Revelation 1:12

1:12 I ¹  turned to see whose voice was speaking to me, ²  and when I did so, ³  I saw seven golden lampstands,

Revelation 1:20

1:20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands is this: ⁴  The seven stars are the angels ⁵  of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

[1:12]  ¹ tn Throughout the translation John’s use of καί (kai) often reflects the varied usage of the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav). A clause which καί introduces has been translated in terms of its semantic relationship to the clause that preceded it. If the καί seemed redundant, however, it was left untranslated; that is the case in this verse.

[1:12]  ² tn Grk “with me.” The translation “with me” implies that John was engaged in a dialogue with the one speaking to him (e.g., Jesus or an angel) when in reality it was a one-sided conversation, with John doing all the listening. For this reason, μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ (met’ emou, “with me”) was translated as “to me.”

[1:12]  ³ tn Grk “and turning I saw.” The repetition of ἐπιστρέφω (epistrefw) is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been translated generally.

[1:20]  ⁴ tn The words “is this” are supplied to make a complete sentence in English.

[1:20]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps “the messengers.”