2:1 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, 3 any affection or mercy, 4
2:9 As a result God exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals
because you were killed, 7
and at the cost of your own blood 8 you have purchased 9 for God
persons 10 from every tribe, language, 11 people, and nation.
5:10 You have appointed 12 them 13 as a kingdom and priests 14 to serve 15 our God, and they will reign 16 on the earth.”
7:9 After these things I looked, and here was 17 an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, 18 people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 7:10 They were shouting out in a loud voice,
“Salvation belongs to our God, 19
to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
7:11 And all the angels stood 20 there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground 21 before the throne and worshiped God, 7:12 saying,
“Amen! Praise and glory,
and wisdom and thanksgiving,
and honor and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
1 tn There are two major syntactical alternatives which are both awkward: (1) One could make “glorify” dependent on “Christ has become a minister” and coordinate with “to confirm” and the result would be rendered “Christ has become a minister of circumcision to confirm the promises…and so that the Gentiles might glorify God.” (2) One could make “glorify” dependent on “I tell you” and coordinate with “Christ has become a minister” and the result would be rendered “I tell you that Christ has become a minister of circumcision…and that the Gentiles glorify God.” The second rendering is preferred.
2 sn A quotation from Ps 18:49.
3 tn Or “spiritual fellowship” if πνεύματος (pneumato") is an attributive genitive; or “fellowship brought about by the Spirit” if πνεύματος is a genitive of source or production.
4 tn Grk “and any affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.
5 tn Grk “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which also [was] in Christ Jesus,” or “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which [you] also [have] in Christ Jesus.”
6 tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.
7 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”
8 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).”
9 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
10 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.
11 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.
12 tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoihsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.
13 tc The vast majority of witnesses have αὐτούς (autous, “them”) here, while the Textus Receptus reads ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”) with insignificant support (pc gig vgcl sa Prim Bea). There is no question that the original text read αὐτούς here.
14 tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”
15 tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”
16 tc The textual problem here between the present tense βασιλεύουσιν (basileuousin, “they are reigning”; so A 1006 1611 ÏK pc) and the future βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, “they will reign”; so א 1854 2053 ÏA pc lat co) is a difficult one. Both readings have excellent support. On the one hand, the present tense seems to be the harder reading in this context. On the other hand, codex A elsewhere mistakes the future for the present (20:6). Further, the lunar sigma in uncial script could have been overlooked by some scribes, resulting in the present tense. All things considered, there is a slight preference for the future.
17 tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).
18 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.
19 tn The dative here has been translated as a dative of possession.
20 tn The verb is pluperfect, but the force is simple past. See ExSyn 586.
21 tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” 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.”