◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 89:1-4 19-26 (I sing of your love); 2 Samuel 6:12-19 (The ark of God enters Jerusalem); Hebrews 1:5-14 (The advent of one higher than angels) (New English Translation)

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December 18, 2020

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with thematically matched Old and New Testament readings.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 89:1-4

Psalm 89^[a]

A well-written song^[b] by Ethan the Ezrahite.

89 I will sing continually^[c] about the Lord’s faithful deeds;
to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness.^[d]
²For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established;^[e]
in the skies you set up your faithfulness.”^[f]
³The Lord said,^[g]
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:
⁴‘I will give you an eternal dynasty^[h]
and establish your throne throughout future generations.’”^[i] (Selah)

Psalm 89:19-26

¹⁹Then you^[a] spoke through a vision to your faithful followers^[b] and said:
“I have placed a young hero^[c] over a warrior;
I have raised up a young man^[d] from the people.
²⁰I have discovered David, my servant.
With my holy oil I have anointed him as king.^[e]
²¹My hand will support him,^[f]
and my arm will strengthen him.
²²No enemy will be able to exact tribute^[g] from him;^[h]
a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him.^[i]
²³I will crush his enemies before him;
I will strike down those who hate him.
²⁴He will experience my faithfulness and loyal love,^[j]
and by my name he will win victories.^[k]
²⁵I will place his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.^[l]
²⁶He will call out to me,
‘You are my father,^[m] my God, and the protector who delivers me.’^[n]

Footnotes

Psalm 89:19 tn The pronoun “you” refers to the Lord, who is addressed here. The quotation that follows further develops the announcement of vv. 3-4.
Psalm 89:19 tc Many medieval mss read the singular here, “your faithful follower.” In this case the statement refers directly to Nathan’s oracle to David (see 2 Sam 7:17).
Psalm 89:19 tc The MT reads עֵזֶר (ʿezer, “help, strength”), thus “I have placed help on a warrior,” which might effectively mean “I have strengthened a warrior.” The BHS note suggests reading נֵזֶר (nezer, “crown”), similar to the sentiment of anointing in the next verse. HALOT suggests reading עֹזֶר (ʿozer, “hero”) based on an Ugaritic cognate which means “young man, hero, warrior” (HALOT 811 s.v. II עזר). Craigie treats it similarly, taking עזר as “lad/boy/stripling,” parallel to “young man” in the next line, and seeing either David and Saul or David and Goliath as the historical referent (P. C. Craigie, Psalms [WBC], 19:410).
Psalm 89:19 tn Or perhaps “a chosen one.”
Psalm 89:20 tn The words “as king” are supplied in the translation for clarification, indicating that a royal anointing is in view.
Psalm 89:21 tn Heb “with whom my hand will be firm.”
Psalm 89:22 tn Heb “an enemy will not exact tribute.” The imperfect is understood in a modal sense, indicating capability or potential.
Psalm 89:22 tn The translation understands the Hiphil of נָשַׁא (nashaʾ) in the sense of “act as a creditor.” This may allude to the practice of a conqueror forcing his subjects to pay tribute in exchange for “protection.” Another option is to take the verb from a homonymic verbal root meaning “to deceive,” “to trick.” Still another option is to emend the form to יִשָּׂא (yissaʾ), a Qal imperfect from נָאַשׂ (naʾas, “rise up”) and to translate “an enemy will not rise up against him” (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 2:317).
Psalm 89:22 tn Heb “and a son of violence will not oppress him.” The imperfect is understood in a modal sense, indicating capability or potential. The reference to a “son of violence” echoes the language of God’s promise to David in 2 Sam 7:10 (see also 1 Chr 17:9).
Psalm 89:24 tn Heb “and my faithfulness and my loyal love [will be] with him.”
Psalm 89:24 tn Heb “and by my name his horn will be lifted up.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 92:10; Lam 2:17).
Psalm 89:25 tn Some identify “the sea” as the Mediterranean and “the rivers” as the Euphrates and its tributaries. However, it is more likely that “the sea” and “the rivers” are symbols for hostile powers that oppose God and the king (see v. 9, as well as Ps 93:3-4).
Psalm 89:26 sn You are my father. The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.
Psalm 89:26 tn Heb “the rocky summit of my deliverance.”

2 Samuel 6:12-19

¹²King David was told,^[a] “The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom and everything he owns because of the ark of God.” So David went and joyfully brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David. ¹³Those who carried the ark of the Lord took six steps and then David^[b] sacrificed an ox and a fatling calf. ¹⁴Now David, wearing a linen ephod, was dancing with all his strength before the Lord.^[c] ¹⁵David and all Israel^[d] were bringing up the ark of the Lord, shouting and blowing trumpets.^[e]

¹⁶As the ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him.^[f] ¹⁷They brought the ark of the Lord and put it in its place^[g] in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸When David finished offering the burnt sacrifices and peace offerings, he pronounced a blessing over the people in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ¹⁹He then handed out to each member of the entire assembly of Israel,^[h] both men and women, a portion of bread, a date cake,^[i] and a raisin cake. Then all the people went home.^[j]

Hebrews 1:5-14

The Son Is Superior to Angels

⁵For to which of the angels did God^[a] ever say, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you”?^[b] And in another place^[c] he says,^[d] “I will be his father and he will be my son.”^[e] ⁶But when he again brings^[f] his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him!”^[g] ⁷And he says^[h] of the angels, “He makes^[i] his angels winds^[j] and his ministers a flame of fire,”^[k] ⁸but of^[l] the Son he says,^[m]

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,^[n]
and a righteous scepter^[o] is the scepter of your kingdom.
⁹You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.
So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions^[p] with the oil of rejoicing.”^[q]

¹⁰And,

“You founded the earth in the beginning, Lord,^[r]
and the heavens are the works of your hands.
¹¹They will perish, but you continue.
And they will all grow old like a garment,
¹²and like a robe you will fold them up
and like a garment^[s] they will be changed,
but you are the same and your years will never run out.”^[t]

¹³But to which of the angels^[u] has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?^[v] ¹⁴Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to serve those^[w] who will inherit salvation?

Footnotes

Hebrews 1:5 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Hebrews 1:5 tn Grk “I have begotten you.”sn A quotation from Ps 2:7.
Hebrews 1:5 tn Grk “And again,” quoting another OT passage.
Hebrews 1:5 tn The words “he says” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to make a complete English sentence. In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but English does not normally employ such long and complex sentences.
Hebrews 1:5 tn Grk “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me.”sn A quotation from 2 Sam 7:14 (cf. 1 Chr 17:13).
Hebrews 1:6 tn Or “And again when he brings.” The translation adopted in the text looks forward to Christ’s second coming to earth. Some take “again” to introduce the quotation (as in 1:5) and understand this as Christ’s first coming, but this view does not fit well with Heb 2:7. Others understand it as his exaltation/ascension to heaven, but this takes the phrase “into the world” in an unlikely way.
Hebrews 1:6 sn A quotation combining themes from Deut 32:43 and Ps 97:7.
Hebrews 1:7 sn The Greek correlative conjunctions μέν and δέ (men and de) emphasize the contrastive parallelism of vs. 7 (what God says about the angels) over against vv. 8-9 and vv. 10-12 (what God says about the son).
Hebrews 1:7 tn Grk “He who makes.”
Hebrews 1:7 tn Or “spirits” (so KJV, NKJV). The Greek word πνεῦμα (pneuma) can mean either “wind” or “spirit” depending on the context. Since the context here concerns the superiority of the Son to the angels, many interpreters and most modern English translations see the present verse emphasizing the transitory or ephemeral nature of God’s other servants, the angels, and thus underscoring their inferiority to the Son.
Hebrews 1:7 sn A quotation from Ps 104:4.
Hebrews 1:8 tn Or “to.”
Hebrews 1:8 tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.
Hebrews 1:8 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 (theos) 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.
Hebrews 1:8 tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.
Hebrews 1:9 sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.
Hebrews 1:9 sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.
Hebrews 1:10 sn You founded the earth…your years will never run out. In its original setting Ps 102:25-27 refers to the work of God in creation, but here in Hebrews 1:10-12 the writer employs it in reference to Christ, the Lord, making a strong argument for the essential deity of the Son.
Hebrews 1:12 tc The words “like a garment” (ὡς ἱμάτιον, hōs himation) are found in excellent and early mss (P⁴⁶ א A B D* 1739) though absent in a majority of witnesses (D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1881 M lat sy bo). Although it is possible that longer reading was produced by overzealous scribes who wanted to underscore the frailty of creation, it is much more likely that the shorter reading was produced by scribes who wanted to conform the wording to that of Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX), which here lacks the second “like a garment.” Both external and internal considerations decidedly favor the longer reading, and point to the author of Hebrews as the one underscoring the difference between the Son and creation.sn The phrase like a garment here is not part of the original OT text (see tc note above); for this reason it has been printed in normal type.
Hebrews 1:12 sn A quotation from Ps 102:25-27.
Hebrews 1:13 sn The parallel phrases to which of the angels in vv. 5 and 13 show the unity of this series of quotations (vv. 5-14) in revealing the superiority of the Son over angels (v. 4).
Hebrews 1:13 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.
Hebrews 1:14 tn Grk “sent for service for the sake of those.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 89[a]

A well-written song[b] by Ethan the Ezrahite.

Footnotes

Footnotes

Footnotes

The Son Is Superior to Angels

Footnotes

Psalm 89^[a]

A well-written song^[b] by Ethan the Ezrahite.