Revelation 1:1

The Prologue

1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, ¹  which God gave him to show his servants ²  what must happen very soon. ³  He made it clear ⁴  by sending his angel to his servant ⁵  John,

Revelation 1:9

1:9 I, John, your brother and the one who shares ⁶  with you in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance that ⁷  are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. ⁸ 

Revelation 4:11

4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

since you created all things,

and because of your will they existed and were created!” ⁹ 

Revelation 7:15

7:15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve ¹⁰  him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them. ¹¹ 

Revelation 12:12

12:12 Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them!

But ¹²  woe to the earth and the sea

because the devil has come down to you!

He ¹³  is filled with terrible anger,

for he knows that he only has a little time!”

Revelation 17:7

17:7 But ¹⁴  the angel said to me, “Why are you astounded? I will interpret ¹⁵  for you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with the seven heads and ten horns that carries her.

Revelation 18:8

18:8 For this reason, she will experience her plagues ¹⁶  in a single day: disease, ¹⁷  mourning, ¹⁸  and famine, and she will be burned down ¹⁹  with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is powerful!”

Revelation 18:10

18:10 They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment, and will say,

“Woe, woe, O great city,

Babylon the powerful city!

For in a single hour your doom ²⁰  has come!”

Revelation 20:4

20:4 Then ²¹  I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. ²²  I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These ²³  had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They ²⁴  came to life ²⁵  and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

[1:1]  ¹ tn The phrase ἀποκάλυψις ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (ajpokaluyi" Ihsou Cristou, “the revelation of Jesus Christ”) could be interpreted as either an objective genitive (“the revelation about Jesus Christ”), subjective genitive (“the revelation from Jesus Christ”), or both (M. Zerwick’s “general” genitive [Biblical Greek, §§36-39]; D. B. Wallace’s “plenary” genitive [ExSyn 119-21]). In 1:1 and 22:16 it is clear that Jesus has sent his angel to proclaim the message to John; thus the message is from Christ, and this would be a subjective genitive. On a broader scale, though, the revelation is about Christ, so this would be an objective genitive. One important point to note is that the phrase under consideration is best regarded as the title of the book and therefore refers to the whole of the work in all its aspects. This fact favors considering this as a plenary genitive.

[1:1]  ² tn Grk “slaves.” Although this translation frequently renders δοῦλος (doulos) as “slave,” the connotation is often of one who has sold himself into slavery; in a spiritual sense, the idea is that of becoming a slave of God or of Jesus Christ voluntarily. The voluntary notion is not conspicuous here; hence, the translation “servants.” In any case, the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ³ tn BDAG 992-93 s.v. τάχος has “quickly, at once, without delay Ac 10:33 D; 12:7; 17:15 D; 22:18; 1 Cl 48:1; 63:4…soon, in a short time…Rv 1:1; 22:6…shortly Ac 25:4.”

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Or “He indicated it clearly” (L&N 33.153).

[1:1]  ⁵ tn See the note on the word “servants” earlier in this verse.

[1:9]  ⁶ tn The translation attempts to bring out the verbal idea in συγκοινωνός (sunkoinwno", “co-sharer”); John was suffering for his faith at the time he wrote this.

[1:9]  ⁷ tn The prepositional phrase ἐν ᾿Ιησοῦ (en Ihsou) could be taken with ὑπομονῇ (Jupomonh) as the translation does or with the more distant συγκοινωνός (sunkoinwno"), in which case the translation would read “your brother and the one who shares with you in Jesus in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance.”

[1:9]  ⁸ tn The phrase “about Jesus” has been translated as an objective genitive.

[4:11]  ¹¹ tc The past tense of “they existed” (ἦσαν, hsan) and the order of the expression “they existed and were created” seems backwards both logically and chronologically. The text as it stands is the more difficult reading and seems to have given rise to codex A omitting the final “they were created,” 2329 replacing “they existed” (ἦσαν) with “have come into being” (ἐγένοντο, egeneto), and 046 adding οὐκ (ouk, “not”) before ἦσαν (“they did not exist, [but were created]”). Several mss (1854 2050 Ï^A sa) also attempt to alleviate the problem by replacing ἦσαν with “they are” (εἰσιν, eisin).

[7:15]  ¹⁶ tn Or “worship.” The word here is λατρεύω (latreuw).

[7:15]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “will spread his tent over them,” normally an idiom for taking up residence with someone, but when combined with the preposition ἐπί (epi, “over”) the idea is one of extending protection or shelter (BDAG 929 s.v. σκηνόω).

[12:12]  ²¹ tn The word “But” is not in the Greek text, but the contrast is clearly implied. This is a case of asyndeton (lack of a connective).

[12:12]  ²² tn Grk “and is filled,” a continuation of the previous sentence. Because English tends to use shorter sentences (especially when exclamations are involved), a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[17:7]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[17:7]  ²⁷ tn Grk “I will tell you,” but since what follows is the angel’s interpretation of the vision, “interpret for you” is the preferred translation here.

[18:8]  ³¹ tn Grk “For this reason, her plagues will come.”

[18:8]  ³² tn Grk “death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).

[18:8]  ³³ tn This is the same Greek word (πένθος, penqo") translated “grief” in vv. 7-8.

[18:8]  ³⁴ tn Here “burned down” was used to translate κατακαυθήσεται (katakauqhsetai) because a city is in view.

[18:10]  ³⁶ tn Or “judgment,” condemnation,” “punishment.” BDAG 569 s.v. κρίσις 1.a.β states, “The word oft. means judgment that goes against a person, condemnation, and the sentence that follows…ἡ κ. σου your judgment Rv 18:10.”

[20:4]  ⁴¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[20:4]  ⁴² tn Grk “I saw thrones, and those seated on them, and judgment was given to them.” BDAG 567 s.v. κρίμα 3 says, “judging, judgment, the κρίμα ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς authority to judge was given to them Rv 20:4.”

[20:4]  ⁴³ tn Grk “God, and who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “these” as subject.

[20:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[20:4]  ⁴⁵ tn On the use of the aorist ἔζησαν (ezhsan) BDAG 425 s.v. ζάω 1.a.β says, “of dead persons who return to life become alive again: of humans in general (3 Km 17:23) Mt 9:18; Ac 9:41; 20:12; Rv 20:4, 5.”