22:8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things, 1 and when I heard and saw them, 2 I threw myself down 3 to worship at the feet of the angel who was showing them to me.
1:12 I 4 turned to see whose voice was speaking to me, 5 and when I did so, 6 I saw seven golden lampstands,
16:15 (Look! I will come like a thief!
Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose 12 his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition 13 be seen.) 14
18:9 Then 24 the kings of the earth who committed immoral acts with her and lived in sensual luxury 25 with her will weep and wail for her when they see the smoke from the fire that burns her up. 26
1 tn Or “I am John, the one who heard and saw these things.”
2 tn The pronoun “them” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
3 tn Grk “I fell down and worshiped at the feet.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”
4 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.
5 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.”
6 tn Grk “and turning I saw.” The repetition of ἐπιστρέφω (epistrefw) is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been translated generally.
7 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of no one being found worthy to open the scroll.
8 tn Grk “much.”
10 tn Here the imperfect ἔκραζον (ekrazon) has been translated ingressively.
11 tn Grk “from the burning of her, saying.” For the translation “the smoke from the fire that burned her up,” see L&N 14.63. Here the participle λέγοντες (legontes, “saying”) has not been translated because it is redundant in contemporary English.
13 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
16 tn Grk “and keeps.” BDAG 1002 s.v. τηρέω 2.c states “of holding on to someth. so as not to give it up or lose it…τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ Rv 16:15 (or else he will have to go naked).”
17 tn On the translation of ἀσχημοσύνη (aschmosunh) as “shameful condition” see L&N 25.202. The indefinite third person plural (“and they see”) has been translated as a passive here.
18 sn These lines are parenthetical, forming an aside to the narrative. The speaker here is the Lord Jesus Christ himself rather than the narrator. Many interpreters have seen this verse as so abrupt that it could not be an original part of the work, but the author has used such asides before (1:7; 14:13) and the suddenness here (on the eve of Armageddon) is completely parallel to Jesus’ warning in Mark 13:15-16 and parallels.
19 map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.
20 tn Grk “and to Smyrna.” For stylistic reasons the conjunction καί (kai) and the preposition εἰς (eis) have not been translated before the remaining elements of the list. In lists with more than two elements contemporary English generally does not repeat the conjunction except between the next to last and last elements.
22 tn Grk “I counsel you to buy.”
23 tn Grk “rich, and.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation, repeating the words “Buy from me” to make the connection clear for the English reader.
24 tn Grk “the shame of the nakedness of you,” which has been translated as an attributed genitive like καινότητι ζωῆς (kainothti zwh") in Rom 6:4 (ExSyn 89-90).
25 sn The city of Laodicea had a famous medical school and exported a powder (called a “Phrygian powder”) that was widely used as an eye salve. It was applied to the eyes in the form of a paste the consistency of dough (the Greek term for the salve here, κολλούριον, kollourion [Latin collyrium], is a diminutive form of the word for a long roll of bread).
25 tn The word “every” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the following list.
26 tn The Greek term καί (kai) has not been translated before this and the following items in the list, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
27 tn Or “to be buried.”
28 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
29 tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”
30 tn Grk “from the burning of her.” For the translation “the smoke from the fire that burns her up,” see L&N 14.63.
31 tn The word “made” is not in the Greek text but is implied.
32 tn The Greek conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here or before the following materials in this list, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
34 tn 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.”
35 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
36 tn 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).