Revelation 14:1

An Interlude: The Song of the 144,000

14:1 Then ¹  I looked, and here was ²  the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

Exodus 12:13

12:13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see ³  the blood I will pass over you, ⁴  and this plague ⁵  will not fall on you to destroy you ⁶  when I attack ⁷  the land of Egypt. ⁸ 

Exodus 12:23

12:23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees ⁹  the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer ¹⁰  to enter your houses to strike you. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 26:20-21

26:20 Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms!

Close your doors behind you!

Hide for a little while,

until his angry judgment is over! ¹² 

26:21 For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives, ¹³ 

to punish the sin of those who live on the earth.

The earth will display the blood shed on it;

it will no longer cover up its slain. ¹⁴ 

Exodus 9:4-6

9:4 But the Lord will distinguish ¹⁵  between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing ¹⁶  will die of all that the Israelites have.”’” ¹⁷ 

9:5 The Lord set ¹⁸  an appointed time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this ¹⁹  in the land.” 9:6 And the Lord did this ²⁰  on the next day; ²¹  all ²²  the livestock of the Egyptians ²³  died, but of the Israelites’ livestock not one died.

Zephaniah 2:3

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ²⁴  all you humble people ²⁵  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ²⁶ 

Strive to do what is right! ²⁷  Strive to be humble! ²⁸ 

Maybe you will be protected ²⁹  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

[14:1]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[14:1]  ² tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[12:13]  ³ tn Both of the verbs for seeing and passing over are perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives: וּפָסַחְתִּי…וְרָאִיתִי (vÿra’iti...ufasakhti); the first of these parallel verb forms is subordinated to the second as a temporal clause. See Gesenius’s description of perfect consecutives in the protasis and apodosis (GKC 494 §159.g).

[12:13]  ⁴ tn The meaning of the verb is supplied in part from the near context of seeing the sign and omitting to destroy, as well as the verb at the start of verse 12 “pass through, by, over.” Isa 31:5 says, “Just as birds hover over a nest, so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it; as he passes over he will rescue it.” The word does not occur enough times to enable one to delineate a clear meaning. It is probably not the same word as “to limp” found in 1 Kgs 18:21, 26, unless there is a highly developed category of meaning there.

[12:13]  ⁵ tn The word “plague” (נֶגֶף, negef) is literally “a blow” or “a striking.” It usually describes a calamity or affliction given to those who have aroused God’s anger, as in Exod 30:12; Num 8:19; 16:46, 47; Josh 22:17 (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 92-93).

[12:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “for destruction.” The form מַשְׁחִית (mashkhit) is the Hiphil participle of שָׁחַת (shakhat). The word itself is a harsh term; it was used to describe Yahweh’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 13:10).

[12:13]  ⁷ tn בְּהַכֹּתִי (bÿhakkoti) is the Hiphil infinitive construct from נָכָה (nakhah), with a preposition prefixed and a pronominal suffix added to serve as the subjective genitive – the subject of this temporal clause. It is also used in 12:12.

[12:13]  ⁸ sn For additional discussions, see W. H. Elder, “The Passover,” RevExp 74 (1977): 511-22; E. Nutz, “The Passover,” BV 12 (1978): 23-28; H. M. Kamsler, “The Blood Covenant in the Bible,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 94-98; A. Rodriguez, Substitution in the Hebrew Cultus; B. Ramm, “The Theology of the Book of Exodus: A Reflection on Exodus 12:12,” SwJT 20 (1977): 59-68; and M. Gilula, “The Smiting of the First-Born: An Egyptian Myth?” TA 4 (1977): 94-85.

[12:23]  ⁹ tn The first of the two clauses begun with perfects and vav consecutives may be subordinated to form a temporal clause: “and he will see…and he will pass over,” becomes “when he sees…he will pass over.”

[12:23]  ¹⁰ tn Here the form is the Hiphil participle with the definite article. Gesenius says this is now to be explained as “the destroyer” although some take it to mean “destruction” (GKC 406 §126.m, n. 1).

[12:23]  ¹¹ tn “you” has been supplied.

[26:20]  ¹² tn Heb “until anger passes by.”

[26:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “out of his place” (so KJV, ASV).

[26:21]  ¹⁴ sn This implies that rampant bloodshed is one of the reasons for divine judgment. See the note at 24:5.

[9:4]  ¹⁵ tn The verb פָּלָה (palah) in Hiphil means “to set apart, make separate, make distinct.” See also Exod 8:22 (18 HT); 11:7; 33:16.

[9:4]  ¹⁶ tn There is a wordplay in this section. A pestilence – דֶּבֶר (dever) – will fall on Egypt’s cattle, but no thing – דָּבָר (davar) – belonging to Israel would die. It was perhaps for this reason that the verb was changed in v. 1 from “say” to “speak” (דִּבֶּר, dibber). See U. Cassuto, Exodus, 111.

[9:4]  ¹⁷ tn The lamed preposition indicates possession: “all that was to the Israelites” means “all that the Israelites had.”

[9:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and Yahweh set.”

[9:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “this thing.”

[9:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “this thing.”

[9:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “on the morrow.”

[9:6]  ²² tn The word “all” clearly does not mean “all” in the exclusive sense, because subsequent plagues involve cattle. The word must denote such a large number that whatever was left was insignificant for the economy. It could also be taken to mean “all [kinds of] livestock died.”

[9:6]  ²³ tn Heb “of Egypt.” The place is put by metonymy for the inhabitants.

[2:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.

[2:3]  ²⁵ tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.

[2:3]  ²⁶ tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”

[2:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Seek what is right.”

[2:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Seek humility.”

[2:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”