7:9 After these things I looked, and here was 3 an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, 4 people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 7:10 They were shouting out in a loud voice,
“Salvation belongs to our God, 5
to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
14:6 Then 6 I saw another 7 angel flying directly overhead, 8 and he had 9 an eternal gospel to proclaim 10 to those who live 11 on the earth – to every nation, tribe, 12 language, and people. 14:7 He declared 13 in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”
1 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).
2 tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”
3 tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).
4 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
5 tn The dative here has been translated as a dative of possession.
6 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
7 tc Most
8 tn L&N 1.10 states, “a point or region of the sky directly above the earth – ‘high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.’”
9 tn Grk “having.”
10 tn Or “an eternal gospel to announce as good news.”
11 tn Grk “to those seated on the earth.”
12 tn Grk “and tribe,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here or before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
13 tn Grk “people, saying.” In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence. For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.