Text -- Revelation 14:1-4 (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. 14:4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,

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.

NET Notes: Rev 14:4

¹ tn The aorist passive verb is rendered as a reflexive (“defiled themselves”) by BDAG 657 s.v. μολύνω 2.