Psalms 94:2-3

94:2 Rise up, O judge of the earth!

Pay back the proud!

94:3 O Lord, how long will the wicked,

how long will the wicked celebrate? ¹ 

Psalms 7:8-9

7:8 The Lord judges the nations. ² 

Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent, ³ 

because I am blameless, ⁴  O Exalted One! ⁵ 

7:9 May the evil deeds of the wicked ⁶  come to an end! ⁷ 

But make the innocent ⁸  secure, ⁹ 

O righteous God,

you who examine ¹⁰  inner thoughts and motives! ¹¹ 

Psalms 9:16

9:16 The Lord revealed himself;

he accomplished justice;

the wicked were ensnared by their own actions. ¹²  (Higgaion. ¹³  Selah)

Psalms 58:11

58:11 Then ¹⁴  observers ¹⁵  will say,

“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded! ¹⁶ 

Yes indeed, there is a God who judges ¹⁷  in the earth!”

Psalms 125:3

125:3 Indeed, ¹⁸  the scepter of a wicked king ¹⁹  will not settle ²⁰ 

upon the allotted land of the godly.

Otherwise the godly might

do what is wrong. ²¹ 

Deuteronomy 32:35-36

32:35 I will get revenge and pay them back

at the time their foot slips;

for the day of their disaster is near,

and the impending judgment ²²  is rushing upon them!”

32:36 The Lord will judge his people,

and will change his plans concerning ²³  his servants;

when he sees that their power has disappeared,

and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.

Job 35:14

35:14 How much less, then,

when you say that you do not perceive him,

that the case is before him

and you are waiting for him! ²⁴ 

Micah 7:9

7:9 I must endure ²⁵  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ²⁶  he will defend my cause, ²⁷ 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ²⁸  his deliverance. ²⁹ 

Malachi 3:18

3:18 Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between ³⁰  the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.

Malachi 3:2

3:2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, ³¹  like a launderer’s soap.

Malachi 3:8-10

3:8 Can a person rob ³²  God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions! ³³  3:9 You are bound for judgment ³⁴  because you are robbing me – this whole nation is guilty. ³⁵ 

3:10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse ³⁶  so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.

Revelation 15:3-4

15:3 They ³⁷  sang the song of Moses the servant ³⁸  of God and the song of the Lamb: ³⁹ 

“Great and astounding are your deeds,

Lord God, the All-Powerful! ⁴⁰ 

Just ⁴¹  and true are your ways,

King over the nations! ⁴² 

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

and glorify ⁴³  your name, because you alone are holy? ⁴⁴ 

All nations ⁴⁵  will come and worship before you

for your righteous acts ⁴⁶  have been revealed.”

[94:3]  ¹ tn Or “exult.”

[7:8]  ² sn The Lord judges the nations. In hyperbolic fashion the psalmist pictures the nations assembled around the divine throne (v. 7a). He urges God to take his rightful place on the throne (v. 7b) and then pictures him making judicial decisions that vindicate the innocent (see vv. 8-16).

[7:8]  ³ tn Heb “judge me, O Lord, according to my innocence.”

[7:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “according to my blamelessness.” The imperative verb translated “vindicate” governs the second line as well.

[7:8]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew form עָלָי (’alay) has been traditionally understood as the preposition עַל (’al, “over”) with a first person suffix. But this is syntactically awkward and meaningless. The form is probably a divine title derived from the verbal root עָלָה (’alah, “ascend”). This relatively rare title appears elsewhere in the OT (see HALOT 824-25 s.v. I עַל, though this text is not listed) and in Ugaritic as an epithet for Baal (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 98). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:44-45, and P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 98.

[7:9]  ⁶ tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.

[7:9]  ⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.

[7:9]  ⁸ tn Or “the godly” (see Ps 5:12). The singular form is collective (see the plural “upright in heart” in v. 10), though it may reflect the personal focus of the psalmist in this context.

[7:9]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.

[7:9]  ¹⁰ tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 11:4; 26:2; 139:23.

[7:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and [the one who] tests hearts and kidneys, just God.” The translation inverts the word order to improve the English style. The heart and kidneys were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.

[9:16]  ¹² tn Heb “by the work of his hands [the] wicked [one] was ensnared. The singular form רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) is collective or representative here (see vv. 15, 17). The form נוֹקֵשׁ (noqesh) appears to be an otherwise unattested Qal form (active participle) from נָקַשׁ (naqash), but the form should be emended to נוֹקַשׁ (noqash), a Niphal perfect from יָקַשׁ (yaqash).

[9:16]  ¹³ tn This is probably a technical musical term.

[58:11]  ¹⁴ tn Following the imperfects of v. 10, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates a result or consequence of what precedes.

[58:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “man.” The singular is representative here.

[58:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “surely [there] is fruit for the godly.”

[58:11]  ¹⁷ tn The plural participle is unusual here if the preceding אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is here a plural of majesty, referring to the one true God. Occasionally the plural of majesty does take a plural attributive (see GKC 428-29 §132.h). It is possible that the final mem (ם) on the participle is enclitic, and that it was later misunderstood as a plural ending. Another option is to translate, “Yes indeed, there are gods who judge in the earth.” In this case, the statement reflects the polytheistic mindset of pagan observers who, despite their theological ignorance, nevertheless recognize divine retribution when they see it.

[125:3]  ¹⁸ tn Or “for.”

[125:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a scepter of wickedness.” The “scepter” symbolizes royal authority; when collocated with “wickedness” the phrase refers to an oppressive foreign conqueror.

[125:3]  ²⁰ tn Or “rest.”

[125:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “so that the godly might not stretch out their hands in wrongdoing.” A wicked king who sets a sinful example can have an adverse moral and ethical effect on the people he rules.

[32:35]  ²² tn Heb “prepared things,” “impending things.” See BDB 800 s.v. עָתִיד.

[32:36]  ²³ tn The translation understands the verb in the sense of “be grieved, relent” (cf. HALOT 689 s.v. נחם hitp 2); cf. KJV, ASV “repent himself”; NLT “will change his mind.” Another option is to translate “will show compassion to” (see BDB 637 s.v. נחם); cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV.

[35:14]  ²⁴ sn The point is that if God does not listen to those who do not turn to him, how much less likely is he to turn to one who complains against him.

[7:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

[7:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “until.”

[7:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

[7:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “see.”

[7:9]  ²⁹ tn Or “justice, vindication.”

[3:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “you will see between.” Cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT “see the difference.”

[3:2]  ³¹ sn The refiner’s fire was used to purify metal and refine it by melting it and allowing the dross, which floated to the top, to be scooped off.

[3:8]  ³² tc The LXX presupposes an underlying Hebrew text of עָקַב (’aqav, “deceive”), a metathesis of קָבַע (qava’, “rob”), in all four uses of the verb here (vv. 8-9). The intent probably is to soften the impact of “robbing” God, but the language of the passage is intentionally bold and there is no reason to go against the reading of the MT (which is followed here by most English versions).

[3:8]  ³³ sn The tithes and contributions mentioned here are probably those used to sustain the Levites (see Num 18:8, 11, 19, 21-24).

[3:9]  ³⁴ tn Heb “cursed with a curse” that is, “under a curse” (so NIV, NLT, CEV).

[3:9]  ³⁵ tn The phrase “is guilty” is not present in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

[3:10]  ³⁶ tn The Hebrew phrase בֵּית הָאוֹצָר (bet ha’otsar, here translated “storehouse”) refers to a kind of temple warehouse described more fully in Nehemiah (where the term לִשְׁכָּה גְדוֹלָה [lishkah gÿdolah, “great chamber”] is used) as a place for storing grain, frankincense, temple vessels, wine, and oil (Neh 13:5). Cf. TEV “to the Temple.”

[15:3]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[15:3]  ³⁸ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[15:3]  ³⁹ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:3]  ⁴⁰ 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]  ⁴¹ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

[15:3]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ tn Or “and praise.”

[15:4]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[15:4]  ⁴⁶ 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.”