Psalms 93:2

93:2 Your throne has been secure from ancient times;

you have always been king. ¹ 

Psalms 102:24-27

102:24 I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life! ² 

You endure through all generations. ³ 

102:25 In earlier times you established the earth;

the skies are your handiwork.

102:26 They will perish,

but you will endure. ⁴ 

They will wear out like a garment;

like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear. ⁵ 

102:27 But you remain; ⁶ 

your years do not come to an end.

Psalms 103:17

103:17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers, ⁷ 

and is faithful to their descendants, ⁸ 

Isaiah 44:6

The Absurdity of Idolatry

44:6 This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says,

their protector, ⁹  the Lord who commands armies:

“I am the first and I am the last,

there is no God but me.

Isaiah 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ¹⁰  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ¹¹ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ¹² 

Micah 5:2

A King Will Come and a Remnant Will Prosper

5:2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, ¹³ 

seemingly insignificant ¹⁴  among the clans of Judah –

from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, ¹⁵ 

one whose origins ¹⁶  are in the distant past. ¹⁷ 

Habakkuk 1:12

Habakkuk Voices Some Concerns

1:12 Lord, you have been active from ancient times; ¹⁸ 

my sovereign God, ¹⁹  you are immortal. ²⁰ 

Lord, you have made them ²¹  your instrument of judgment. ²² 

Protector, ²³  you have appointed them as your instrument of punishment. ²⁴ 

Habakkuk 1:1

Habakkuk Complains to the Lord

1:1 The following is the message ²⁵  which God revealed to Habakkuk the prophet: ²⁶ 

Habakkuk 1:15-16

1:15 The Babylonian tyrant ²⁷  pulls them all up with a fishhook;

he hauls them in with his throw net. ²⁸ 

When he catches ²⁹  them in his dragnet,

he is very happy. ³⁰ 

1:16 Because of his success ³¹  he offers sacrifices to his throw net

and burns incense to his dragnet; ³² 

for because of them he has plenty of food, ³³ 

and more than enough to eat. ³⁴ 

Hebrews 1:10-12

1:10 And,

“You founded the earth in the beginning, Lord, ³⁵ 

and the heavens are the works of your hands.

1:11 They will perish, but you continue.

And they will all grow old like a garment,

1:12 and like a robe you will fold them up

and like a garment ³⁶  they will be changed,

but you are the same and your years will never run out.” ³⁷ 

Hebrews 13:8

13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever!

Revelation 1:8

1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” ³⁸  says the Lord God – the one who is, and who was, and who is still to come – the All-Powerful! ³⁹ 

[93:2]  ¹ tn Heb “from antiquity [are] you.” As the context suggests, this refers specifically to God’s royal position, not his personal existence.

[102:24]  ² tn Heb “do not lift me up in the middle of my days.”

[102:24]  ³ tn Heb “in a generation of generations [are] your years.”

[102:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “stand.”

[102:26]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verb חָלַף (khalaf) occurs twice in this line, once in the Hiphil (“you will remove them”) and once in the Qal (“they will disappear”). The repetition draws attention to the statement.

[102:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “you [are] he,” or “you [are] the one.” The statement may echo the Lord’s affirmation “I am he” in Isa 41:4; 43:10, 13; 46:10; 48:12. In each of these passages the affirmation emphasizes the fact that the Lord transcends time limitations, the very point being made in Ps 102:27.

[103:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “but the loyal love of the Lord [is] from everlasting to everlasting over those who fear him.”

[103:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “and his righteousness to sons of sons.”

[44:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “his kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[57:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ¹² tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[5:2]  ¹³ sn Ephrathah is either an alternate name for Bethlehem or the name of the district in which Bethlehem was located. See Ruth 4:11.

[5:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “being small.” Some omit לִהְיוֹת (lihyot, “being”) because it fits awkwardly and appears again in the next line.

[5:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “from you for me one will go out to be a ruler over Israel.”

[5:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “his goings out.” The term may refer to the ruler’s origins (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or to his activities.

[5:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “from the past, from the days of antiquity.” Elsewhere both phrases refer to the early periods in the history of the world or of the nation of Israel. For מִקֶּדֶם (miqqedem, “from the past”) see Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10. For מִימֵי עוֹלָם (mimey ’olam, “from the days of antiquity”) see Isa 63:9, 11; Amos 9:11; Mic 7:14; Mal 3:4. In Neh 12:46 and Amos 9:11 the Davidic era is in view.

[1:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Are you not from antiquity, O Lord?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, of course.” The present translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question, rendering it as an affirmation. When used in a temporal sense the phrase מִקֶדֶם (miqedem) means “from antiquity, ancient times,” often referring to earlier periods in Israel’s history. See its use in Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10; Mic 5:2.

[1:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “My God, my holy one.” God’s “holiness” in this context is his sovereign transcendence as the righteous judge of the world (see vv. 12b-13a), thus the translation “My sovereign God.”

[1:12]  ²⁰ tc The MT reads, “we will not die,” but an ancient scribal tradition has “you [i.e., God] will not die.” This is preferred as a more difficult reading that can explain the rise of the other variant. Later scribes who copied the manuscripts did not want to associate the idea of death with God in any way, so they softened the statement to refer to humanity.

[1:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “him,” a collective singular referring to the Babylonians. The plural pronoun “them” has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.

[1:12]  ²² tn Heb “for judgment.”

[1:12]  ²³ tn Heb “Rock” or “Cliff.” This divine epithet views God as a place where one can go to be safe from danger. The translation “Protector” conveys the force of the metaphor (cf. KJV, NEB “O mighty God”).

[1:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to correct, reprove.”

[1:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “The burden” (so KJV, ASV). The Hebrew term מַשָּׂא (masa’), usually translated “oracle” (NAB, NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “utterance” (BDB 672 s.v. III מַשָּׂא), in prophetic literature is a technical term introducing a message from the Lord (see Zech 9:1; 12:1; Mal 1:1). Since it derives from a verb meaning “to carry,” its original nuance was that of a burdensome message, that is, one with ominous content.

[1:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “The message [traditionally, “burden”] which Habakkuk the prophet saw.”

[1:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Babylonian tyrant) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NASB “The Chaldeans”; NIV “The wicked foe”; NRSV “The enemy”). Babylonian imperialism is here compared to a professional fisherman who repeatedly brings in his catch and has plenty to eat.

[1:15]  ²⁸ tn Apparently two different types of fishing nets are referred to here. The חֵרֶם (kherem, “throw net”) was used by fishermen standing on the shore (see Ezek 47:10), while the מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret, “dragnet”) was used by men in a boat. See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 165.

[1:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and he gathers.”

[1:15]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Therefore he is happy and rejoices.” Here two synonyms are joined for emphasis.

[1:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “therefore.”

[1:16]  ³² sn The fishing implements (throw net and dragnet) represent Babylonian military might. The prophet depicts the Babylonians as arrogantly worshiping their own power (sacrifices…burns incense, see also v. 11b).

[1:16]  ³³ tn Heb “for by them his portion is full [or, “fat”].”

[1:16]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and his food is plentiful [or, “fat”].”

[1:10]  ³⁵ sn You founded the earth…your years will never run out. In its original setting Ps 102:25-27 refers to the work of God in creation, but here in Hebrews 1:10-12 the writer employs it in reference to Christ, the Lord, making a strong argument for the essential deity of the Son.

[1:12]  ³⁶ tc The words “like a garment” (ὡς ἱμάτιον, Jw" Jimation) are found in excellent and early mss (Ì⁴⁶ א A B D* 1739) though absent in a majority of witnesses (D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1881 Ï lat sy bo). Although it is possible that longer reading was produced by overzealous scribes who wanted to underscore the frailty of creation, it is much more likely that the shorter reading was produced by scribes who wanted to conform the wording to that of Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX), which here lacks the second “like a garment.” Both external and internal considerations decidedly favor the longer reading, and point to the author of Hebrews as the one underscoring the difference between the Son and creation.

[1:12]  ³⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 102:25-27.

[1:8]  ³⁸ tc The shorter reading “Omega” (ὦ, w) has superior ms evidence ({א¹ A C 1611}) to the longer reading which includes “the beginning and the end” (ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος or ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος, arch kai telo" or Jh arch kai to telo"), found in א*^,2 1854 2050 2329 2351 Ï^A lat bo. There is little reason why a scribe would have deleted the words, but their clarifying value and the fact that they harmonize with 21:6 indicate that they are a secondary addition to the text.

[1:8]  ³⁹ 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.”