Mazmur 83:2-8

83:2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion;

those who hate you are hostile. ¹ 

83:3 They carefully plot ²  against your people,

and make plans to harm ³  the ones you cherish. ⁴ 

83:4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! ⁵ 

Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”

83:5 Yes, ⁶  they devise a unified strategy; ⁷ 

they form an alliance ⁸  against you.

83:6 It includes ⁹  the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

Moab and the Hagrites, ¹⁰ 

83:7 Gebal, ¹¹  Ammon, and Amalek,

Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre. ¹² 

83:8 Even Assyria has allied with them,

lending its strength to the descendants of Lot. ¹³  (Selah)

Mazmur 83:2

83:2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion;

those who hate you are hostile. ¹⁴ 

1 Samuel 10:6

10:6 Then the spirit of the Lord will rush upon you and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person.

1 Samuel 10:14

10:14 Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” Saul ¹⁵  replied, “To look for the donkeys. But when we realized they were lost, ¹⁶  we went to Samuel.”

1 Samuel 10:16-19

10:16 Saul said to his uncle, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Saul ¹⁷  did not tell him what Samuel had said about the matter of kingship.

10:17 Then Samuel called the people together before the Lord at Mizpah. 10:18 He said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt and I delivered you from the power ¹⁸  of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that oppressed you. 10:19 But today you have rejected your God who saves you from all your trouble and distress. You have said, “No! ¹⁹  Appoint a king over us.” Now take your positions before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.’”

Yesaya 7:1

Ahaz Receives a Sign

7:1 During ²⁰  the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel marched up to Jerusalem ²¹  to do battle, but they were unable to prevail against it. ²² 

Yesaya 8:8-10

8:8 It will spill into Judah, flooding and engulfing, as it reaches to the necks of its victims. He will spread his wings out over your entire land, ²³  O Immanuel.” ²⁴ 

8:9 You will be broken, ²⁵  O nations;

you will be shattered! ²⁶ 

Pay attention, all you distant lands of the earth!

Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered!

Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered! ²⁷ 

8:10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted!

Issue your orders, but they will not be executed! ²⁸ 

For God is with us! ²⁹ 

Yesaya 10:8

10:8 Indeed, ³⁰  he says:

“Are not my officials all kings?

Yesaya 29:5-8

29:5 But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust,

the horde of tyrants ³¹  like chaff that is blown away.

It will happen suddenly, in a flash.

29:6 Judgment will come from the Lord who commands armies, ³² 

accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise,

by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.

29:7 It will be like a dream, a night vision.

There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel,

those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her.

29:8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating,

only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. ³³ 

It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking,

only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. ³⁴ 

So it will be for the horde from all the nations

that fight against Mount Zion.

Wahyu 17:12-14

17:12 The ³⁵  ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive ruling authority ³⁶  as kings with the beast for one hour. 17:13 These kings ³⁷  have a single intent, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. 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 ³⁸  the Lamb are the called, chosen, and faithful.”

Wahyu 19:20

19:20 Now ³⁹  the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf ⁴⁰  – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. ⁴¹ 

Wahyu 20:8-9

20:8 and will go out to deceive ⁴²  the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, ⁴³  to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. ⁴⁴  20:9 They ⁴⁵  went up ⁴⁶  on the broad plain of the earth ⁴⁷  and encircled ⁴⁸  the camp ⁴⁹  of the saints and the beloved city, but ⁵⁰  fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely. ⁵¹ 

[83:2]  ¹ tn Heb “lift up [their] head[s].” The phrase “lift up [the] head” here means “to threaten; to be hostile,” as in Judg 8:28.

[83:3]  ² tn Heb “they make crafty a plot.”

[83:3]  ³ tn Heb “and consult together against.”

[83:3]  ⁴ tn The passive participle of the Hebrew verb צָפַן (tsafan, “to hide”) is used here in the sense of “treasured; cherished.”

[83:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “we will cause them to disappear from [being] a nation.”

[83:5]  ⁶ tn Or “for.”

[83:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “they consult [with] a heart together.”

[83:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[83:6]  ⁹ tn The words “it includes” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[83:6]  ¹⁰ sn The Hagrites are also mentioned in 1 Chr 5:10, 19-20.

[83:7]  ¹¹ sn Some identify Gebal with the Phoenician coastal city of Byblos (see Ezek 27:9, where the name is spelled differently), though others locate this site south of the Dead Sea (see BDB 148 s.v. גְּבַל; HALOT 174 s.v. גְּבַל).

[83:7]  ¹² map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[83:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “they are an arm for the sons of Lot.” The “arm” is here a symbol of military might.

[83:8]  sn The descendants of Lot were the Moabites and Ammonites.

[83:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lift up [their] head[s].” The phrase “lift up [the] head” here means “to threaten; to be hostile,” as in Judg 8:28.

[10:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And we saw that they were not.”

[10:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “hand” (also later in this verse).

[10:19]  ¹⁹ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate in reading לֹא (lo’, “not”) rather than the MT לוֹ (lo; “to him”). Some witnesses combine the variants, resulting in a conflated text. For example, a few medieval Hebrew mss have לֹא לוֹ (lo lo’; “to him, ‘No.’”). A few others have לֹא לִי (li lo’; “to me, ‘No.’”).

[7:1]  ²⁰ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[7:1]  ²¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[7:1]  ²² tn Or perhaps, “but they were unable to attack it.” This statement sounds like a summary of the whole campaign. The following context explains why they were unable to defeat the southern kingdom. The parallel passage (2 Kgs 16:5; cf. Num 22:11; 1 Sam 17:9 for a similar construction) affirms that Syria and Israel besieged Ahaz. Consequently, the statement that “they were not able to battle against them” must refer to the inability to conquer Ahaz.

[8:8]  ²³ tn Heb “and the spreading out of his wings [will be over] the fullness of the breadth of your land.” The metaphor changes here from raging flood to predatory bird.

[8:8]  ²⁴ sn The appearance of the name Immanuel (“God is with us”) is ironic at this point, for God is present with his people in judgment. Immanuel is addressed here as if he has already been born and will see the judgment occur. This makes excellent sense if his birth has just been recorded. There are several reasons for considering Immanuel and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz one and the same. 8:3 is a birth account which could easily be understood as recording the fulfillment of the birth prophecy of 7:14. The presence of a formal record/witnesses (8:1-2) suggests a sign function for the child (cf. 7:14). As in 7:14-16, the removal of Judah’s enemies would take place before the child reached a specified age (cf. 8:4). Both 7:17-25 and 8:7-8 speak of an Assyrian invasion of Judah which would follow the defeat of Israel/Syria. The major objection to this view is the fact that different names appear, but such a phenomenon is not without parallel in the OT (cf. Gen 35:18). The name Immanuel may emphasize the basic fact of God’s presence, while the name Maher focuses on the specific nature of God’s involvement. In 7:14 the mother is viewed as naming the child, while in 8:3 Isaiah is instructed to give the child’s name, but one might again point to Gen 35:18 for a precedent. The sign child’s age appears to be different in 8:4 than in 7:15-16, but 7:15-16 pertains to the judgment on Judah, as well as the defeat of Israel/Syria (cf. vv. 17-25), while 8:4 deals only with the downfall of Israel/Syria. Some argue that the suffixed form “your land” in 8:8 points to a royal referent (a child of Ahaz or the Messiah), but usage elsewhere shows that the phrase does not need to be so restricted. While the suffix can refer to the king of a land (cf. Num 20:17; 21:22; Deut 2:27; Judg 11:17, 19; 2 Sam 24:13; 1 Kgs 11:22; Isa 14:20), it can also refer to one who is a native of a particular land (cf. Gen 12:1; 32:9; Jonah 1:8). (See also the use of “his land” in Isa 13:14 [where the suffix refers to a native of a land] and 37:7 [where it refers to a king].)

[8:9]  ²⁵ tn The verb רֹעוּ (ro’u) is a Qal imperative, masculine plural from רָעַע (ra’a’, “break”). Elsewhere both transitive (Job 34:24; Ps 2:9; Jer 15:12) and intransitive (Prov 25:19; Jer 11:16) senses are attested for the Qal of this verb. Because no object appears here, the form is likely intransitive: “be broken.” In this case the imperative is rhetorical (like “be shattered” later in the verse) and equivalent to a prediction, “you will be broken.” On the rhetorical use of the imperative in general, see IBHS 572 §34.4c; GKC 324 §110.c.

[8:9]  ²⁶ tn The imperatival form (Heb “be shattered”) is rhetorical and expresses the speaker’s firm conviction of the outcome of the nations’ attack. See the note on “be broken.”

[8:9]  ²⁷ tn The initial imperative (“get ready for battle”) acknowledges the reality of the nations’ hostility; the concluding imperative (Heb “be shattered”) is rhetorical and expresses the speakers’ firm conviction of the outcome of the nations’ attack. (See the note on “be broken.”) One could paraphrase, “Okay, go ahead and prepare for battle since that’s what you want to do, but your actions will backfire and you’ll be shattered.” This rhetorical use of the imperatives is comparable to saying to a child who is bent on climbing a high tree, “Okay, go ahead, climb the tree and break your arm!” What this really means is: “Okay, go ahead and climb the tree since that’s what you really want to do, but your actions will backfire and you’ll break your arm.” The repetition of the statement in the final two lines of the verse gives the challenge the flavor of a taunt (ancient Israelite “trash talking,” as it were).

[8:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “speak a word, but it will not stand.”

[8:10]  ²⁹ sn In these vv. 9-10 the tone shifts abruptly from judgment to hope. Hostile nations like Assyria may attack God’s people, but eventually they will be destroyed, for God is with his people, sometimes to punish, but ultimately to vindicate. In addition to being a reminder of God’s presence in the immediate crisis faced by Ahaz and Judah, Immanuel (whose name is echoed in this concluding statement) was a guarantee of the nation’s future greatness in fulfillment of God’s covenantal promises. Eventually God would deliver his people from the hostile nations (vv. 9-10) through another child, an ideal Davidic ruler who would embody God’s presence in a special way (see 9:6-7). Jesus the Messiah is the fulfillment of the Davidic ideal prophesied by Isaiah, the one whom Immanuel foreshadowed. Through the miracle of the incarnation he is literally “God with us.” Matthew realized this and applied Isaiah’s ancient prophecy of Immanuel’s birth to Jesus (Matt 1:22-23). The first Immanuel was a reminder to the people of God’s presence and a guarantee of a greater child to come who would manifest God’s presence in an even greater way. The second Immanuel is “God with us” in a heightened and infinitely superior sense. He “fulfills” Isaiah’s Immanuel prophecy by bringing the typology intended by God to realization and by filling out or completing the pattern designed by God. Of course, in the ultimate fulfillment of the type, the incarnate Immanuel’s mother must be a virgin, so Matthew uses a Greek term (παρθένος, parqenos), which carries that technical meaning (in contrast to the Hebrew word עַלְמָה [’almah], which has the more general meaning “young woman”). Matthew draws similar analogies between NT and OT events in 2:15, 18. The linking of these passages by analogy is termed “fulfillment.” In 2:15 God calls Jesus, his perfect Son, out of Egypt, just as he did his son Israel in the days of Moses, an historical event referred to in Hos 11:1. In so doing he makes it clear that Jesus is the ideal Israel prophesied by Isaiah (see Isa 49:3), sent to restore wayward Israel (see Isa 49:5, cf. Matt 1:21). In 2:18 Herod’s slaughter of the infants is another illustration of the oppressive treatment of God’s people by foreign tyrants. Herod’s actions are analogous to those of the Assyrians, who deported the Israelites, causing the personified land to lament as inconsolably as a mother robbed of her little ones (Jer 31:15).

[10:8]  ³⁰ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[29:5]  ³¹ tn Or “violent men”; cf. NASB “the ruthless ones.”

[29:6]  ³² tn Heb “from the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] there will be visitation.” The third feminine singular passive verb form תִּפָּקֵד (tippaqed, “she/it will be visited”) is used here in an impersonal sense. See GKC 459 §144.b.

[29:8]  ³³ tn Or “that he [or “his appetite”] is unsatisfied.”

[29:8]  ³⁴ tn Or “that he is faint and that he [or “his appetite”] longs [for water].”

[17:12]  ³⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:12]  ³⁶ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[17:13]  ³⁷ tn The word “kings” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to clarify the referent.

[17:14]  ³⁸ tn See BDAG 636 s.v. μετά A.2.a.α.

[19:20]  ³⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of an unexpected development in the account: The opposing armies do not come together in battle; rather the leader of one side is captured.

[19:20]  ⁴⁰ tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”

[19:20]  ⁴¹ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[20:8]  ⁴² tn Or “mislead.”

[20:8]  ⁴³ sn The battle with Gog and Magog is described in the OT in Ezek 38:1-39:20.

[20:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “of whom the number of them [is] like the sand of the sea” (an allusion to Isa 10:22).

[20:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[20:9]  ⁴⁶ tn The shift here to past tense reflects the Greek text.

[20:9]  ⁴⁷ tn On the phrase “broad plain of the earth” BDAG 823 s.v. πλάτος states, “τὸ πλάτος τῆς γῆς Rv 20:9 comes fr. the OT (Da 12:2 LXX. Cp. Hab 1:6; Sir 1:3), but the sense is not clear: breadth = the broad plain of the earth is perh. meant to provide room for the countless enemies of God vs. 8, but the ‘going up’ is better suited to Satan (vs. 7) who has recently been freed, and who comes up again fr. the abyss (vs. 3).” The referent here thus appears to be a plain large enough to accommodate the numberless hoards that have drawn up for battle against the Lord Christ and his saints.

[20:9]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “surrounded.”

[20:9]  ⁴⁹ tn On the term παρεμβολή (parembolh) BDAG 775 s.v. states, “Mostly used as a military t.t.…so always in our lit.…1. a (fortified) camp…ἡ παρεμβολὴ τῶν ἁγίων Rv 20:9 is also to be understood fr. the OT use of the word.”

[20:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[20:9]  ⁵¹ tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesqiw) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”