12:7 Then 4 war broke out in heaven: Michael 5 and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
1 tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.”
2 tn Grk “keeps.” In a context that speaks of “holding on to what you have,” the idea here is one of continued faithful behavior (BDAG 1002 s.v. τηρέω 3 has “ὁ τηρῶν τὰ ἔργα μου the one who takes my deeds to heart Rv 2:26”).
3 tn Or “over the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
4 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
5 sn The archangel Michael had a special role in protecting the nation of Israel in the OT (Dan 10:13, 21; 12:1; see also Jude 9).