John 14:6

14:6 Jesus replied, ¹  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. ²  No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 17:3

17:3 Now this ³  is eternal life ⁴  – that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, ⁵  whom you sent.

Revelation 3:7

To the Church in Philadelphia

3:7 “To ⁶  the angel of the church in Philadelphia write the following: ⁷ 

“This is the solemn pronouncement of ⁸  the Holy One, the True One, who holds the key of David, who opens doors ⁹  no one can shut, and shuts doors ¹⁰  no one can open:

Revelation 3:14

To the Church in Laodicea

3:14 “To ¹¹  the angel of the church in Laodicea write the following: ¹² 

“This is the solemn pronouncement of ¹³  the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator ¹⁴  of God’s creation:

Revelation 6:10

6:10 They ¹⁵  cried out with a loud voice, ¹⁶  “How long, ¹⁷  Sovereign Master, ¹⁸  holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?”

Revelation 15:3

15:3 They ¹⁹  sang the song of Moses the servant ²⁰  of God and the song of the Lamb: ²¹ 

“Great and astounding are your deeds,

Lord God, the All-Powerful! ²² 

Just ²³  and true are your ways,

King over the nations! ²⁴ 

Revelation 19:11

The Son of God Goes to War

19:11 Then ²⁵  I saw heaven opened and here came ²⁶  a white horse! The ²⁷  one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice ²⁸  he judges and goes to war.

[14:6]  ¹ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[14:6]  ² tn Or “I am the way, even the truth and the life.”

[17:3]  ³ tn Using αὕτη δέ (Jauth de) to introduce an explanation is typical Johannine style; it was used before in John 1:19, 3:19, and 15:12.

[17:3]  ⁴ sn This is eternal life. The author here defines eternal life for the readers, although it is worked into the prayer in such a way that many interpreters do not regard it as another of the author’s parenthetical comments. It is not just unending life in the sense of prolonged duration. Rather it is a quality of life, with its quality derived from a relationship with God. Having eternal life is here defined as being in relationship with the Father, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom the Father sent. Christ (Χριστός, Cristos) is not characteristically attached to Jesus’ name in John’s Gospel; it occurs elsewhere primarily as a title and is used with Jesus’ name only in 1:17. But that is connected to its use here: The statement here in 17:3 enables us to correlate the statement made in 1:18 of the prologue, that Jesus has fully revealed what God is like, with Jesus’ statement in 10:10 that he has come that people might have life, and have it abundantly. These two purposes are really one, according to 17:3, because (abundant) eternal life is defined as knowing (being in relationship with) the Father and the Son. The only way to gain this eternal life, that is, to obtain this knowledge of the Father, is through the Son (cf. 14:6). Although some have pointed to the use of know (γινώσκω, ginwskw) here as evidence of Gnostic influence in the Fourth Gospel, there is a crucial difference: For John this knowledge is not intellectual, but relational. It involves being in relationship.

[17:3]  ⁵ tn Or “and Jesus the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[3:7]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated due to differences between Greek and English style.

[3:7]  ⁷ tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.

[3:7]  ⁸ tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” See the note on the phrase “this is the solemn pronouncement of” in 2:1.

[3:7]  ⁹ tn The word “door” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied in the translation. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context. Since the following verse does contain the word “door” (θύραν, quran), that word has been supplied as the direct object here.

[3:7]  ¹⁰ tn See the note on the word “door” earlier in this verse.

[3:14]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated due to differences between Greek and English style.

[3:14]  ¹² tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.

[3:14]  ¹³ tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” See the note on the phrase “this is the solemn pronouncement of” in 2:1.

[3:14]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the beginning of God’s creation”; or “the ruler of God’s creation.” From a linguistic standpoint all three meanings for ἀρχή (arch) are possible. The term is well attested in both LXX (Gen 40:13, 21; 41:13) and intertestamental Jewish literature (2 Macc 4:10, 50) as meaning “ruler, authority” (BDAG 138 s.v. 6). Some have connected this passage to Paul’s statements in Col 1:15, 18 which describe Christ as ἀρχή and πρωτότοκος (prwtotoko"; e.g., see R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 124) but the term ἀρχή has been understood as either “beginning” or “ruler” in that passage as well. The most compelling connection is to be found in the prologue to John’s Gospel (1:2-4) where the λόγος (logos) is said to be “in the beginning (ἀρχή) with God,” a temporal reference connected with creation, and then v. 3 states that “all things were made through him.” The connection with the original creation suggests the meaning “originator” for ἀρχή here. BDAG 138 s.v. 3 gives the meaning “the first cause” for the word in Rev 3:14, a term that is too philosophical for the general reader, so the translation “originator” was used instead. BDAG also notes, “but the mng. beginning = ‘first created’ is linguistically probable (s. above 1b and Job 40:19; also CBurney, Christ as the ᾿Αρχή of Creation: JTS 27, 1926, 160-77).” Such a meaning is unlikely here, however, since the connections described above are much more probable.

[6:10]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:10]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “voice, saying”; the participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[6:10]  ¹⁷ tn The expression ἕως πότε (ews pote) was translated “how long.” Cf. BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 1.b.γ.

[6:10]  ¹⁸ tn The Greek term here is δεσπότης (despoths; see L&N 37.63).

[15:3]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[15:3]  ²⁰ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[15:3]  ²¹ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:3]  ²² tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

[15:3]  ²³ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

[15:3]  ²⁴ tc Certain mss (Ì⁴⁷ א*^,2 C 1006 1611 1841 pc) read “ages” (αἰώνων, aiwnwn) instead of “nations” (ἐθνῶν, eqnwn), which itself is supported by several mss (א¹ A 051 Ï). The ms evidence seems to be fairly balanced, though αἰώνων has somewhat better support. The replacement of “ages” with “nations” is possibly a scribal attempt to harmonize this verse with the use of “nations” in the following verse. On the other hand, the idea of “nations” fits well with v. 4 and it may be that “ages” is a scribal attempt to assimilate this text to 1 Tim 1:17: “the king of the ages” (βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων, basileu" twn aiwnwn). The decision is a difficult one since both scenarios deal well with the evidence, though the verbal parallel with 1 Tim 1:17 is exact while the parallel with v. 4 is not. The term “king” occurs 17 other times (most occurrences refer to earthly kings) in Revelation and it is not used with either “ages” or “nations” apart from this verse. Probably the reading “nations” should be considered original due to the influence of 1 Tim 1:17.

[19:11]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:11]  ²⁶ tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[19:11]  ²⁷ tn A new sentence was started in the translation at this point and καί (kai) was not translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “in righteousness,” but since the context here involves the punishment of the wicked and the vindication of the saints, “justice” was preferred.