Revelation 4:2-4

4:2 Immediately I was in the Spirit, ¹  and ²  a throne was standing ³  in heaven with someone seated on it! 4:3 And the one seated on it was like jasper ⁴  and carnelian ⁵  in appearance, and a rainbow looking like it was made of emerald ⁶  encircled the throne. 4:4 In ⁷  a circle around the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on those thrones were twenty-four elders. They were ⁸  dressed in white clothing and had golden crowns ⁹  on their heads.

¹ tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).

² 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).

³ tn BDAG 537 s.v. κεῖμαι 2 gives the translation “stand” for the term in this verse.

⁴ tn Grk “jasper stone.”

⁵ sn Carnelian was a semiprecious gemstone, usually red in color (L&N 2.36).

⁶ tn Or “a rainbow emerald-like in appearance.”

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁸ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the words “They were” to indicate the connection to the preceding material.

⁹ sn See the note on the word crown in Rev 3:11.