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Echoes of Revelation
Revelation never quotes the Old Testament outright, yet no New Testament book refers to it more. See both texts side by side, why they don’t match, and what John does with them.
Revelation 15:3-4, who will not fear you, King of the nations
The question who will not fear you, joined to the title King of the nations, comes from Jeremiah's mockery of idols.
Revelation 15:3-4, in every translation this tool compares.
A tribute that borrows a line from an old hymn lets the hymn finish the thought. Jeremiah mocks idols that cannot walk or speak, then turns to God and asks who would not fear him, the king of the nations. The singers in Revelation ask the same question. In both places the answer is plain: everyone should. John sets the true God against the beast and its image, which the world has worshiped.
The title King of the nations and the question who will not fear you. Jeremiah 10:7 in the Greek translation reads tis ou phobethesetai se, basileu ethnon. Revelation 15:4 asks tis ou me phobethe, with the title at the end of 15:3.
The SBL Greek text prints King of the ages at 15:3, not of the nations; copies differ here. Beale argues that nations is original, because Jeremiah's wording runs on into verse 4. John adds a second verb, glorify your name, and a reason: you alone are holy. In Jeremiah the question sits inside a mockery of idols made by craftsmen. In Revelation it rings out in a victory song.
Jeremiah sets the living God against lifeless idols. Beale says John does the same with the beast and its image. The question is aimed at the earth's people, who will refuse to give God glory when the bowls fall (16:9).
Not a change in meaning. Some copies read nations and some read ages. Both titles call God king. The choice touches the link to Jeremiah, not the sense of the line.
Beale sets the two texts side by side and says the opening of verse 4, with the end of verse 3, recalls Jeremiah 10:7. Jeremiah 10:1-16 contrasts Israel's God with idols and says there is none like him (10:6-7). Beale adds that the formula who is like you goes back to the exodus (Exodus 15:11), so it fits a song of Moses. On the text he judges King of the nations original: copyists took it for King of the ages, perhaps under the influence of 1 Timothy 1:17, and one late copy reads saints. The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible says the words come secondarily from Jeremiah 10:7, after Psalm 86. The ESV Study Bible and the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible also cite Jeremiah 10:7, the latter adding Exodus 15:14, 18. The grade is drawn here: the question and the title appear together only in this verse of Jeremiah.
Beale, the ESV Study Bible and most English versions read King of the nations. The SBL Greek text prints King of the ages, with nations as a variant. Keener and the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible discuss the reading king of the ages or of the world as a common Jewish title for God, while still tying the line to the Old Testament. The choice affects the Jeremiah link but not the line's sense. MacArthur also reads King of the nations and points to Jeremiah 10:7.
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- G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (New International Greek Testament Commentary), comment on 15:3b and 15:4a-b
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Revelation 15:3-4
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Revelation 15:3-4
- ESV Study Bible, note on Revelation 15:3-4
- NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, note on Revelation 15:3-4
- Septuagint, Jeremiah 10:7, Interlinear Greek-English Septuagint
- SBL Greek New Testament (MorphGNT), Revelation 15:3-4
- John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible (ESV), note on Revelation 15:3
