Revelation 1:12

1:12 I turned to see whose voice was speaking to me, and when I did so, I saw seven golden lampstands,

Revelation 1:20

1:20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.


tn Throughout the translation John’s use of καί (kai) often reflects the varied usage of the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav). A clause which καί introduces has been translated in terms of its semantic relationship to the clause that preceded it. If the καί seemed redundant, however, it was left untranslated; that is the case in this verse.

tn Grk “with me.” The translation “with me” implies that John was engaged in a dialogue with the one speaking to him (e.g., Jesus or an angel) when in reality it was a one-sided conversation, with John doing all the listening. For this reason, μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ (met emou, “with me”) was translated as “to me.”

tn Grk “and turning I saw.” The repetition of ἐπιστρέφω (epistrefw) is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been translated generally.

tn The words “is this” are supplied to make a complete sentence in English.

tn Or perhaps “the messengers.”