1 Petrus 2:9

2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues ¹  of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Keluaran 19:6

19:6 and you will be to me ²  a kingdom of priests ³  and a holy nation.’ ⁴  These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”

Yesaya 61:6

61:6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,

servants of our God.’ ⁵ 

You will enjoy ⁶  the wealth of nations

and boast about ⁷  the riches you receive from them. ⁸ 

Yesaya 1:6

1:6 From the soles of your feet to your head,

there is no spot that is unharmed. ⁹ 

There are only bruises, cuts,

and open wounds.

They have not been cleansed ¹⁰  or bandaged,

nor have they been treated ¹¹  with olive oil. ¹² 

[2:9]  ¹ sn This verse contains various allusions and quotations from Exod 19:5-6; 23:22 (LXX); Isa 43:20-21; and Mal 3:17.

[19:6]  ² tn Or “for me” (NIV, NRSV), or, if the lamed (ל) preposition has a possessive use, “my kingdom” (so NCV).

[19:6]  ³ tn The construction “a kingdom of priests” means that the kingdom is made up of priests. W. C. Kaiser (“Exodus,” EBC 2:417) offers four possible renderings of the expression: 1) apposition, viz., “kings, that is, priests; 2) as a construct with a genitive of specification, “royal priesthood”; 3) as a construct with the genitive being the attribute, “priestly kingdom”; and 4) reading with an unexpressed “and” – “kings and priests.” He takes the latter view that they were to be kings and priests. (Other references are R. B. Y. Scott, “A Kingdom of Priests (Exodus xix. 6),” OTS 8 [1950]: 213-19; William L. Moran, “A Kingdom of Priests,” The Bible in Current Catholic Thought, 7-20). However, due to the parallelism of the next description which uses an adjective, this is probably a construct relationship. This kingdom of God will be composed of a priestly people. All the Israelites would be living wholly in God’s service and enjoying the right of access to him. And, as priests, they would have the duty of representing God to the nations, following what they perceived to be the duties of priests – proclaiming God’s word, interceding for people, and making provision for people to find God through atonement (see Deut 33:9,10).

[19:6]  ⁴ tn They are also to be “a holy nation.” They are to be a nation separate and distinct from the rest of the nations. Here is another aspect of their duty. It was one thing to be God’s special possession, but to be that they had to be priestly and holy. The duties of the covenant will specify what it would mean to be a holy nation. In short, they had to keep themselves free from everything that characterized pagan people (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 171). So it is a bilateral covenant: they received special privileges but they must provide special services by the special discipline. See also H. Kruse, “Exodus 19:5 and the Mission of Israel,” North East Asian Journal of Theology 24/25 (1980): 239-42.

[61:6]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”

[61:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”

[61:6]  ⁷ tc The form in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yit’ammÿru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (’amar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).

[61:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).

[1:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “there is not in it health”; NAB “there is no sound spot.”

[1:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “pressed out.”

[1:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “softened” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “soothed.”

[1:6]  ¹² sn This verse describes wounds like those one would receive in battle. These wounds are comprehensive and without remedy.