◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / 2 Samuel 23:1-7 (The just ruler like morning light); Psalm 132:1-12 [13-18] (The faithful sing with joy); Revelation 1:4b-8 (Christ the ruler of the earth); John 18:33-37 (The kingdom of Christ) (New English Translation)

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November 21, 2021

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

2 Samuel 23:1-7

David’s Final Words

23 These are the final words of David:

“The oracle of David son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man raised up as
the ruler chosen by the God of Jacob,^[a]
Israel’s beloved^[b] singer of songs:
²The Lord’s Spirit spoke through me;
his word was on my tongue.
³The God of Israel spoke,
the Protector^[c] of Israel spoke to me.
The one who rules fairly among men,
the one who rules in the fear of God,
⁴is like the light of morning when the sun comes up,
a morning in which there are no clouds.
He is like the brightness after rain
that produces grass from the earth.
⁵My dynasty is approved by God,^[d]
for he has made a perpetual covenant with me,
arranged in all its particulars and secured.
He always delivers me,
and brings all I desire to fruition.^[e]
⁶But evil people are like thorns—
all of them are tossed away,
for they cannot be held in the hand.
⁷The one who touches them
must use an iron instrument
or the wooden shaft of a spear.
They are completely burned up right where they lie!”^[f]

Psalm 132:1-12

Psalm 132^[a]

A song of ascents.^[b]

132 O Lord, for David’s sake remember
all his strenuous effort,^[c]
²and how he made a vow to the Lord,
and swore an oath to the Powerful One of Jacob.
³He said,^[d] “I will not enter my own home,^[e]
or get into my bed.^[f]
⁴I will not allow my eyes to sleep,
or my eyelids to slumber,
⁵until I find a place for the Lord,
a fine dwelling place^[g] for the Powerful One of Jacob.”^[h]
⁶Look, we heard about it^[i] in Ephrathah;^[j]
we found it in the territory of Jaar.^[k]
⁷Let us go to his dwelling place.
Let us worship^[l] before his footstool.
⁸Ascend, O Lord, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength.
⁹May your priests be clothed with integrity.^[m]
May your loyal followers shout for joy.
¹⁰For the sake of David, your servant,
do not reject your chosen king.^[n]
¹¹The Lord made a reliable promise to David;^[o]
he will not go back on his word.^[p]
He said,^[q] “I will place one of your descendants^[r] on your throne.
¹²If your sons keep my covenant
and the rules I teach them,
their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”

Footnotes

Psalm 132:1 sn Psalm 132. The psalmist reminds God of David’s devotion and of his promises concerning David’s dynasty and Zion.
Psalm 132:1 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
Psalm 132:1 tn Heb “all his affliction.” This may refer to David’s strenuous and tireless efforts to make provision for the building of the temple (see 1 Chr 22:14). Some prefer to revocalize the text as עַנַוָתוֹ (ʿanavato, “his humility”).
Psalm 132:3 tn The words “he said” are supplied in the translation to clarify that what follows is David’s vow.
Psalm 132:3 tn Heb “the tent of my house.”
Psalm 132:3 tn Heb “go up upon the bed of my couch.”
Psalm 132:5 tn The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; David envisions a special dwelling place (see Pss 43:3; 46:4; 84:1).
Psalm 132:5 tn Or “the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Psalm 132:6 tn Rather than having an antecedent, the third feminine singular pronominal suffix here (and in the next line) appears to refer to the ark of the covenant, mentioned in v. 8. (The Hebrew term אָרוֹן [ʾaron, “ark”] is sometimes construed as grammatically feminine. See 1 Sam 4:17; 2 Chr 8:11.)
Psalm 132:6 sn Some understand Ephrathah as a reference to Kiriath Jearim because of the apparent allusion to this site in the next line (see the note on “Jaar”). The ark was kept in Kiriath Jearim after the Philistines released it (see 1 Sam 6:21-7:2). However, the switch in verbs from “heard about” to “found” suggests that Ephrathah not be equated with Jair. The group who is speaking heard about the ark while they were in Ephrath. They then went to retrieve it from Kiriath Jearim (“Jaar”). It is more likely that Ephrathah refers to a site near Bethel (Gen 35:16, 19; 48:7) or to Bethlehem (Ruth 4:11; Mic 5:2).
Psalm 132:6 tn Heb “fields of the forest.” The Hebrew term יָעַר (yaʿar, “forest”) is apparently a shortened alternative name for קִרְיַת יְעָרִים (qiryat y^eʿarim, “Kiriath Jearim”), the place where the ark was kept after it was released by the Philistines and from which David and his men retrieved it (see 1 Chr 13:6).
Psalm 132:7 tn Or “bow down.”
Psalm 132:9 tn Or “righteousness.”
Psalm 132:10 tn Heb “do not turn away the face of your anointed one.”
Psalm 132:11 tn Heb “the Lord swore an oath to David [in] truth.”
Psalm 132:11 tn Heb “he will not turn back from it.”
Psalm 132:11 tn The words “he said” are supplied in the translation to clarify that what follows are the Lord’s words.
Psalm 132:11 tn Heb “the fruit of your body.”

Psalm 132:13-18

¹³Certainly^[a] the Lord has chosen Zion;
he decided to make it his home.^[b]
¹⁴He said,^[c] “This will be my resting place forever;
I will live here, for I have chosen it.^[d]
¹⁵I will abundantly supply what she needs;^[e]
I will give her poor all the food they need.^[f]
¹⁶I will protect her priests,^[g]
and her godly people will shout exuberantly.^[h]
¹⁷There I will make David strong;^[i]
I have determined that my chosen king’s dynasty will continue.^[j]
¹⁸I will humiliate his enemies,^[k]
and his crown will shine.”

Revelation 1:4-8

⁴From John,^[a] to the seven churches that are in the province of Asia:^[b] Grace and peace to you^[c] from “he who is,”^[d] and who was, and who is still to come,^[e] and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ—the faithful^[f] witness,^[g] the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free^[h] from our sins at the cost of^[i] his own blood ⁶and has appointed^[j] us as a kingdom,^[k] as priests^[l] serving his God and Father—to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever!^[m] Amen.

⁷(Look! He is returning with the clouds,^[n]
and every eye will see him,
even^[o] those who pierced him,^[p]
and all the tribes^[q] on the earth will mourn because^[r] of him.
This will certainly come to pass!^[s] Amen.)^[t]

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega,”^[u] says the Lord God—the one who is, and who was, and who is still to come—the All-Powerful!^[v]

Footnotes

Revelation 1:4 tn Grk “John.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
Revelation 1:4 tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia. The Roman province of Asia made up about one-third of modern Asia Minor and was on the western side of it. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.
Revelation 1:4 tn It is probable that the ὑμῖν (humin) applies to both elements of the greeting, i.e., to both grace and peace.
Revelation 1:4 tc The earliest and best mss (P^18vid א A C P 2050 al lat sy co) lack the term “God” (θεοῦ, theou) between “from” (ἀπό, apo) and “he who is” (ὁ ὤν, ho ōn). Its inclusion, as supported by the bulk of the Byzantine witnesses, is clearly secondary and a scribal attempt to achieve two things: (1) to make explicit the referent in the passage, namely, God, and (2) to smooth out the grammar. The preposition “from” in Greek required a noun in the genitive case. But here in Rev 1:4 the words following the preposition “from” (ἀπό) are in another case, i.e., the nominative. There are two principal ways in which to deal with this grammatical anomaly. First, it could be a mistake arising from someone who just did not know Greek very well, or as a Jew, was heavily influenced by a Semitic form of Greek. Both of these unintentional errors are unlikely here. Commenting on this ExSyn 63 argues: “Either of these is doubtful here because (1) such a flagrant misunderstanding of the rudiments of Greek would almost surely mean that the author could not compose in Greek, yet the Apocalypse itself argues against this; (2) nowhere else does the Seer [i.e., John] use a nom. immediately after a preposition (in fact, he uses ἀπό 32 times with the gen. immediately following).” The passage appears to be an allusion to Exod 3:14 (in the LXX) where God refers to himself as “he who is” (ὁ ὤν), the same wording in Greek as here in Rev 1:4. Thus, it appears that John is wanting to leave the divine name untouched (perhaps to allude to God’s immutability, or as a pointer to the Old Testament as the key to unlocking the meaning of this book), irrespective of what it “looks” like grammatically. The translation has placed the “he who is” in quotation marks to indicate to the reader that the syntactical awkwardness is intentional. (For further comments, see ExSyn 63).
Revelation 1:4 tn BDAG 106 s.v. ἀπό 5.d states: “The expr. εἰρήνη ἀπὸ ‘ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος’ Rv 1:4 is quite extraordinary. It may be an interpretation of the name Yahweh already current, or an attempt to show reverence for the divine name by preserving it unchanged, or simply one more of the grammatical peculiarities so frequent in Rv.”
Revelation 1:5 tn Or “Jesus Christ—the faithful one, the witness…” Some take ὁ πιστός (ho pistos) as a second substantive in relation to ὁ μάρτυς (ho martus). In the present translation, however, ὁ πιστός was taken as an adjective in attributive position to ὁ μάρτυς. The idea of martyrdom and faithfulness are intimately connected. See BDAG 820 s.v. πιστός 1.a.α: “ὁ μάρτυς μου ὁ πιστός μου Rv 2:13 (μάρτυς 3); in this ‘book of martyrs’ Christ is ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστὸς (καὶ ὁ ἀληθινός) 1:5; 3:14; cp. 19:11 (the combination of ἀληθινός and πιστός in the last two passages is like 3 Macc 2:11). Cp. Rv 17:14.”
Revelation 1:5 sn The Greek term translated witness can mean both “witness” and “martyr.”
Revelation 1:5 tc The reading “set free” (λύσαντι, lusanti) has better ms support (P¹⁸ א A C 1611 2050 2329 2351 M^A sy) than its rival, λούσαντι (lousanti, “washed”; found in P 1006 1841 1854 2053 2062 M^K lat bo). Internally, it seems that the reading “washed” could have arisen in at least one of three ways: (1) as an error of hearing (both “released” and “washed” are pronounced similarly in Greek); (2) an error of sight (both “released” and “washed” look very similar—a difference of only one letter—which could have resulted in a simple error during the copying of a ms); (3) through scribal inability to appreciate that the Hebrew preposition ב can be used with a noun to indicate the price paid for something. Since the author of Revelation is influenced significantly by a Semitic form of Greek (e.g., 13:10), and since the Hebrew preposition “in” (ב) can indicate the price paid for something, and is often translated with the preposition “in” (ἐν, en) in the LXX, the author may have tried to communicate by the use of ἐν the idea of a price paid for something. That is, John was trying to say that Christ delivered us at the price of his own blood. This whole process, however, may have been lost on a later scribe, who being unfamiliar with Hebrew, found the expression “delivered in his blood” too difficult, and noticing the obvious similarities between λύσαντι and λούσαντι, assumed an error and then proceeded to change the text to “washed in his blood”—a thought more tolerable in his mind. Both readings, of course, are true to scripture; the current question is what the author wrote in this verse.tn Or “and released us” (L&N 37.127).
Revelation 1:5 tn The style here is somewhat Semitic, with the use of the ἐν (en) + the dative to mean “at the price of.” The addition of “own” in the English is stylistic and is an attempt to bring out the personal nature of the statement and the sacrificial aspect of Jesus’ death—a frequent refrain in the Apocalypse.
Revelation 1:6 tn The verb ποιέω (poieō) can indicate appointment or assignment rather than simply “make” or “do.” See Mark 3:14 (L&N 37.106).
Revelation 1:6 tn See BDAG 168 s.v. βασιλεία 1.a for the idea of “he made us a kingdom,” which was translated as “he appointed us (to be or function) as a kingdom” (see the note on the word “appointed” earlier in the verse).
Revelation 1:6 tn Grk “a kingdom, priests.” The term ἱερεῖς (hiereis) is either in apposition to βασιλείαν (basileian) or as a second complement to the object “us” (ἡμᾶς, hēmas). The translation retains this ambiguity.
Revelation 1:6 tc Both the longer reading τῶν αἰώνων (tōn aiōnōn, “to the ages of the ages” or, more idiomatically, “for ever and ever”; found in א C M) and the shorter (“for ever”; found in P¹⁸ A P 2050 bo) have good ms support. The author uses the longer expression (εἰς [τοὺς] αἰῶνας [τῶν] αἰώνων, eis [tous] aiōnas [tōn] aiōnōn) in every other instance of αἰών in Revelation, twelve passages in all (1:18; 4:9, 10; 5:13; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 14:11; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5). Thus, on the one hand, the style of the author is consistent, while on the other hand, the scribes may have been familiar with such a stylistic feature, causing them to add the words here. The issues are more complex than can be presented here; the longer reading, however, is probably authentic (the shorter reading arising from accidental omission of the genitive phrase due to similarity with the preceding words).
Revelation 1:7 sn An allusion to Dan 7:13.
Revelation 1:7 tn Here καί (kai) was translated as ascensive.
Revelation 1:7 sn An allusion to Zech 12:10.
Revelation 1:7 tn In this context, tribes (φυλαί, phulai) could also be translated as “nations” or “peoples” (L&N 11.56).
Revelation 1:7 tn The conjunction ἐπί (epi) is most likely causal here. The people who crucified him are those of every tribe on the earth and they will mourn because he comes as judge.
Revelation 1:7 tn Grk “Yes, Amen.” The expression “This will certainly come to pass” is an attempt to capture the force of the juxtaposition of the Greek ναί (nai) and the Hebrew ἀμήν (amēn). See L&N 69.1.
Revelation 1:7 sn These lines are placed in parentheses because they form an aside to the main argument.
Revelation 1:8 tc The shorter reading “Omega” (ὦ, ō) has superior ms evidence (א¹ A C 1611) to the longer reading which includes “the beginning and the end” (ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος or ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος, archē kai telos or hē archē kai to telos), found in א*^,2 1854 2050 2329 2351 M^A lat bo. There is little reason why a scribe would have deleted the words, but their clarifying value and the fact that they harmonize with 21:6 indicate that they are a secondary addition to the text.
Revelation 1:8 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π.…Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

John 18:33-37

Pilate Questions Jesus

³³So Pilate went back into the governor’s residence,^[a] summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”^[b] ³⁴Jesus replied,^[c] “Are you saying this on your own initiative,^[d] or have others told you about me?” ³⁵Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I?^[e] Your own people^[f] and your chief priests handed you over^[g] to me. What have you done?”

³⁶Jesus replied, “My kingdom^[h] is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being^[i] handed over^[j] to the Jewish authorities.^[k] But as it is,^[l] my kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷Then Pilate said,^[m] “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world—to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to^[n] my voice.”

Footnotes

John 18:33 tn Grk “into the praetorium.”
John 18:33 sn It is difficult to discern Pilate’s attitude when he asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Some have believed the remark to be sarcastic or incredulous as Pilate looked at this lowly and humble prisoner: “So you’re the king of the Jews, are you?” Others have thought the Roman governor to have been impressed by Jesus’ regal disposition and dignity, and to have sincerely asked, “Are you really the king of the Jews?” Since it will later become apparent (v. 38) that Pilate considered Jesus innocent (and therefore probably also harmless) an attitude of incredulity is perhaps most likely, but this is far from certain in the absence of clear contextual clues.
John 18:34 tn Grk “Jesus answered.”
John 18:34 tn Grk “saying this from yourself.”
John 18:35 sn Many have seen in Pilate’s reply “I am not a Jew, am I?” the Roman contempt for the Jewish people. Some of that may indeed be present, but strictly speaking, all Pilate affirms is that he, as a Roman, has no firsthand knowledge of Jewish custom or belief. What he knows of Jesus must have come from the Jewish authorities. They are the ones (your own people and your chief priests) who have handed Jesus over to Pilate.
John 18:35 tn Or “your own nation.”
John 18:35 tn Or “delivered you over.”
John 18:36 sn The kingdom (of God) is a major theme of Jesus’ teaching. The nature of the kingdom of God in the NT and in Jesus’ teaching has long been debated by interpreters and scholars, with discussion primarily centering around the nature of the kingdom (earthly, heavenly, or both) and the kingdom’s arrival (present, future, or both). An additional major issue concerns the relationship between the kingdom of God and the person and work of Jesus himself, as here where Jesus refers to My kingdom.
John 18:36 tn Grk “so that I may not be.”
John 18:36 tn Or “delivered over.”
John 18:36 tn Or “the Jewish leaders”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin. See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 12. In the translation “authorities” was preferred over “leaders” for stylistic reasons.
John 18:36 tn Grk “now.”
John 18:37 tn Grk “said to him.”
John 18:37 tn Or “obeys”; Grk “hears.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

David’s Final Words

Footnotes

Psalm 132[a]

A song of ascents.[b]

Footnotes

Footnotes

Footnotes

Pilate Questions Jesus

Footnotes

Psalm 132^[a]

A song of ascents.^[b]