Revelation 6:9-10

6:9 Now ¹  when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed ²  because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given. 6:10 They ³  cried out with a loud voice, ⁴  “How long, ⁵  Sovereign Master, ⁶  holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?”

Revelation 11:7-10

11:7 When ⁷  they have completed their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will make war on them and conquer ⁸  them and kill them. 11:8 Their ⁹  corpses will lie in the street ¹⁰  of the great city that is symbolically ¹¹  called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was also crucified. 11:9 For three and a half days those from every ¹²  people, tribe, ¹³  nation, and language will look at their corpses, because they will not permit them to be placed in a tomb. ¹⁴  11:10 And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate, even sending gifts to each other, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

Revelation 13:7-10

13:7 The beast ¹⁵  was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. ¹⁶  He was given ruling authority ¹⁷  over every tribe, people, ¹⁸  language, and nation, 13:8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, ¹⁹  everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world ²⁰  in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. ²¹  13:9 If anyone has an ear, he had better listen!

13:10 If anyone is meant for captivity,

into captivity he will go.

If anyone is to be killed by the sword, ²² 

then by the sword he must be killed.

This ²³  requires steadfast endurance ²⁴  and faith from the saints.

Revelation 14:12

14:12 This requires ²⁵  the steadfast endurance ²⁶  of the saints – those who obey ²⁷  God’s commandments and hold to ²⁸  their faith in Jesus. ²⁹ 

Revelation 16:6

16:6 because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets,

so ³⁰  you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!” ³¹ 

Revelation 17:6

17:6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. ³²  I ³³  was greatly astounded ³⁴  when I saw her.

Revelation 18:24

18:24 The ³⁵  blood of the saints and prophets was found in her, ³⁶ 

along with the blood ³⁷  of all those who had been killed on the earth.”

[6:9]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of a new and somewhat different topic after the introduction of the four riders.

[6:9]  ² tn Or “murdered.” See the note on the word “butcher” in 6:4.

[6:10]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:10]  ⁴ tn Grk “voice, saying”; the participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[6:10]  ⁵ tn The expression ἕως πότε (ews pote) was translated “how long.” Cf. BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 1.b.γ.

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

[11:7]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:7]  ⁸ tn Or “be victorious over”; traditionally, “overcome.”

[11:8]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  ¹⁰ tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).

[11:8]  ¹¹ tn Grk “spiritually.”

[11:9]  ¹² tn The word “every” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the following list.

[11:9]  ¹³ 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.

[11:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “to be buried.”

[13:7]  ¹⁵ 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.

[13:7]  ¹⁶ 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.

[13:7]  ¹⁷ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:7]  ¹⁸ 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.

[13:8]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:8]  ²⁰ 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.

[13:8]  ²¹ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[13:10]  ²² tc Many mss (C 051* 2351 Ï^A pc) read “if anyone will kill with the sword, it is necessary for him to be killed with the sword” (εἴ τις ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτενεῖ, δεῖ αὐτὸν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι). Other mss (א 1006 1611* 1854 al) are similar except that they read a present tense “kills” (ἀποκτείνει, apokteinei) in this sentence. Both of these variants may be regarded as essentially saying the same thing. On the other hand, codex A reads “if anyone is to be killed by the sword, he is to be killed by the sword” (εἴ τις ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι). Thus the first two variants convey the idea of retribution, while the last variant, supported by codex A, does not. (There are actually a dozen variants here, evidence that scribes found the original text quite difficult. Only the most important variants are discussed in this note.) The first two variants seem to be in line with Jesus’ comments in Matt 26:52: “everyone who takes up the sword will die by the sword.” The last variant, however, seems to be taking up an idea found in Jer 15:2: “Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.” Though G. B. Caird, Revelation (HNTC), 169-70, gives four arguments in favor of the first reading (i.e., “whoever kills with the sword must with the sword be killed”), the arguments he puts forward can be read equally as well to support the latter alternative. In the end, the reading in codex A seems to be original. The fact that this sentence seems to be in parallel with 10a (which simply focuses on God’s will and suffering passively and is therefore akin to the reading in codex A), and that it most likely gave rise to the others as the most difficult reading, argues for its authenticity.

[13:10]  ²³ tn On ὧδε (Jwde) here, BDAG 1101 s.v. 2 states: “a ref. to a present event, object, or circumstance, in this case, at this point, on this occasion, under these circumstances…in this case moreover 1 Cor 4:2. ὧδε ἡ σοφία ἐστίν…Rv 13:18; cf. 17:9. ὧδέ ἐστιν ἡ ὑπομονή…13:10; 14:12.”

[13:10]  ²⁴ tn Or “perseverance.”

[14:12]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Here is.”

[14:12]  ²⁶ tn Or “the perseverance.”

[14:12]  ²⁷ tn Grk “who keep.”

[14:12]  ²⁸ tn The words “hold to” are implied as a repetition of the participle translated “keep” (οἱ τηροῦντες, Joi throunte").

[14:12]  ²⁹ tn Grk “faith of Jesus.” The construction may mean either “faith in Jesus” or “faithful to Jesus.” Either translation implies that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) is to be taken as an objective genitive; the difference is more lexical than grammatical because πίστις (pistis) can mean either “faith” or “faithfulness.”

[16:6]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that this judgment is the result of what these wicked people did to the saints and prophets.

[16:6]  ³¹ tn Grk “They are worthy”; i.e., of this kind of punishment. By extension, “they got what they deserve.”

[17:6]  ³² tn Or “of the witnesses to Jesus.” Here the genitive ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) is taken as an objective genitive; Jesus is the object of their testimony.

[17:6]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:6]  ³⁴ tn Grk “I marveled a great marvel” (an idiom for great astonishment).

[18:24]  ³⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:24]  ³⁶ tn The shift in pronouns from second to third person corresponds to the Greek text.

[18:24]  ³⁷ tn Grk “and of all.” The phrase “along with the blood” has been repeated from the previous clause for stylistic reasons.