Psalms 78:25

78:25 Man ate the food of the mighty ones. ¹ 

He sent them more than enough to eat. ² 

Psalms 78:2

78:2 I will sing a song that imparts wisdom;

I will make insightful observations about the past. ³ 

Acts 19:35

19:35 After the city secretary ⁴  quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, what person ⁵  is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the keeper ⁶  of the temple of the great Artemis ⁷  and of her image that fell from heaven? ⁸ 

Isaiah 6:2

6:2 Seraphs ⁹  stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, ¹⁰  and they used the remaining two to fly.

Joel 2:11

2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders ¹¹  as he leads his army. ¹² 

Indeed, his warriors ¹³  are innumerable; ¹⁴ 

Surely his command is carried out! ¹⁵ 

Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome ¹⁶ 

and very terrifying – who can survive ¹⁷  it?

Matthew 26:53

26:53 Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions ¹⁸  of angels right now?

¹ sn Because of the reference to “heaven” in the preceding verse, it is likely that mighty ones refers here to the angels of heaven. The LXX translates “angels” here, as do a number of modern translations (NEB, NIV, NRSV).

² tn Heb “provision he sent to them to satisfaction.”

³ tn Heb “I will open with a wise saying my mouth, I will utter insightful sayings from long ago.” Elsewhere the Hebrew word pair חִידָה+מָשָׁל (mashal + khidah) refers to a taunt song (Hab 2:6), a parable (Ezek 17:2), proverbial sayings (Prov 1:6), and an insightful song that reflects on the mortality of humankind and the ultimate inability of riches to prevent death (Ps 49:4).

⁵ tn Or “clerk.” The “scribe” (γραμματεύς, grammateu") was the keeper of the city’s records.

⁶ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo").

⁷ tn See BDAG 670 s.v. νεωκόρος. The city is described as the “warden” or “guardian” of the goddess and her temple.

⁸ sn Artemis was a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus.

⁹ tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

⁷ tn Hebrew שָׂרָף (saraf, “seraph”) literally means “burning one,” perhaps suggesting that these creatures had a fiery appearance (cf. TEV, CEV “flaming creatures”; NCV “heavenly creatures of fire”). Elsewhere in the OT the word “seraph” refers to poisonous snakes (Num 21:6; Deut 8:15; Isa 14:29; 30:6). Perhaps they were called “burning ones” because of their appearance or the effect of their venomous bites, which would cause a victim to burn up with fever. It is possible that the seraphs seen by Isaiah were at least partially serpentine in appearance. Though it might seem strange for a snake-like creature to have wings, two of the texts where “seraphs” are snakes describe them as “flying” (Isa 14:29; 30:6), perhaps referring to their darting movements. See the note at 14:29.

⁸ sn Some understand “feet” here as a euphemistic reference to the genitals.

⁹ tn Heb “the Lord gives his voice.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “before his army.”

¹¹ tn Heb “military encampment.”

¹² tn Heb “very large.”

¹³ tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”

¹⁴ tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) has “bear.”

¹¹ sn A legion was a Roman army unit of about 6,000 soldiers, so twelve legions would be 72,000.