The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands. The Lord is among them, from Sinai, into the sanctuary.
Parallel translations
- KJV The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.
- BSB The chariots of God are tens of thousands—thousands of thousands are they; the Lord is in His sanctuary as He was at Sinai.
- NKJV The chariots of God are twenty thousand, Even thousands of thousands; The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place.
- NASB The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands; The Lord is among them as at Sinai, in holiness.
- NLT Surrounded by unnumbered thousands of chariots, the Lord came from Mount Sinai into his sanctuary.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God's countless chariots surround Him as He comes from Sinai into the sanctuary. It portrays God's vast heavenly power accompanying His presence.
Overview
David envisions God attended by tens of thousands of chariots, moving from Sinai into His sanctuary. The innumerable host displays His overwhelming might and majesty. This heavenly retinue anticipates the Lord coming with His holy ones and the ascended Christ enthroned in glory.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Deut 33:2He said, “Yahweh came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them. He shone from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them.
- Dan 7:10A fiery stream issued and came out from before him: thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
- Rev 5:11I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands;
- Rev 9:16The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them.
- Hab 3:8Was Yahweh displeased with the rivers? Was your anger against the rivers, or your wrath against the sea, that you rode on your horses, on your chariots of salvation?
- Matt 26:53Or do you think that I couldn’t ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels?
- Ezek 1:15–28Now as I saw the living creatures, behold, one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four faces of it.
- 2 Kgs 6:16–17He answered, “Don’t be afraid; for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
- Exod 19:22–23Let the priests also, who come near to Yahweh, sanctify themselves, lest Yahweh break out on them.”
- Ps 18:10He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind.
- Exod 3:5He said, “Don’t come close. Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.”
- 2 Kgs 2:11As they continued on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 68:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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