Revelation 1:19

1:19 Therefore write what you saw, what is, and what will be after these things. ¹ 

Revelation 1:1

The Prologue

1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, ²  which God gave him to show his servants ³  what must happen very soon. ⁴  He made it clear ⁵  by sending his angel to his servant ⁶  John,

Revelation 22:6

A Final Reminder

22:6 Then ⁷  the angel ⁸  said to me, “These words are reliable ⁹  and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants ¹⁰  what must happen soon.”

Revelation 4:1

The Amazing Scene in Heaven

4:1 After these things I looked, and there was ¹¹  a door standing open in heaven! ¹²  And the first voice I had heard speaking to me ¹³  like a trumpet ¹⁴  said: “Come up here so that ¹⁵  I can show you what must happen after these things.”

Revelation 1:3

1:3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this ¹⁶  prophecy aloud, ¹⁷  and blessed are ¹⁸  those who hear and obey ¹⁹  the things written in it, because the time is near! ²⁰ 

Revelation 10:7

10:7 But in the days ²¹  when the seventh angel is about to blow his trumpet, the mystery of God is completed, ²²  just as he has ²³  proclaimed to his servants ²⁴  the prophets.”

Revelation 8:13

8:13 Then ²⁵  I looked, and I heard an ²⁶  eagle ²⁷  flying directly overhead, ²⁸  proclaiming with a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth because of the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to blow them!” ²⁹ 

Revelation 12:10

12:10 Then ³⁰  I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,

“The salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God,

and the ruling authority ³¹  of his Christ, ³²  have now come,

because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, ³³ 

the one who accuses them day and night ³⁴  before our God,

has been thrown down.

Revelation 18:23

18:23 Even the light from a lamp

will never shine in you again!

The voices of the bridegroom and his bride

will never be heard in you again.

For your merchants were the tycoons of the world,

because all the nations ³⁵  were deceived by your magic spells! ³⁶ 

[1:19]  ¹ tn Grk “Therefore write the things that you saw, and the things that are, and the things that will take place after these things.” Verse 19 could also be translated (taking καί…καί [kai…kai] as “both…and”): “Therefore write what you have seen, both what things currently are and what is going to happen after these things.” The structure of this verse is debated.

[1:1]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or “He indicated it clearly” (L&N 33.153).

[1:1]  ⁶ tn See the note on the word “servants” earlier in this verse.

[22:6]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[22:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel mentioned in 21:9, 15; 22:1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “faithful.”

[22:6]  ⁶ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[4:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Or “in the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

[4:1]  ⁶ 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.”

[4:1]  ⁷ sn The phrase speaking to me like a trumpet refers back to Rev 1:10.

[4:1]  ⁸ tn The conjunction καί (kai), much like the vav-consecutive in Hebrew, appears to be introducing a final/purpose clause here rather than a coordinate clause.

[1:3]  ⁵ tn The word “this” is used to translate the Greek article τῆς (ths), bringing out its demonstrative force.

[1:3]  ⁶ tn The word “aloud” has been supplied to indicate that in the original historical setting reading would usually refer to reading out loud in public rather than silently to oneself.

[1:3]  ⁷ tn The words “blessed are” are repeated from the beginning of this verse for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[1:3]  ⁸ tn Grk “keep.” L&N 36.19 has “to continue to obey orders or commandments – ‘to obey, to keep commandments, obedience.’”

[1:3]  ⁹ sn The time refers to the time when the things prophesied would happen.

[10:7]  ⁶ tn Grk “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel.”

[10:7]  ⁷ tn The aorist ἐτελέσθη (etelesqh) has been translated as a proleptic (futuristic) aorist (ExSyn 564 cites this verse as an example).

[10:7]  ⁸ tn The time of the action described by the aorist εὐηγγέλισεν (euhngelisen) seems to be past with respect to the aorist passive ἐτελέσθη (etelesqh). This does not require that the prophets in view here be OT prophets. They may actually refer to the martyrs in the church (so G. B. Caird, Revelation [HNTC], 129).

[10:7]  ⁹ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[8:13]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[8:13]  ⁸ tn Grk “one eagle.”

[8:13]  ⁹ tc Ï^A reads “angel” (ἀγγέλου, angelou) instead of “eagle” (ἀετοῦ, aetou), a reading strongly supported by {א A 046 Ï^K and several versions}. On external grounds, ἀετοῦ is clearly the superior reading. ἀγγέλου could have arisen inadvertently due to similarities in spelling or sound between ἀετοῦ and ἀγγέλου. It may also have been intentional in order to bring this statement in line with 14:6 where an angel is mentioned as the one flying in midair. This seems a more likely reason, strengthened by the facts that the book only mentions eagles two other times (4:7; 12:14). Further, the immediate as well as broad context is replete with references to angels.

[8:13]  ¹⁰ tn Concerning the word μεσουράνημα (mesouranhma), L&N 1.10 states, “a point or region of the sky directly above the earth – ‘high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.’ εἶδον, καὶ ἤκουσα ἑνὸς ἁετοῦ πετομένου ἐν μεσουρανήματι ‘I looked, and I heard an eagle that was flying overhead in the sky’ Re 8:13.”

[8:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “about to sound their trumpets,” but this is redundant in English.

[12:10]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:10]  ⁹ tn Or “the right of his Messiah to rule.” See L&N 37.35.

[12:10]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[12:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). The translation “fellow believer” would normally apply (L&N 11.23), but since the speaker(s) are not specified in this context, it is not clear if such a translation would be appropriate here. The more generic “brothers and sisters” was chosen to emphasize the fact of a relationship without specifying its type.

[12:10]  ¹² tn Or “who accuses them continually.”

[18:23]  ⁹ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[18:23]  ¹⁰ tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”