The Song of Songs 6:10

6:10 “Who ¹  is this who appears ²  like the dawn? ³ 

Beautiful as the moon, ⁴  bright ⁵  as the sun,

awe-inspiring ⁶  as the stars in procession?” ⁷ 

Numbers 24:5-9

24:5 ‘How ⁸  beautiful are your tents, O Jacob,

and your dwelling places, O Israel!

24:6 They are like ⁹  valleys ¹⁰  stretched forth,

like gardens by the river’s side,

like aloes ¹¹  that the Lord has planted,

and like cedar trees beside the waters.

24:7 He will pour the water out of his buckets, ¹² 

and their descendants will be like abundant ¹³  water; ¹⁴ 

their king will be greater than Agag, ¹⁵ 

and their kingdom will be exalted.

24:8 God brought them out of Egypt.

They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull;

they will devour hostile people ¹⁶ 

and will break their bones

and will pierce them through with arrows.

24:9 They crouch and lie down like a lion,

and as a lioness, ¹⁷  who can stir him?

Blessed is the one who blesses you,

and cursed is the one who curses you!’”

Psalms 144:4-8

144:4 People ¹⁸  are like a vapor,

their days like a shadow that disappears. ¹⁹ 

144:5 O Lord, make the sky sink ²⁰  and come down! ²¹ 

Touch the mountains and make them smolder! ²² 

144:6 Hurl lightning bolts and scatter them!

Shoot your arrows and rout them! ²³ 

144:7 Reach down ²⁴  from above!

Grab me and rescue me from the surging water, ²⁵ 

from the power of foreigners, ²⁶ 

144:8 who speak lies,

and make false promises. ²⁷ 

Zechariah 12:3

12:3 Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden ²⁸  for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; ²⁹  yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it.

Zechariah 12:2

12:2 “I am about to make Jerusalem ³⁰  a cup that brings dizziness ³¹  to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged.

Colossians 1:4

1:4 since ³²  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

Revelation 19:14-16

19:14 The ³³  armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, ³⁴  were following him on white horses. 19:15 From his mouth extends a sharp sword, so that with it he can strike the nations. ³⁵  He ³⁶  will rule ³⁷  them with an iron rod, ³⁸  and he stomps the winepress ³⁹  of the furious ⁴⁰  wrath of God, the All-Powerful. ⁴¹  19:16 He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

[6:10]  ¹ sn This rhetorical question emphasizes her position among women (e.g., Mic 2:7; Joel 2:1).

[6:10]  ² tn Alternately, “rises” or “looks forth.” Delitzsch renders הַנִּשְׁקָפָה (hannishqafah) as “who rises,” while NIV opts for “who appears.” The verb means “to look down upon [something] from a height” and is derived from the related noun “ceiling, roof, sky” (BDB 1054 s.v. שָׁקַף; HALOT 1645 s.v. שׁקף). The verb is used of looking down over a plain or valley from the vantage point of a mountain-top (Num 21:20; 23:28; 1 Sam 13:18); of God looking down from heaven (Ps 14:2); or of a person looking down below out of an upper window (Judg 5:28; 2 Sam 6:16; Prov 7:6). M. H. Pope (The Song of Songs [AB], 571-72) suggests that this verb implies the idea of her superiority over the other women, that is, she occupies a “higher” position over them due to his choice of her. But another interpretation is possible: The verb creates personification (i.e., the dawn is attributed with the human action of looking). Just as the dawn is the focus of attention during the morning hours and looks down upon the earth, so too she is the focus of his attention and is in the privileged position over all the other women.

[6:10]  ³ sn The common point in these four comparisons is that all are luminaries. In all four cases, each respective luminary is the focus or center of attention at the hour at hand because it dwarfs its celestial surroundings in majesty and in sheer brilliance. All other celestial objects pale into insignificance in their presence. This would be an appropriate description of her because she alone was the center and focus of his attention. All the other women paled into the background when she was present. Her beauty captured the attention of all that saw her, especially Solomon.

[6:10]  ⁴ tn The term לְבָנָה (lÿvanah) literally means “the white one” (BDB 526 s.v. לְבָנָה) and is always used in reference to the moon. It is only used elsewhere in the OT in parallelism with the term used to designate the sun (Isa 24:23; 30:26), which likewise is not the ordinary term, but literally means “the hot one,” emphasizing the heat of the sun (Job 30:28; Ps 19:6). Both of these terms, “the white one” and “the hot one,” are metonymies of adjunct in which an attribute (i.e., color and heat) are substituted for the subject itself. The white moon in contrast to the dark night sky captures one’s attention, just as the red-hot sun in the afternoon sky is the center of attention during the day. The use of the figurative comparisons of her beauty to that of the dawn, sun, moon, and stars is strikingly similar to the Hebrews’ figurative comparison of Simon the high priest coming out of the sanctuary to the morning star, moon, sun, and rainbow: “How glorious he was when the people gathered round him as he came out of the inner sanctuary! Like the morning star among the clouds, like the moon when it is full; like the sun shining upon the temple of the Most High, and like the rainbow gleaming in glorious clouds” (See G. Gerleman, Ruth, Das Hohelied [BKAT], 171).

[6:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “pure as the sun.”

[6:10]  ⁶ tn The adjective אָיֹם (’ayom) has been nuanced “terrible” (KJV, RSV), “frightful, fear-inspiring” (Delitzsch), “majestic” (NIV), “awesome” (NASB). In the light of its parallelism with יָפָה (yafah, “beautiful”) and נָאוָה (na’vah, “lovely”) in 6:4, and יָפָה (“fair”) and בָּרָה (barah, “bright”) in 6:10, it should be nuanced “awe-inspiring” or “unnervingly beautiful.”

[6:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “as bannered armies.” The term כַּנִּדְגָּלוֹת (kannidgalot, “as bannered armies”) is used figuratively (hypocatastasis) in reference to stars which are often compared to the heavenly armies. This nuance is clear in the light of the parallelism with the dawn, moon, and sun.

[24:5]  ⁸ tn Here מָה (mah) has an exclamatory sense: “How!” (see Gen 28:17).

[24:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “as valleys they spread forth.”

[24:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “rows of palms.”

[24:6]  ¹¹ sn The language seems to be more poetic than precise. N. H. Snaith notes that cedars do not grow beside water; he also connects “aloes” to the eaglewood that is more exotic, and capable of giving off an aroma (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 298).

[24:7]  ¹² tc For this colon the LXX has “a man shall come out of his seed.” Cf. the Syriac Peshitta and Targum.

[24:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “many.”

[24:7]  ¹⁴ sn These two lines are difficult, but the general sense is that of irrigation buckets and a well-watered land. The point is that Israel will be prosperous and fruitful.

[24:7]  ¹⁵ sn Many commentators see this as a reference to Agag of 1 Sam 15:32-33, the Amalekite king slain by Samuel, for that is the one we know. But that is by no means clear, for this text does not identify this Agag. If it is that king, then this poem, or this line in this poem, would have to be later, unless one were to try to argue for a specific prophecy. Whoever this Agag is, he is a symbol of power.

[24:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they will devour nations,” their adversaries.

[24:9]  ¹⁷ tn On the usage of this word see HALOT 517 s.v. לָבִיא.

[144:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “man,” or “mankind.”

[144:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his days [are] like a shadow that passes away,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness. See Ps 102:11.

[144:5]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “to [cause to] bend; to [cause to] bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the Lord causes the sky, pictured as a dome or vault, to sink down as he descends in the storm. See Ps 18:9.

[144:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “so you might come down.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The same type of construction is utilized in v. 6.

[144:5]  ²² tn Heb “so they might smolder.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative.

[144:6]  ²³ sn Arrows and lightning bolts are associated in other texts (see Pss 18:14; 77:17-18; Zech 9:14), as well as in ancient Near Eastern art (see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” [Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983], 187).

[144:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “stretch out your hands.”

[144:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful foreign enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see the next line and Ps 18:16-17).

[144:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”

[144:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “who [with] their mouth speak falsehood, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” The reference to the “right hand” is probably a metonymy for an oath. When making an oath, one would raise the hand as a solemn gesture. See Exod 6:8; Num 14:30; Deut 32:40. The figure thus represents the making of false oaths (false promises).

[12:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “heavy stone” (so NRSV, TEV, NLT); KJV “burdensome stone”; NIV “an immovable rock.”

[12:3]  ²⁹ sn In Israel’s and Judah’s past they had been uprooted by various conquerors such as the Assyrians and the Babylonians. In the eschaton, however, they will be so “heavy” with God’s glory and so rooted in his promises that no nation will be able to move them.

[12:2]  ³⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[12:2]  ³¹ sn The image of a cup that brings dizziness is that of drunkenness. The Lord will force the nations to drink of his judgment and in doing so they will become so intoxicated by his wrath that they will stumble and become irrational.

[1:4]  ³² tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).

[19:14]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:14]  ³⁴ tn On the term translated “fine linen,” BDAG 185 s.v. βύσσινος states, “made of fine linen, subst. τὸ β. fine linen, linen garment…Rv 18:12, 16; 19:8, 14.”

[19:15]  ³⁵ tn Or “the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[19:15]  ³⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:15]  ³⁷ tn Grk “will shepherd.”

[19:15]  ³⁸ tn Or “scepter.” The Greek term ῥάβδος (rJabdo") can mean either “rod” or “scepter.”

[19:15]  ³⁹ sn He stomps the winepress. See Isa 63:3, where Messiah does this alone (usually several individuals would join in the process), and Rev 14:20.

[19:15]  ⁴⁰ tn The genitive θυμοῦ (qumou) has been translated as an attributed genitive. Following BDAG 461 s.v. θυμός 2, the combination of the genitives of θυμός (qumos) and ὀργή (orgh) in Rev 16:19 and 19:15 are taken to be a strengthening of the thought as in the OT and Qumran literature (Exod 32:12; Jer 32:37; Lam 2:3; CD 10:9).

[19:15]  ⁴¹ 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.”