5:6 Then 1 I saw standing in the middle of the throne 2 and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb that appeared to have been killed. 3 He had 4 seven horns and seven eyes, which 5 are the seven 6 spirits of God 7 sent out into all the earth.
“Worthy is the lamb who was killed 10
to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and praise!”
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
2 tn Perhaps, “in the middle of the throne area” (see L&N 83.10).
3 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.” The phrase behind this translation is ὡς ἐσφαγμένον (Jw" ejsfagmenon). The particle ὡς is used in Greek generally for comparison, and in Revelation it is used often to describe the appearance of what the author saw. This phrase does not imply that the Lamb “appeared to have been killed” but in reality was not, because the wider context of the NT shows that in fact the Lamb, i.e., Jesus, was killed. See 13:3 for the only other occurrence of this phrase in the NT.
4 tn Grk “killed, having.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “he.”
5 sn The relative pronoun which is masculine, referring back to the eyes rather than to the horns.
6 tc There is good ms evidence for the inclusion of “seven” (ἑπτά, Jepta; Ì24 א 2053 2351 ÏK). There is equally good ms support for the omission of the term (A 1006 1611 ÏA pc). It may have been accidentally added due to its repeated presence in the immediately preceding phrases, or it may have been intentionally added to maintain the symmetry of the phrases or more likely to harmonize the phrase with 1:4; 3:1; 4:5. Or it may have been accidentally deleted by way of homoioteleuton (τὰ ἑπτά, ta Jepta). A decision is difficult in this instance. NA27 also does not find the problem easy to solve, placing the word in brackets to indicate doubts as to its authenticity.
7 sn See the note on the phrase the seven spirits of God in Rev 4:5.
8 tn The words “all of whom” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to indicate the resumption of the phrase “the voice of many angels” at the beginning of the verse.
9 tn Grk “saying.”
10 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”
11 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn The prepositional phrase “since the foundation of the world” is traditionally translated as a modifier of the immediately preceding phrase in the Greek text, “the Lamb who was killed” (so also G. B. Caird, Revelation [HNTC], 168), but it is more likely that the phrase “since the foundation of the world” modifies the verb “written” (as translated above). Confirmation of this can be found in Rev 17:8 where the phrase “written in the book of life since the foundation of the world” occurs with no ambiguity.
13 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”