfect means “to be amazing” (see 2 Sam 1:26; Ps 118:23; Prov 30:18). Some, following the LXX and some other ancient witnesses, also prefer to emend the verb from first to second person, “you are amazing” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 249, 251). The present translation assumes the text conflates two variants: נפלאים, the otherwise unattested masculine plural participle of פָלָא, and נִפְלָאוֹת (nifla’ot), the usual (feminine) plural form of the Niphal participle. The latter has been changed to a verb by later scribes in an attempt to accommodate it syntactically. The original text likely read, נוראות נפלאותים מעשׂיך (“your works [are] awesome [and] amazing”).
[139:14] 3 tc Heb “and my being knows very much.” Better parallelism is achieved (see v. 15a) if one emends יֹדַעַת (yoda’at), a Qal active participle, feminine singular form, to יָדַעְתָּ (yada’ta), a Qal perfect second masculine singular perfect. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 252.
[15:6] 4 tn The form נֶאְדָּרִי (ne’dari) may be an archaic infinitive with the old ending i, used in place of the verb and meaning “awesome.” Gesenius says that the vowel ending may be an old case ending, especially when a preposition is inserted between the word and its genitive (GKC 253 §90.l), but he suggests a reconstruction of the form.
[15:11] 5 tn The question is of course rhetorical; it is a way of affirming that no one is comparable to God. See C. J. Labuschagne, The Incomparability of Yahweh in the Old Testament, 22, 66-67, and 94-97.
[15:11] 6 sn Verses 11-17 will now focus on Yahweh as the incomparable one who was able to save Israel from their foes and afterward lead them to the promised land.
[15:11] 7 tn S. R. Driver suggests “praiseworthy acts” as the translation (Exodus, 137).
[43:18] 8 tn Heb “the former things” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “forget all that.”
[43:19] 9 tn Heb “sprouts up”; NASB “will spring forth.”
[43:19] 10 tn Or “know” (KJV, ASV); NASB “be aware of”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “perceive.”
[43:19] 11 tn The Hebrew texts has “streams,” probably under the influence of v. 20. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has נתיבות (“paths”).
[31:22] 12 tn The translation “dilly-dally” is suggested by J. Bright, Jeremiah (AB), 276. The verb occurs only here in this stem (the Hitpael) and only one other time in any other stem (the Qal in Song 5:6). The dictionaries define it as “to turn this way and that” (cf., e.g., BDB 330 s.v. חָמַק Hithp.). In the context it refers to turning this way and that looking for the way back.
[31:22] 13 sn Israel’s backsliding is forgotten and forgiven. They had once been characterized as an apostate people (3:14, 22; the word “apostate” and “unfaithful” are the same in Hebrew) and figuratively depicted as an adulterous wife (3:20). Now they are viewed as having responded to his invitation (compare 31:18-19 with 3:22-25). Hence they are no longer depicted as an unfaithful daughter but as an unsullied virgin (see the literal translation of “my dear children” in vv. 4, 21 and the study note on v. 4.)
[31:22] 14 tn Heb “For the
[31:22] 15 sn Heb “create.” This word is always used with God as the subject and refers to the production of something new or unique, like the creation of the world and the first man and woman (Gen 1:1; 2:3; 1:27; 5:1) or the creation of a new heavens and a new earth in a new age (Isa 65:17), or the bringing about of new and unique circumstances (Num 16:30). Here reference is made contextually to the new exodus, that marvelous deliverance which will be so great that the old will pale in comparison (see the first note on v. 9).
[31:22] 16 tn The meaning of this last line is uncertain. The translation has taken it as proverbial for something new and unique. For a fairly complete discussion of most of the options see C. Feinberg, “Jeremiah,” EBC 6:571. For the nuance of “protecting” for the verb here see BDB 686 s.v. סָבַב Po‘ 1 and compare the usage in Deut 32:10.
[1:49] 17 tn Traditionally, “the Mighty One.”
[2:10] 19 tn Grk “I evangelize to you great joy.”
[2:11] 20 sn The Greek word for today (σήμερον, shmeron) occurs eleven times in the Gospel of Luke (2:11; 4:21; 5:26; 12:28; 13:32-33; 19:5, 9; 22:34, 61; 23:43) and nine times in Acts. Its use, especially in passages such as 2:11, 4:21, 5:26; 19:5, 9, signifies the dawning of the era of messianic salvation and the fulfillment of the plan of God. Not only does it underscore the idea of present fulfillment in Jesus’ ministry, but it also indicates salvific fulfillment present in the church (cf. Acts 1:6; 3:18; D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:412; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 873).
[2:11] 21 tn Or “town.” See the note on “city” in v. 4.
[2:11] 22 tn This is another indication of a royal, messianic connection.
[2:11] 23 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
[2:12] 24 tn Grk “And this.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[2:12] 25 sn The sign functions for the shepherds like Elizabeth’s conception served for Mary in 1:36.
[2:12] 26 tn Or “a feeding trough,” see Luke 2:7.
[2:13] 27 tn Grk “And suddenly.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[2:13] 28 tn Grk “a multitude of the armies of heaven.”
[2:14] 29 sn Glory here refers to giving honor to God.
[2:14] 30 tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") referring to both males and females.
[2:14] 31 tc Most witnesses (א2 B2 L Θ Ξ Ψ Ë1,13 Ï sy bo) have ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία (en anqrwpoi" eudokia, “good will among people”) instead of ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας (en anqrwpoi" eudokia", “among people with whom he is pleased”), a reading attested by א* A B* D W pc (sa). Most of the Itala witnesses and some other versional witnesses reflect a Greek text which has the genitive εὐδοκίας but drops the preposition ἐν. Not only is the genitive reading better attested, but it is more difficult than the nominative. “The meaning seems to be, not that divine peace can be bestowed only where human good will is already present, but that at the birth of the Saviour God’s peace rests on those whom he has chosen in accord with his good pleasure” (TCGNT 111).
[2:11] 32 sn Proselytes refers to Gentile (i.e., non-Jewish) converts to Judaism.
[2:11] 33 tn Or “God’s mighty works.” Here the genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) has been translated as a subjective genitive.
[15:3] 34 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
[15:3] 35 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
[15:3] 36 tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
[15:3] 37 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.”
[15:3] 38 tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.
[15:3] 39 tc Certain
[15:4] 41 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] 42 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
[15:4] 43 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.”