Ephesians 1:10

1:10 toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up ¹  all things in Christ – the things in heaven ²  and the things on earth. ³ 

Ephesians 1:21

1:21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Philippians 2:9-11

2:9 As a result God exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

2:10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow

– in heaven and on earth and under the earth –

2:11 and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord

to the glory of God the Father.

Colossians 1:20

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ⁴  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Revelation 5:8-14

5:8 and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground ⁵  before the Lamb. Each ⁶  of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the saints). ⁷  5:9 They were singing a new song: ⁸ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ⁹ 

and at the cost of your own blood ¹⁰  you have purchased ¹¹  for God

persons ¹²  from every tribe, language, ¹³  people, and nation.

5:10 You have appointed ¹⁴  them ¹⁵  as a kingdom and priests ¹⁶  to serve ¹⁷  our God, and they will reign ¹⁸  on the earth.”

5:11 Then ¹⁹  I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their ²⁰  number was ten thousand times ten thousand ²¹  – thousands times thousands – 5:12 all of whom ²²  were singing ²³  in a loud voice:

“Worthy is the lamb who was killed ²⁴ 

to receive power and wealth

and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and praise!”

5:13 Then ²⁵  I heard every creature – in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them – singing: ²⁶ 

“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb

be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power ²⁷  forever and ever!”

5:14 And the four living creatures were saying “Amen,” and the elders threw themselves to the ground ²⁸  and worshiped.

Revelation 7:4-12

7:4 Now ²⁹  I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, ³⁰  one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all ³¹  the tribes of the people of Israel: ³² 

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.

7:9 After these things I looked, and here was ³³  an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, ³⁴  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, ³⁵ 

to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

7:11 And all the angels stood ³⁶  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 ³⁷  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!”

[1:10]  ¹ tn The precise meaning of the infinitive ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι (anakefalaiwsasqai) in v. 10 is difficult to determine since it was used relatively infrequently in Greek literature and only twice in the NT (here and Rom 13:9). While there have been several suggestions, three deserve mention: (1) “To sum up.” In Rom 13:9, using the same term, the author there says that the law may be “summarized in one command, to love your neighbor as yourself.” The idea then in Eph 1:10 would be that all things in heaven and on earth can be summed up and made sense out of in relation to Christ. (2) “To renew.” If this is the nuance of the verb then all things in heaven and earth, after their plunge into sin and ruin, are renewed by the coming of Christ and his redemption. (3) “To head up.” In this translation the idea is that Christ, in the fullness of the times, has been exalted so as to be appointed as the ruler (i.e., “head”) over all things in heaven and earth (including the church). That this is perhaps the best understanding of the verb is evidenced by the repeated theme of Christ’s exaltation and reign in Ephesians and by the connection to the κεφαλή- (kefalh-) language of 1:22 (cf. Schlier, TDNT 3:682; L&N 63.8; M. Barth, Ephesians [AB 34], 1:89-92; contra A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [WBC], 32-33).

[1:10]  ² tn Grk “the heavens.”

[1:10]  ³ sn And the things on earth. Verse 10 ends with “in him.” The redundancy keeps the focus on Christ at the expense of good Greek style. Verse 11 repeats the reference with a relative pronoun (“in whom”) – again, at the expense of good Greek style. Although the syntax is awkward, the theology is rich. This is not the first time that a NT writer was so overcome with awe for his Lord that he seems to have lost control of his pen. Indeed, it happened frequently enough that some have labeled their christologically motivated solecisms an “apostolic disease.”

[1:20]  ⁴ tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[5:8]  ⁵ tn Grk “fell down.” 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.”

[5:8]  ⁶ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[5:8]  ⁷ sn This interpretive comment by the author forms a parenthesis in the narrative.

[5:9]  ⁸ tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

[5:9]  ⁹ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:9]  ¹⁰ 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).”

[5:9]  ¹¹ 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.

[5:9]  ¹² 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.

[5:9]  ¹³ 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.

[5:10]  ¹⁴ tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoihsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.

[5:10]  ¹⁵ tc The vast majority of witnesses have αὐτούς (autous, “them”) here, while the Textus Receptus reads ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”) with insignificant support (pc gig vg^cl sa Prim Bea). There is no question that the original text read αὐτούς here.

[5:10]  ¹⁶ tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”

[5:10]  ¹⁷ tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”

[5:10]  ¹⁸ tc The textual problem here between the present tense βασιλεύουσιν (basileuousin, “they are reigning”; so A 1006 1611 Ï^K pc) and the future βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, “they will reign”; so א 1854 2053 Ï^A 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.

[5:11]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:11]  ²⁰ tn Grk “elders, and the number of them was.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[5:11]  ²¹ tn Or “myriads of myriads.” Although μυριάς (murias) literally means “10,000,” the point of the combination here may simply be to indicate an incalculably huge number. See L&N 60.9.

[5:12]  ²² 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.

[5:12]  ²³ tn Grk “saying.”

[5:12]  ²⁴ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:13]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:13]  ²⁶ tn Grk “saying.”

[5:13]  ²⁷ tn Or “dominion.”

[5:14]  ²⁸ tn Grk “fell down.” 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.”

[7:4]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of new but related material.

[7:4]  ³⁰ tn Grk “who were sealed.”

[7:4]  ³¹ tn Normally, “every,” but since 144,000 is the total number, “all” is clearer here.

[7:4]  ³² 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.

[7:9]  ³³ tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[7:9]  ³⁴ 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.

[7:10]  ³⁵ tn The dative here has been translated as a dative of possession.

[7:11]  ³⁶ tn The verb is pluperfect, but the force is simple past. See ExSyn 586.

[7:11]  ³⁷ 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.”