Mazmur 45:6

45:6 Your throne, ¹  O God, is permanent. ² 

The scepter ³  of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.

Yesaya 6:1

Isaiah’s Commission

6:1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, ⁴  I saw the sovereign master ⁵  seated on a high, elevated throne. The hem of his robe filled the temple.

Daniel 7:9-10

7:9 “While I was watching,

thrones were set up,

and the Ancient of Days ⁶  took his seat.

His attire was white like snow;

the hair of his head was like lamb’s ⁷  wool.

His throne was ablaze with fire

and its wheels were all aflame. ⁸ 

7:10 A river of fire was streaming forth

and proceeding from his presence.

Many thousands were ministering to him;

Many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him. ⁹ 

The court convened ¹⁰ 

and the books were opened.

Daniel 7:14

7:14 To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty.

All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving ¹¹  him.

His authority is eternal and will not pass away. ¹² 

His kingdom will not be destroyed. ¹³ 

Zakharia 6:13

6:13 Indeed, he will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed in splendor, sitting as king on his throne. Moreover, there will be a priest ¹⁴  with him on his throne and they will see eye to eye on everything.

Matius 25:13

25:13 Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour. ¹⁵ 

Ibrani 1:8

1:8 but of ¹⁶  the Son he says, ¹⁷ 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ¹⁸ 

and a righteous scepter ¹⁹  is the scepter of your kingdom.

Ibrani 8:1

The High Priest of a Better Covenant

8:1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: ²⁰  We have such a high priest, one who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ²¹ 

Ibrani 12:2

12:2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ²² 

Wahyu 4:2-3

4:2 Immediately I was in the Spirit, ²³  and ²⁴  a throne was standing ²⁵  in heaven with someone seated on it! 4:3 And the one seated on it was like jasper ²⁶  and carnelian ²⁷  in appearance, and a rainbow looking like it was made of emerald ²⁸  encircled the throne.

Wahyu 5:13

5:13 Then ²⁹  I heard every creature – in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them – singing: ³⁰ 

“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb

be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power ³¹  forever and ever!”

Wahyu 20:11

The Great White Throne

20:11 Then ³²  I saw a large ³³  white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven ³⁴  fled ³⁵  from his presence, and no place was found for them.

[45:6]  ¹ sn The king’s throne here symbolizes his rule.

[45:6]  ² tn Or “forever and ever.”

[45:6]  sn O God. The king is clearly the addressee here, as in vv. 2-5 and 7-9. Rather than taking the statement at face value, many prefer to emend the text because the concept of deifying the earthly king is foreign to ancient Israelite thinking (cf. NEB “your throne is like God’s throne, eternal”). However, it is preferable to retain the text and take this statement as another instance of the royal hyperbole that permeates the royal psalms. Because the Davidic king is God’s vice-regent on earth, the psalmist addresses him as if he were God incarnate. God energizes the king for battle and accomplishes justice through him. A similar use of hyperbole appears in Isa 9:6, where the ideal Davidic king of the eschaton is given the title “Mighty God” (see the note on this phrase there). Ancient Near Eastern art and literature picture gods training kings for battle, bestowing special weapons, and intervening in battle. According to Egyptian propaganda, the Hittites described Rameses II as follows: “No man is he who is among us, It is Seth great-of-strength, Baal in person; Not deeds of man are these his doings, They are of one who is unique” (see Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2:67). Ps 45:6 and Isa 9:6 probably envision a similar kind of response when friends and foes alike look at the Davidic king in full battle regalia. When the king’s enemies oppose him on the battlefield, they are, as it were, fighting against God himself.

[45:6]  ³ sn The king’s scepter symbolizes his royal authority.

[6:1]  ⁴ sn That is, approximately 740 b.c.

[6:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 8, 11 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[7:9]  ⁶ tn Or “the Ancient One” (NAB, NRSV, NLT), although the traditional expression has been retained in the present translation because it is familiar to many readers. Cf. TEV “One who had been living for ever”; CEV “the Eternal God.”

[7:9]  ⁷ tn Traditionally the Aramaic word נְקֵא (nÿqe’) has been rendered “pure,” but here it more likely means “of a lamb.” Cf. the Syriac neqya’ (“a sheep, ewe”). On this word see further, M. Sokoloff, “’amar neqe’, ‘Lamb’s Wool’ (Dan 7:9),” JBL 95 (1976): 277-79.

[7:9]  ⁸ tn Aram “a flaming fire.”

[7:10]  ⁹ tn Aram “were standing before him.”

[7:10]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “judgment sat.”

[7:14]  ¹¹ tn Some take “serving” here in the sense of “worshiping.”

[7:14]  ¹² tn Aram “is an eternal authority which will not pass away.”

[7:14]  ¹³ tn Aram “is one which will not be destroyed.”

[6:13]  ¹⁴ sn The priest here in the immediate context is Joshua but the fuller and more distant allusion is to the Messiah, a ruling priest. The notion of the ruler as a priest-king was already apparent in David and his successors (Pss 2:2, 6-8; 110:2, 4), and it finds mature expression in David’s greater Son, Jesus Christ, who will combine both offices in his kingship (Heb 5:1-10; 7:1-25).

[25:13]  ¹⁵ tc Most later mss (C³ ˹³ 1424^c Ï) also read here “in which the Son of Man is coming” (ἐν ᾗ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἔρχεται, en |h Jo Juio" tou anqrwpou ercetai), reproducing almost verbatim the last line of Matt 24:44. The longer reading thus appears to be an explanatory expansion and should not be considered authentic. The earlier and better witnesses ({̳⁵ א A B C* D L W Δ Θ Ë¹ 33 565 892 1424* lat co}) lack this phrase.

[1:8]  ¹⁶ tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ¹⁷ tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ¹⁸ tn Or possibly, “Your throne is God forever and ever.” This translation is quite doubtful, however, since (1) in the context the Son is being contrasted to the angels and is presented as far better than they. The imagery of God being the Son’s throne would seem to be of God being his authority. If so, in what sense could this not be said of the angels? In what sense is the Son thus contrasted with the angels? (2) The μέν…δέ (men…de) construction that connects v. 7 with v. 8 clearly lays out this contrast: “On the one hand, he says of the angels…on the other hand, he says of the Son.” Thus, although it is grammatically possible that θεός (qeos) in v. 8 should be taken as a predicate nominative, the context and the correlative conjunctions are decidedly against it. Hebrews 1:8 is thus a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.

[1:8]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.

[8:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the main point of the things being said.”

[8:1]  ²¹ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1; see Heb 1:3, 13.

[12:2]  ²² sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.

[4:2]  ²³ tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).

[4:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[4:2]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 537 s.v. κεῖμαι 2 gives the translation “stand” for the term in this verse.

[4:3]  ²⁶ tn Grk “jasper stone.”

[4:3]  sn Jasper was a semiprecious gemstone, probably green in color (L&N 2.30).

[4:3]  ²⁷ sn Carnelian was a semiprecious gemstone, usually red in color (L&N 2.36).

[4:3]  ²⁸ tn Or “a rainbow emerald-like in appearance.”

[5:13]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:13]  ³⁰ tn Grk “saying.”

[5:13]  ³¹ tn Or “dominion.”

[20:11]  ³² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[20:11]  ³³ tn Traditionally, “great,” but μέγας (megas) here refers to size rather than importance.

[20:11]  ³⁴ tn Or “and the sky.” The same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky,” and context usually determines which is meant. In this apocalyptic scene, however, it is difficult to be sure what referent to assign the term.

[20:11]  ³⁵ tn Or “vanished.”

[20:11]  sn The phrase the earth and the heaven fled from his presence can be understood (1) as visual imagery representing the fear of corruptible matter in the presence of God, but (2) it can also be understood more literally as the dissolution of the universe as we know it in preparation for the appearance of the new heaven and new earth (Rev 21:1).