20:4 Then 12 I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. 13 I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These 14 had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They 15 came to life 16 and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
1 tn Grk “is about to throw some of you,” but the force is causative in context.
2 tn Or “tempted.”
3 tn Or “experience persecution,” “will be in distress” (see L&N 22.2).
4 tn Grk “crown of life,” with the genitive “of life” (τῆς ζωῆς, th" zwh") functioning in apposition to “crown” (στέφανον, stefanon): “the crown that consists of life.”
5 tc The shorter reading adopted here has superior ms support (א A C P 2053 al latt co), while the inclusion of “your works and” (τὰ ἔργα σου καί, ta erga sou kai) before “where you reside” is supported by the Byzantine witnesses and is evidently a secondary attempt to harmonize the passage with 2:2, 19; 3:1, 8, 15.
6 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Yet” to indicate the contrast between their location and their faithful behavior.
7 tn The present indicative verb κρατεῖς (kratei") has been translated as a progressive present.
8 tn Grk “the faith”; here the Greek article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
9 tn Grk “the faith of me” (τὴν πίστιν μου, thn pistin mou) with the genitive “of me” (μου) functioning objectively.
10 tn Or “martyr.” The Greek word μάρτυς can mean either “witness” or “martyr.”
11 tn Grk “killed among you.” The term “city” does not occur in the Greek text of course, but the expression παρ᾿ ὑμῖν, ὅπου ὁ σατανᾶς κατοικεῖ (par’ Jumin, {opou Jo satana" katoikei) seems to indicate that this is what is meant. See G. B. Caird, Revelation (HNTC), 36-38.
12 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
13 tn Grk “I saw thrones, and those seated on them, and judgment was given to them.” BDAG 567 s.v. κρίμα 3 says, “judging, judgment, the κρίμα ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς authority to judge was given to them Rv 20:4.”
14 tn Grk “God, and who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “these” as subject.
15 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
16 tn On the use of the aorist ἔζησαν (ezhsan) BDAG 425 s.v. ζάω 1.a.β says, “of dead persons who return to life become alive again: of humans in general (3 Km 17:23) Mt 9:18; Ac 9:41; 20:12; Rv 20:4, 5.”
17 tn This figurative use operates on a relative scale. God is to be loved more than family or self.
18 tn Grk “his own soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.
19 tn Grk “soul.”
20 tn Or “I do not consider my life worth a single word.” According to BDAG 599 s.v. λόγος 1.a.α, “In the textually uncertain pass. Ac 20:24 the text as it stands in N., οὐδενὸς λόγου (v.l. λόγον) ποιοῦμαι τὴν ψυχὴν τιμίαν, may well mean: I do not consider my life worth a single word (cp. λόγου ἄξιον [ἄξιος 1a] and our ‘worth mention’).”
21 tn BDAG 1106 s.v. ὡς 9 describes this use as “a final particle, expressing intention/purpose, with a view to, in order to.”
22 tn Grk “course.” See L&N 42.26, “(a figurative extension of meaning of δρόμος ‘race’) a task or function involving continuity, serious, effort, and possibly obligation – ‘task, mission’…Ac 20:24.” On this Pauline theme see also Phil 1:19-26; Col 1:24; 2 Tim 4:6-7.
23 tn Or “to the gospel.”
24 tn The term translated “breaking” as used by Josephus (Ant. 10.10.4 [10.207]) means to break something into pieces, but in its only NT use (it is a hapax legomenon) it is used figuratively (BDAG 972 s.v. συνθρύπτω).
25 tn L&N 18.13 has “to tie objects together – ‘to tie, to tie together, to tie up.’” The verb δέω (dew) is sometimes figurative for imprisonment (L&N 37.114), but it is preferable to translate it literally here in light of v. 11 where Agabus tied himself up with Paul’s belt.
26 tn Grk “received back their dead from resurrection.”
27 tn Grk “to obtain a better resurrection.”
28 tc The reading ἐπρίσθησαν (ejprisqhsan, “they were sawed apart”) is found in some important witnesses (Ì46 [D* twice reads ἐπίρσθησαν, “they were burned”?] pc syp sa Orpt Eus). Other