Kejadian 2:1

2:1 The heavens and the earth ¹  were completed with everything that was in them. ² 

Ulangan 4:19

4:19 When you look up ³  to the sky ⁴  and see the sun, moon, and stars – the whole heavenly creation ⁵  – you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, ⁶  for the Lord your God has assigned ⁷  them to all the people ⁸  of the world. ⁹ 

Ayub 25:3

25:3 Can his armies be numbered? ¹⁰ 

On whom does his light ¹¹  not rise?

Mazmur 24:8-10

24:8 Who is this majestic king? ¹² 

The Lord who is strong and mighty!

The Lord who is mighty in battle!

24:9 Look up, you gates!

Rise up, you eternal doors!

Then the majestic king will enter!

24:10 Who is this majestic king?

The Lord who commands armies! ¹³ 

He is the majestic king! (Selah)

Mazmur 103:21

103:21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his, ¹⁴ 

you servants of his who carry out his desires! ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 148:2-3

148:2 Praise him, all his angels! ¹⁶ 

Praise him, all his heavenly assembly! ¹⁷ 

148:3 Praise him, O sun and moon!

Praise him, all you shiny stars! ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 6:3

6:3 They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy ¹⁹  is the Lord who commands armies! ²⁰  His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!”

Yeremia 8:2

8:2 They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon and the stars. ²¹  These are things they ²²  adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance, ²³  from which they sought guidance, and worshiped. The bones of these people ²⁴  will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground. ²⁵ 

Lukas 2:13-14

2:13 Suddenly ²⁶  a vast, heavenly army ²⁷  appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

2:14 “Glory ²⁸  to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among people ²⁹  with whom he is pleased!” ³⁰ 

[2:1]  ¹ tn See the note on the phrase “the heavens and the earth” in 1:1.

[2:1]  ² tn Heb “and all the host of them.” Here the “host” refers to all the entities and creatures that God created to populate the world.

[4:19]  ³ tn Heb “lest you lift up your eyes.” In the Hebrew text vv. 16-19 are subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.

[4:19]  ⁴ tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[4:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “all the host of heaven.”

[4:19]  ⁶ tn In the Hebrew text the verbal sequence in v. 19 is “lest you look up…and see…and be seduced…and worship them…and serve them.” However, the first two actions are not prohibited in and of themselves. The prohibition pertains to the final three actions. The first two verbs describe actions that are logically subordinate to the following actions and can be treated as temporal or circumstantial: “lest, looking up…and seeing…, you are seduced.” See Joüon 2:635 §168.h.

[4:19]  ⁷ tn Or “allotted.”

[4:19]  ⁸ tn Or “nations.”

[4:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “under all the heaven.”

[4:19]  sn The OT views the heavenly host as God’s council, which surrounds his royal throne ready to do his bidding (see 1 Kgs 22:19). God has given this group, sometimes called the “sons of God” (cf. Job 1:6; 38:7; Ps 89:6), jurisdiction over the nations. See Deut 32:8 (LXX). Some also see this assembly as the addressee in Ps 82. While God delegated his council to rule over the nations, he established a theocratic government over Israel and ruled directly over his chosen people via the Mosaic covenant. See v. 20, as well as Deut 32:9.

[25:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Is there a number to his troops?” The question is rhetorical: there is no number to them!

[25:3]  ¹¹ tc In place of “light” here the LXX has “his ambush,” perhaps reading אֹרְבוֹ (’orÿvo) instead of אוֹרֵהוּ (’orehu, “his light”). But while that captures the idea of troops and warfare, the change should be rejected because the armies are linked with stars and light. The expression is poetic; the LXX interpretation tried to make it concrete.

[24:8]  ¹² sn Who is this majestic king? Perhaps the personified gates/doors ask this question, in response to the command given in v. 7.

[24:10]  ¹³ tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts,” a title which here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle.

[103:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all his hosts.”

[103:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his attendants, doers of his desire.”

[148:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “heavenly messengers.”

[148:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “all his host.”

[148:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “stars of light.”

[6:3]  ¹⁹ tn Some have seen a reference to the Trinity in the seraphs’ threefold declaration, “holy, holy, holy.” This proposal has no linguistic or contextual basis and should be dismissed as allegorical. Hebrew sometimes uses repetition for emphasis. (See IBHS 233-34 §12.5a; and GKC 431-32 §133.k.) By repeating the word “holy,” the seraphs emphasize the degree of the Lord’s holiness. For another example of threefold repetition for emphasis, see Ezek 21:27 (Heb. v. 32). (Perhaps Jer 22:29 provides another example.)

[6:3]  sn Or “The Lord who commands armies has absolute sovereign authority!” The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” In this context the Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. Note the emphasis on the elevated position of his throne in v. 1 and his designation as “the king” in v. 5. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. He is “set apart” from his subjects in a moral sense as well. He sets the standard; they fall short of it. Note that in v. 5 Isaiah laments that he is morally unworthy to be in the king’s presence.

[6:3]  ²⁰ tn Perhaps in this context, the title has a less militaristic connotation and pictures the Lord as the ruler of the heavenly assembly. See the note at 1:9.

[8:2]  ²¹ tc MT, 4QJer^a and LXX read “the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven,” but 4QJer^c reads “the sun and all the stars.”

[8:2]  tn Heb “the host of heaven.”

[8:2]  ²² tn Heb “the sun, moon, and host of heaven which they…”

[8:2]  ²³ tn Heb “followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[8:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they will not” but the referent is far enough removed that it might be ambiguous.

[8:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “like dung/manure on the surface of the ground.”

[2:13]  ²⁶ tn Grk “And suddenly.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:13]  ²⁷ tn Grk “a multitude of the armies of heaven.”

[2:14]  ²⁸ sn Glory here refers to giving honor to God.

[2:14]  ²⁹ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") referring to both males and females.

[2:14]  ³⁰ tc Most witnesses (א² B² L Θ Ξ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï sy bo) have ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία (en anqrwpoi" eudokia, “good will among people”) instead of ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας (en anqrwpoi" eudokia", “among people with whom he is pleased”), a reading attested by א* A B* D W pc (sa). Most of the Itala witnesses and some other versional witnesses reflect a Greek text which has the genitive εὐδοκίας but drops the preposition ἐν. Not only is the genitive reading better attested, but it is more difficult than the nominative. “The meaning seems to be, not that divine peace can be bestowed only where human good will is already present, but that at the birth of the Saviour God’s peace rests on those whom he has chosen in accord with his good pleasure” (TCGNT 111).