Revelation 7:5-8

7:5 From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand,

7:6 from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand,

7:7 from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand,

7:8 from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

Revelation 13:7

13:7 The beast ¹  was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. ²  He was given ruling authority ³  over every tribe, people, ⁴  language, and nation,

Revelation 5:5

5:5 Then ⁵  one of the elders said ⁶  to me, “Stop weeping! ⁷  Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered; ⁸  thus he can open ⁹  the scroll and its seven seals.”

Revelation 14:6

Three Angels and Three Messages

14:6 Then ¹⁰  I saw another ¹¹  angel flying directly overhead, ¹²  and he had ¹³  an eternal gospel to proclaim ¹⁴  to those who live ¹⁵  on the earth – to every nation, tribe, ¹⁶  language, and people.

Revelation 7:4

7:4 Now ¹⁷  I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, ¹⁸  one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all ¹⁹  the tribes of the people of Israel: ²⁰ 

Revelation 5:9

5:9 They were singing a new song: ²¹ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ²² 

and at the cost of your own blood ²³  you have purchased ²⁴  for God

persons ²⁵  from every tribe, language, ²⁶  people, and nation.

Revelation 7:9

7:9 After these things I looked, and here was ²⁷  an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, ²⁸  people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands.

Revelation 11:9

11:9 For three and a half days those from every ²⁹  people, tribe, ³⁰  nation, and language will look at their corpses, because they will not permit them to be placed in a tomb. ³¹ 

¹ tn Grk “and it was given to him to go to war.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tc Many mss omit the phrase “it was given to make war with the saints and to overcome them” (Ì⁴⁷ A C 2053 Ï^A sa). It is, however, found in Ì^115vid א 051 1006 (1611) 1841 (1854) 2329 2344 2351 (Ï^K) lat sy^ph,(h) bo. Although the ms evidence is somewhat in favor of the shorter reading, the support of ̹¹⁵ (a recently-discovered ms) for the longer reading balances things out. Normally, the shorter reading should be given preference. However, in an instance in which homoioteleuton could play a role, caution must be exercised. In this passage, accidental omission is quite likely. That this could have happened seems apparent from the two occurrences of the identical phrase “and it was given to him” (καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ, kai edoqh autw) in v. 7. The scribe’s eye skipped over the first καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ and went to the second, hence creating an accidental omission of eleven words.

³ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

⁴ tn Grk “and people,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here or before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

² tn Grk “says” (a historical present).

³ tn The present imperative with μή (mh) is used here to command cessation of an action in progress (ExSyn 724 lists this verse as an example).

⁴ tn Or “has been victorious”; traditionally, “has overcome.”

⁵ tn The infinitive has been translated as an infinitive of result here.

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

² tc Most mss (Ì47 א* Ï sa) lack ἄλλον (allon, “another”) here, but the support for it is stronger (Ì^115vid א² A C P 051 1006 1611 1841 2053 2329 al latt sy bo). The problem that its inclusion represents is that there is no reference to any other angel in the immediate context (the last mention was in 11:15). In this instance, the longer reading is harder. The word was probably intentionally omitted in order to resolve the tension; less likely, it might have been accidentally omitted since its spelling is similar to “angel” (ἄγγελος, angelos).

³ tn L&N 1.10 states, “a point or region of the sky directly above the earth – ‘high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.’”

⁴ tn Grk “having.”

⁵ tn Or “an eternal gospel to announce as good news.”

⁶ tn Grk “to those seated on the earth.”

⁷ tn Grk “and tribe,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here or before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of new but related material.

² tn Grk “who were sealed.”

³ tn Normally, “every,” but since 144,000 is the total number, “all” is clearer here.

⁴ tn Grk “the sons of Israel,” normally an idiom for the Israelites as an ethnic entity (L&N 11.58). However, many scholars understand the expression in this context to refer to Christians rather than ethnic Israelites.

¹ tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

² tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

³ tn The preposition ἐν (en) is taken to indicate price here, like the Hebrew preposition ב (bet) does at times. BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 5.b states, “The ἐν which takes the place of the gen. of price is also instrumental ἠγόρασας ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου Rv 5:9 (cp. 1 Ch 21:24 ἀγοράζω ἐν ἀργυρίῳ).”

⁴ tc The Greek text as it stands above (i.e., the reading τῷ θεῷ [tw qew] alone) is found in codex A. א 2050 2344 Ï sy add the term “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas), either before or after τῷ θεῷ, as an attempt to clarify the object of “purchased” (ἠγόρασας, hgorasa"). A few mss (1 vg^ms) delete the reference to God altogether and simply replace it with “us” (ἡμᾶς). This too is an attempt to remove ambiguity in the phrase and provide an object for “purchased.” The shorter reading, supported by the best witness for Revelation, best accounts for the other readings.

⁵ tn The word “persons” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

⁶ tn Grk “and language,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

¹ tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

² 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.

¹ tn The word “every” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the following list.

² 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.

³ tn Or “to be buried.”