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:¹ The seven stars are the angels² of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Revelation 8:12

8:12 Then³ the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. And there was no light for a third of the day⁴ and for a third of the night likewise.

Revelation 14:13

14:13 Then⁵ I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this:

‘Blessed are the dead,

those who die in the Lord from this moment on!’”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their hard work,⁶ because their deeds will follow them.”⁷

Revelation 15:3

15:3 They⁸ sang the song of Moses the servant⁹ of God and the song of the Lamb:¹⁰

“Great and astounding are your deeds,

Lord God, the All-Powerful!¹¹

Just¹² and true are your ways,

King over the nations!¹³

Revelation 16:2

16:2 So¹⁴ the first angel¹⁵ went and poured out his bowl on the earth. Then¹⁶ ugly and painful sores¹⁷ appeared on the people¹⁸ who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.

Revelation 17:8

17:8 The beast you saw was, and is not, but is about to come up from the abyss¹⁹ and then go to destruction. The²⁰ inhabitants of the earth – all those whose names have not been written in the book of life since the foundation of the world – will be astounded when they see that²¹ the beast was, and is not, but is to come.

Revelation 22:19

22:19 And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life²² and in the holy city that are described in this book.

¹tn The words “is this” are supplied to make a complete sentence in English.

²tn Or perhaps “the messengers.”

³tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

⁴tn Grk “the day did not shine [with respect to] the third of it.”

⁵tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

⁶tn Or “from their trouble” (L&N 22.7).

⁷tn Grk “their deeds will follow with them.”

⁷tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

⁸tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

⁹tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

¹⁰tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

¹¹tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

¹²tc Certain mss (Ì⁴⁷ א*^,2 C 1006 1611 1841 pc) read “ages” (αἰώνων, aiwnwn) instead of “nations” (ἐθνῶν, eqnwn), which itself is supported by several mss (א¹ A 051 Ï). The ms evidence seems to be fairly balanced, though αἰώνων has somewhat better support. The replacement of “ages” with “nations” is possibly a scribal attempt to harmonize this verse with the use of “nations” in the following verse. On the other hand, the idea of “nations” fits well with v. 4 and it may be that “ages” is a scribal attempt to assimilate this text to 1 Tim 1:17: “the king of the ages” (βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων, basileu" twn aiwnwn). The decision is a difficult one since both scenarios deal well with the evidence, though the verbal parallel with 1 Tim 1:17 is exact while the parallel with v. 4 is not. The term “king” occurs 17 other times (most occurrences refer to earthly kings) in Revelation and it is not used with either “ages” or “nations” apart from this verse. Probably the reading “nations” should be considered original due to the influence of 1 Tim 1:17.

⁹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the directions given by the voice from the temple.

¹⁰tn Grk “the first”; the referent (the first angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

¹²tn Or “ulcerated sores”; the term in the Greek text is singular but is probably best understood as a collective singular.

¹³tn Grk ‘the men,” but this is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") and refers to both men and women.

¹¹tn On this term BDAG 2 s.v. ἄβυσσος 2 states, “netherworld, abyss, esp. the abode of the dead Ro 10:7 (Ps 106:26) and of demons Lk 8:31; dungeon where the devil is kept Rv 20:3; abode of the θηρίον, the Antichrist 11:7; 17:8; of ᾿Αβαδδών (q.v.), the angel of the underworld 9:11…φρέαρ τῆς ἀ. 9:1f; capable of being sealed 9:1; 20:1, 3.”

¹²tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹³tn Some translations take the ὅτι (Joti) here as causal: “because he was, and is not, but is to come” (so NIV, NRSV), but it is much more likely that the subject of the ὅτι clause has been assimilated into the main clause: “when they see the beast, that he was…” = “when they see that the beast was” (so BDAG 732 s.v. ὅτι 1.f, where Rev 17:8 is listed).

¹³tc The Textus Receptus, on which the KJV rests, reads “the book” of life (ἀπὸ βίβλου, apo biblou) instead of “the tree” of life. When the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus translated the NT he had access to no Greek mss for the last six verses of Revelation. So he translated the Latin Vulgate back into Greek at this point. As a result he created seventeen textual variants which were not in any Greek mss. The most notorious of these is this reading. It is thus decidedly inauthentic, while “the tree” of life, found in the best and virtually all Greek mss, is clearly authentic. The confusion was most likely due to an intra-Latin switch: The form of the word for “tree” in Latin in this passage is ligno; the word for “book” is libro. The two-letter difference accounts for an accidental alteration in some Latin mss; that “book of life” as well as “tree of life” is a common expression in the Apocalypse probably accounts for why this was not noticed by Erasmus or the KJV translators. (This textual problem is not discussed in NA²⁷.)