Revelation 1:16

1:16 He held ¹  seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His ²  face shone like the sun shining at full strength.

Revelation 1:20--2:1

1:20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands is this: ³  The seven stars are the angels ⁴  of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

To the Church in Ephesus

2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus, ⁵  write the following: ⁶ 

“This is the solemn pronouncement of ⁷  the one who has a firm grasp on ⁸  the seven stars in his right hand ⁹  – the one who walks among the seven golden ¹⁰  lampstands:

[1:16]  ¹ tn Grk “and having.” In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but because contemporary English style employs much shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “he.”

[1:16]  ² tn This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:20]  ³ tn The words “is this” are supplied to make a complete sentence in English.

[1:20]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps “the messengers.”

[2:1]  ⁵ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[2:1]  ⁶ tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” The expression τάδε λέγει (tade legei) occurs eight times in the NT, seven of which are in Rev 2-3. “The pronoun is used to add solemnity to the prophetic utterance that follows. …In classical drama, it was used to introduce a new actor to the scene (Smyth, Greek Grammar, 307 [§1241]). But the τάδε λέγει formula in the NT derives from the OT, where it was used to introduce a prophetic utterance (BAGD, s.v. ὅδε, 1)” (ExSyn 328). Thus, the translation “this is the solemn pronouncement of” for τάδε λέγει is very much in keeping with the OT connotations of this expression.

[2:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “holds,” but the term (i.e., κρατῶν, kratwn) with an accusative object, along with the context, argues for a sense of firmness. (Cf. ExSyn 132.)

[2:1]  ⁹ sn On seven stars in his right hand see 1:16.

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “lampstands of gold” with the genitive τῶν χρυσῶν (twn cruswn) translated as an attributive genitive.