7:9 After these things I looked, and here was 14 an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, 15 people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands.
7:13 Then 16 one of the elders asked 17 me, “These dressed in long white robes – who are they and where have they come from?” 7:14 So 18 I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.” 19 Then 20 he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They 21 have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb!
1 tn Grk “a few names”; here ὄνομα (onoma) is used by figurative extension to mean “person” or “people”; according to L&N 9.19 there is “the possible implication of existence or relevance as individuals.”
2 tn Or “soiled” (so NAB, NRSV, NIV); NCV “have kept their clothes unstained”; CEV “have not dirtied your clothes with sin.”
3 tn The word “dressed” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
4 tn Or “who overcomes.”
5 tn Grk “thus.”
6 tn Or “white robes.”
7 tn The negation here is with οὐ μή (ou mh), the strongest possible form of negation in Koine Greek.
8 tn Or “will never wipe out.”
9 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
10 tn Grk “will confess.”
11 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
12 tn Grk “until they had been completed.” The idea of a certain “number” of people is implied by the subject of πληρωθῶσιν (plhrwqwsin).
13 tn Though σύνδουλος (sundoulos) has been translated “fellow servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
14 tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).
15 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
16 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
17 tn Grk “spoke” or “declared to,” but in the context “asked” reads more naturally in English.
18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous question.
19 tn Though the expression “the answer” is not in the Greek text, it is clearly implied. Direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context.
20 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
21 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
22 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
23 tn On the term translated “fine linen,” BDAG 185 s.v. βύσσινος states, “made of fine linen, subst. τὸ β. fine linen, linen garment…Rv 18:12, 16; 19:8, 14.”