Psalms 85:10

85:10 Loyal love and faithfulness meet; ¹ 

deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. ² 

Psalms 89:14

89:14 Equity and justice are the foundation of your throne. ³ 

Loyal love and faithfulness characterize your rule. ⁴ 

Psalms 98:3

98:3 He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel. ⁵ 

All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us. ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 32:4

32:4 As for the Rock, ⁷  his work is perfect,

for all his ways are just.

He is a reliable God who is never unjust,

he is fair ⁸  and upright.

Deuteronomy 32:2

32:2 My teaching will drop like the rain,

my sayings will drip like the dew, ⁹ 

as rain drops upon the grass,

and showers upon new growth.

Deuteronomy 2:13

2:13 Now, get up and cross the Wadi Zered.” ¹⁰  So we did so. ¹¹ 

Revelation 15:3-4

15:3 They ¹²  sang the song of Moses the servant ¹³  of God and the song of the Lamb: ¹⁴ 

“Great and astounding are your deeds,

Lord God, the All-Powerful! ¹⁵ 

Just ¹⁶  and true are your ways,

King over the nations! ¹⁷ 

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

and glorify ¹⁸  your name, because you alone are holy? ¹⁹ 

All nations ²⁰  will come and worship before you

for your righteous acts ²¹  have been revealed.”

[85:10]  ¹ tn The psalmist probably uses the perfect verbal forms in v. 10 in a dramatic or rhetorical manner, describing what he anticipates as if it were already occurring or had already occurred.

[85:10]  ² sn Deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. The psalmist personifies these abstract qualities to emphasize that God’s loyal love and faithfulness will yield deliverance and peace for his people.

[89:14]  ³ sn The Lord’s throne symbolizes his kingship.

[89:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “are in front of your face.” The idiom can mean “confront” (Ps 17:13) or “meet, enter the presence of” (Ps 95:2).

[98:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “he remembers his loyal love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel.”

[98:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God,” with “God” being a subjective genitive (= God delivers).

[32:4]  ⁷ tc The LXX reads Θεός (qeos, “God”) for the MT’s “Rock.”

[32:4]  ⁸ tn Or “just” (KJV, NAB, NRSV, NLT) or “righteous” (NASB).

[32:2]  ⁹ tn Or “mist,” “light drizzle.” In some contexts the term appears to refer to light rain, rather than dew.

[2:13]  ¹⁰ sn Wadi Zered. Now known as Wadi el-H£esa, this valley marked the boundary between Moab to the north and Edom to the south.

[2:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “we crossed the Wadi Zered.” This has been translated as “we did so” for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.

[15:3]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[15:3]  ¹³ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[15:3]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:3]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

[15:3]  ¹⁷ tc Certain mss (Ì⁴⁷ א*^,2 C 1006 1611 1841 pc) read “ages” (αἰώνων, aiwnwn) instead of “nations” (ἐθνῶν, eqnwn), which itself is supported by several mss (א¹ A 051 Ï). The ms evidence seems to be fairly balanced, though αἰώνων has somewhat better support. The replacement of “ages” with “nations” is possibly a scribal attempt to harmonize this verse with the use of “nations” in the following verse. On the other hand, the idea of “nations” fits well with v. 4 and it may be that “ages” is a scribal attempt to assimilate this text to 1 Tim 1:17: “the king of the ages” (βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων, basileu" twn aiwnwn). The decision is a difficult one since both scenarios deal well with the evidence, though the verbal parallel with 1 Tim 1:17 is exact while the parallel with v. 4 is not. The term “king” occurs 17 other times (most occurrences refer to earthly kings) in Revelation and it is not used with either “ages” or “nations” apart from this verse. Probably the reading “nations” should be considered original due to the influence of 1 Tim 1:17.

[15:4]  ¹⁸ tn Or “and praise.”

[15:4]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[15:4]  ²¹ 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.”