4:34 But at the end of the appointed time 1 I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up 2 toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me.
I extolled the Most High,
and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever.
For his authority is an everlasting authority,
and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next.
16:7 Then 16 I heard the altar reply, 17 “Yes, Lord God, the All-Powerful, 18 your judgments are true and just!”
1 tn Aram “days.”
2 tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”
3 tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here.
4 tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle λέγουσα (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style.
5 tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).
sn The parallel accounts in Mark 1:11 and Luke 3:22 read “You are” rather than “This is,” portraying the remark as addressed personally to Jesus.
6 tn Grk “in whom.”
7 tn Or “with whom I am well pleased.”
sn The allusions in the remarks of the text recall Ps 2:7a; Isa 42:1 and either Isa 41:8 or, less likely, Gen 22:12,16. God is marking out Jesus as his chosen one (the meaning of “[in him I take] great delight”), but it may well be that this was a private experience that only Jesus and John saw and heard (cf. John 1:32-33).
8 tn Or “from the sky” (see note on 1:32).
9 tn “It” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
10 tn “It” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
11 tn Grk “As he was going along, it happened that when he was approaching.” The phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
12 tn Or “shone” (BDAG 799 s.v. περιαστράπτω). The light was more brilliant than the sun according to Acts 26:13.
13 tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.
14 tn The double vocative suggests emotion.
15 sn Persecuting me. To persecute the church is to persecute Jesus.
16 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
17 tn Grk “the altar saying.”
18 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.”