Ezra 7:12

7:12 ¹ “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the perfect law of the God of heaven:

Amsal 8:15

8:15 Kings reign by means of me,

and potentates ²  decree ³  righteousness;

Wahyu 17:14

17:14 They will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those accompanying ⁴  the Lamb are the called, chosen, and faithful.”

Wahyu 19:16

19:16 He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

[7:12]  ¹ sn Ezra 7:12-26 is written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew.

[8:15]  ² tn The verb רָזַן (razan) means “to be weighty; to be judicious; to be commanding.” It only occurs in the Qal active participle in the plural as a substantive, meaning “potentates; rulers” (e.g., Ps 1:1-3). Cf. KJV, ASV “princes”; NAB “lawgivers.”

[8:15]  ³ sn This verb יְחֹקְקוּ (yÿkhoqqu) is related to the noun חֹק (khoq), which is a “statute; decree.” The verb is defined as “to cut in; to inscribe; to decree” (BDB 349 s.v. חָקַק). The point the verse is making is that when these potentates decree righteousness, it is by wisdom. History records all too often that these rulers acted as fools and opposed righteousness (cf. Ps 2:1-3). But people in power need wisdom to govern the earth (e.g., Isa 11:1-4 which predicts how Messiah will use wisdom to do this very thing). The point is underscored with the paronomasia in v. 15 with “kings” and “will reign” from the same root, and then in v. 16 with both “princes” and “rule” being cognate. The repetition of sounds and meanings strengthens the statements.

[17:14]  ⁴ tn See BDAG 636 s.v. μετά A.2.a.α.