Mazmur 103:20-21

103:20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his,

you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees

and obey his orders! ¹ 

103:21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his, ² 

you servants of his who carry out his desires! ³ 

Ayub 38:7

38:7 when the morning stars ⁴  sang ⁵  in chorus, ⁶ 

and all the sons of God ⁷  shouted for joy?

Yesaya 6:2-4

6:2 Seraphs ⁸  stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, ⁹  and they used the remaining two to fly. 6:3 They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy ¹⁰  is the Lord who commands armies! ¹¹  His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!” 6:4 The sound of their voices shook the door frames, ¹²  and the temple was filled with smoke.

Yehezkiel 3:12

Ezekiel Before the Exiles

3:12 Then a wind lifted me up ¹³  and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me as the glory of the Lord rose from its place, ¹⁴ 

Wahyu 5:11-13

5:11 Then ¹⁵  I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their ¹⁶  number was ten thousand times ten thousand ¹⁷  – thousands times thousands – 5:12 all of whom ¹⁸  were singing ¹⁹  in a loud voice:

“Worthy is the lamb who was killed ²⁰ 

to receive power and wealth

and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and praise!”

5:13 Then ²¹  I heard every creature – in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them – singing: ²² 

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

be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power ²³  forever and ever!”

[103:20]  ¹ tn Heb “[you] mighty ones of strength, doers of his word, by listening to the voice of his word.”

[103:21]  ² tn Heb “all his hosts.”

[103:21]  ³ tn Heb “his attendants, doers of his desire.”

[38:7]  ⁴ sn The expression “morning stars” (Heb “stars of the morning”) is here placed in parallelism to the angels, “the sons of God.” It may refer to the angels under the imagery of the stars, or, as some prefer, it may poetically include all creation. There is a parallel also with the foundation of the temple which was accompanied by song (see Ezra 3:10,11). But then the account of the building of the original tabernacle was designed to mirror creation (see M. Fishbane, Biblical Text and Texture).

[38:7]  ⁵ tn The construction, an adverbial clause of time, uses רָנָן (ranan), which is often a ringing cry, an exultation. The parallelism with “shout for joy” shows this to be enthusiastic acclamation. The infinitive is then continued in the next colon with the vav (ו) consecutive preterite.

[38:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “together.” This is Dhorme’s suggestion for expressing how they sang together.

[38:7]  ⁷ tn See Job 1:6.

[6:2]  ⁸ 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.

[6:2]  ⁹ sn Some understand “feet” here as a euphemistic reference to the genitals.

[6:3]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.

[6:4]  ¹² tn On the phrase אַמּוֹת הַסִּפִּים (’ammot hassippim, “pivots of the frames”) see HALOT 763 s.v. סַף.

[3:12]  ¹³ sn See note on “wind” in 2:2.

[3:12]  ¹⁴ tc This translation accepts the emendation suggested in BHS of בְּרוּם (bÿrum) for בָּרוּךְ (barukh). The letters mem (מ) and kaph (כ) were easily confused in the old script while בָּרוּךְ (“blessed be”) both implies a quotation which is out of place here and also does not fit the later phrase, “from its place,” which requires a verb of motion.

[5:11]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:11]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “elders, and the number of them was.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[5:11]  ¹⁷ tn Or “myriads of myriads.” Although μυριάς (murias) literally means “10,000,” the point of the combination here may simply be to indicate an incalculably huge number. See L&N 60.9.

[5:12]  ¹⁸ tn The words “all of whom” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to indicate the resumption of the phrase “the voice of many angels” at the beginning of the verse.

[5:12]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “saying.”

[5:12]  ²⁰ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:13]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:13]  ²² tn Grk “saying.”

[5:13]  ²³ tn Or “dominion.”