Text -- Revelation 14:1-3 (NET)

An Interlude: The Song of the 144,000

14:1 Then I looked, and here was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 14:2 I also heard a sound coming out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. Now the sound I heard was like that made by harpists playing their harps, 14:3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one was able to learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Rev 14:1

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

² tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

NET Notes: Rev 14:2

¹ tn Or “a voice” (cf. Rev 1:15), but since in this context nothing is mentioned as the content of the voice, it is preferable to translate φωνή (fwnh) as “sound” here.

² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of a new topic.

NET Notes: Rev 14:3

¹ tn Grk “elders, and no one.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but because of the length and complexity of the sentence a new sentence was started here in the translation.