4:1 After these things I looked, and there was 7 a door standing open in heaven! 8 And the first voice I had heard speaking to me 9 like a trumpet 10 said: “Come up here so that 11 I can show you what must happen after these things.”
1 tn The word “this” is used to translate the Greek article τῆς (ths), bringing out its demonstrative force.
2 tn The word “aloud” has been supplied to indicate that in the original historical setting reading would usually refer to reading out loud in public rather than silently to oneself.
3 tn The words “blessed are” are repeated from the beginning of this verse for stylistic reasons and for clarity.
4 tn Grk “keep.” L&N 36.19 has “to continue to obey orders or commandments – ‘to obey, to keep commandments, obedience.’”
5 sn The time refers to the time when the things prophesied would happen.
6 tn Grk “Therefore write the things that you saw, and the things that are, and the things that will take place after these things.” Verse 19 could also be translated (taking καί…καί [kai…kai] as “both…and”): “Therefore write what you have seen, both what things currently are and what is going to happen after these things.” The structure of this verse is debated.
7 tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
8 tn Or “in the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
9 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.”
10 sn The phrase speaking to me like a trumpet refers back to Rev 1:10.
11 tn The conjunction καί (kai), much like the vav-consecutive in Hebrew, appears to be introducing a final/purpose clause here rather than a coordinate clause.
12 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
13 tn Grk “its”; the referent (the city, the new Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).
15 tn Grk “From here and from there.”
16 tn Or “twelve crops” (one for each month of the year).
17 tn The words “of the year” are implied.
18 tn Grk “I have given.”
19 tn Grk “to shut it,” but English would leave the direct object understood in this case.
20 tn This translation is based on connecting the ὅτι (Joti) clause with the οἶδα (oida) at the beginning of the verse, giving the content of what is known (see also 3:1, 3:15 for parallels). Because of the intervening clause that is virtually parenthetical (see the note on the word “shut” earlier in this verse), the words “I know that” from the beginning of the verse had to be repeated to make this connection clear for the English reader. However, the ὅτι could be understood as introducing a causal subordinate clause instead and thus translated, “because you have.”
21 tn Or “little power.”
22 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
23 tn Grk “and having kept.” The participle ἐτήρησας (ethrhsas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. For the translation of τηρέω (threw) as “obey” see L&N 36.19. This is the same word that is used in 3:10 (there translated “kept”) where there is a play on words.