Revelation 1:4-5

1:4 From John, ¹  to the seven churches that are in the province of Asia: ²  Grace and peace to you ³  from “he who is,” ⁴  and who was, and who is still to come, ⁵  and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 1:5 and from Jesus Christ – the faithful ⁶  witness, ⁷  the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free ⁸  from our sins at the cost of ⁹  his own blood

Revelation 1:9

1:9 I, John, your brother and the one who shares ¹⁰  with you in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance that ¹¹  are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. ¹² 

Revelation 2:18

To the Church in Thyatira

2:18 “To ¹³  the angel of the church in Thyatira write the following: ¹⁴ 

“This is the solemn pronouncement of ¹⁵  the Son of God, the one who has eyes like a fiery flame ¹⁶  and whose feet are like polished bronze: ¹⁷ 

Revelation 6:2

6:2 So ¹⁸  I looked, ¹⁹  and here came ²⁰  a white horse! The ²¹  one who rode it ²²  had a bow, and he was given a crown, ²³  and as a conqueror ²⁴  he rode out to conquer.

Revelation 6:5

6:5 Then ²⁵  when the Lamb opened the third seal I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” So ²⁶  I looked, ²⁷  and here came ²⁸  a black horse! The ²⁹  one who rode it ³⁰  had a balance scale ³¹  in his hand.

Revelation 11:2

11:2 But ³²  do not measure the outer courtyard ³³  of the temple; leave it out, ³⁴  because it has been given to the Gentiles, ³⁵  and they will trample on the holy city ³⁶  for forty-two months.

Revelation 11:9

11:9 For three and a half days those from every ³⁷  people, tribe, ³⁸  nation, and language will look at their corpses, because they will not permit them to be placed in a tomb. ³⁹ 

Revelation 11:13

11:13 Just then ⁴⁰  a major earthquake took place and a tenth of the city collapsed; seven thousand people ⁴¹  were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Revelation 12:12

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

But ⁴²  woe to the earth and the sea

because the devil has come down to you!

He ⁴³  is filled with terrible anger,

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

Revelation 13:12

13:12 He ⁴⁴  exercised all the ruling authority ⁴⁵  of the first beast on his behalf, ⁴⁶  and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed.

Revelation 14:7

14:7 He declared ⁴⁷  in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”

Revelation 14:9

14:9 A ⁴⁸  third angel ⁴⁹  followed the first two, ⁵⁰  declaring ⁵¹  in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand,

Revelation 18:21

18:21 Then ⁵²  one powerful angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone, threw it into the sea, and said,

“With this kind of sudden violent force ⁵³ 

Babylon the great city will be thrown down ⁵⁴ 

and it will never be found again!

Revelation 19:17

19:17 Then ⁵⁵  I saw one angel standing in ⁵⁶  the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: ⁵⁷ 

“Come, gather around for the great banquet ⁵⁸  of God,

Revelation 20:10

20:10 And the devil who deceived ⁵⁹  them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, ⁶⁰  where the beast and the false prophet are ⁶¹  too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever.

Revelation 21:16

21:16 Now ⁶²  the city is laid out as a square, ⁶³  its length and width the same. He ⁶⁴  measured the city with the measuring rod ⁶⁵  at fourteen hundred miles ⁶⁶  (its length and width and height are equal).

Revelation 22:18

22:18 I testify to the one who hears the words of the prophecy contained in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described ⁶⁷  in this book.

[1:4]  ¹ tn Grk “John.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:4]  ² tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[1:4]  ³ tn It is probable that the ὑμῖν (Jumin) applies to both elements of the greeting, i.e., to both grace and peace.

[1:4]  ⁴ tc The earliest and best mss (Ì^18vid א A C P 2050 al lat sy co) lack the term “God” (θεοῦ, qeou) between “from” (ἀπό, apo) and “he who is” (ὁ ὤν, Jo wn). Its inclusion, as supported by the bulk of the Byzantine witnesses, is clearly secondary and a scribal attempt to achieve two things: (1) to make explicit the referent in the passage, namely, God, and (2) to smooth out the grammar. The preposition “from” in Greek required a noun in the genitive case. But here in Rev 1:4 the words following the preposition “from” (ἀπό) are in another case, i.e., the nominative. There are two principal ways in which to deal with this grammatical anomaly. First, it could be a mistake arising from someone who just did not know Greek very well, or as a Jew, was heavily influenced by a Semitic form of Greek. Both of these unintentional errors are unlikely here. Commenting on this ExSyn 63 argues: “Either of these is doubtful here because (1) such a flagrant misunderstanding of the rudiments of Greek would almost surely mean that the author could not compose in Greek, yet the Apocalypse itself argues against this; (2) nowhere else does the Seer [i.e., John] use a nom. immediately after a preposition (in fact, he uses ἀπό 32 times with the gen. immediately following).” The passage appears to be an allusion to Exod 3:14 (in the LXX) where God refers to himself as “he who is” (ὁ ὤν), the same wording in Greek as here in Rev 1:4. Thus, it appears that John is wanting to leave the divine name untouched (perhaps to allude to God’s immutability, or as a pointer to the Old Testament as the key to unlocking the meaning of this book), irrespective of what it “looks” like grammatically. The translation has placed the “he who is” in quotation marks to indicate to the reader that the syntactical awkwardness is intentional. (For further comments, see ExSyn 63).

[1:4]  ⁵ tn BDAG 106 s.v. ἀπό 5.d states: “The expr. εἰρήνη ἀπὸ ‘ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος’ Rv 1:4 is quite extraordinary. It may be an interpretation of the name Yahweh already current, or an attempt to show reverence for the divine name by preserving it unchanged, or simply one more of the grammatical peculiarities so frequent in Rv.”

[1:5]  ⁶ tn Or “Jesus Christ – the faithful one, the witness…” Some take ὁ πιστός (Jo pistos) as a second substantive in relation to ὁ μάρτυς (Jo martus). In the present translation, however, ὁ πιστός was taken as an adjective in attributive position to ὁ μάρτυς. The idea of martyrdom and faithfulness are intimately connected. See BDAG 820 s.v. πιστός 1.a.α: “ὁ μάρτυς μου ὁ πιστός μου Rv 2:13 (μάρτυς 3); in this ‘book of martyrs’ Christ is ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστὸς (καὶ ὁ ἀληθινός) 1:5; 3:14; cp. 19:11 (the combination of ἀληθινός and πιστός in the last two passages is like 3 Macc 2:11). Cp. Rv 17:14.”

[1:5]  ⁷ sn The Greek term translated witness can mean both “witness” and “martyr.”

[1:5]  ⁸ tc The reading “set free” (λύσαντι, lusanti) has better ms support (̹⁸ א A C 1611 2050 2329 2351 Ï^A sy) than its rival, λούσαντι (lousanti, “washed”; found in P 1006 1841 1854 2053 2062 Ï^K lat bo). Internally, it seems that the reading “washed” could have arisen in at least one of three ways: (1) as an error of hearing (both “released” and “washed” are pronounced similarly in Greek); (2) an error of sight (both “released” and “washed” look very similar – a difference of only one letter – which could have resulted in a simple error during the copying of a ms); (3) through scribal inability to appreciate that the Hebrew preposition ב can be used with a noun to indicate the price paid for something. Since the author of Revelation is influenced significantly by a Semitic form of Greek (e.g., 13:10), and since the Hebrew preposition “in” (ב) can indicate the price paid for something, and is often translated with the preposition “in” (ἐν, en) in the LXX, the author may have tried to communicate by the use of ἐν the idea of a price paid for something. That is, John was trying to say that Christ delivered us at the price of his own blood. This whole process, however, may have been lost on a later scribe, who being unfamiliar with Hebrew, found the expression “delivered in his blood” too difficult, and noticing the obvious similarities between λύσαντι and λούσαντι, assumed an error and then proceeded to change the text to “washed in his blood” – a thought more tolerable in his mind. Both readings, of course, are true to scripture; the current question is what the author wrote in this verse.

[1:5]  ⁹ tn The style here is somewhat Semitic, with the use of the ἐν (en) + the dative to mean “at the price of.” The addition of “own” in the English is stylistic and is an attempt to bring out the personal nature of the statement and the sacrificial aspect of Jesus’ death – a frequent refrain in the Apocalypse.

[1:9]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn The phrase “about Jesus” has been translated as an objective genitive.

[2:18]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated due to differences between Greek and English style.

[2:18]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.

[2:18]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” See the note on the phrase “this is the solemn pronouncement of” in 2:1.

[2:18]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “a flame of fire.” The Greek term πυρός (puros) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[2:18]  ²⁰ tn The precise meaning of the term translated “polished bronze” (χαλκολιβάνῳ, calkolibanw), which appears no where else in Greek literature outside of the book of Revelation (see 1:15), is uncertain. Without question it is some sort of metal. BDAG 1076 s.v. χαλκολίβανον suggests “fine brass/bronze.” L&N 2.57 takes the word to refer to particularly valuable or fine bronze, but notes that the emphasis here and in Rev 1:15 is more on the lustrous quality of the metal.

[6:2]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of hearing the voice summon the first rider.

[6:2]  ²² tc The reading “and I looked” (καὶ εἶδον, kai eidon) or some slight variation (e.g., ἶδον, idon) has excellent ms support ({א A C P 1611}) and its omission seems to come through the mss that have already placed “and look” (καὶ ἴδε or καὶ βλέπε [kai ide or kai blepe]) after the verb “come” (ἔρχου, ercou) as mentioned in the text-critical note on 6:1. Thus, for these copyists it was redundant to add “and I looked” again.

[6:2]  ²³ tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[6:2]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:2]  ²⁵ tn Grk “the one sitting on it.”

[6:2]  ²⁶ sn See the note on the word crown in Rev 3:11.

[6:2]  ²⁷ tn The participle νικῶν (nikwn) has been translated as substantival, the subject of the verb ἐξῆλθεν (exhlqen). Otherwise, as an adverbial participle of manner, it is somewhat redundant: “he rode out conquering and to conquer.”

[6:5]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[6:5]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the summons by the third creature.

[6:5]  ²⁸ tc The reading “and I looked” (καὶ εἶδον, kai eidon) or some slight variation (e.g., ἶδον, idon) has excellent ms support ({א A C P 1611}) and its omission seems to have come through the mss that have already placed “and look” (καὶ ἴδε or καὶ βλέπε [kai ide or kai blepe]) after the verb “come” (ἔρχου, ercou) in 6:1. Thus, for these copyists it was redundant to add “and I looked” again.

[6:5]  ²⁹ tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[6:5]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:5]  ³¹ tn Grk “the one sitting on it.”

[6:5]  ³² sn A balance scale would have been a rod held by a rope in the middle with pans attached to both ends for measuring.

[11:2]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[11:2]  ³² tn On the term αὐλήν (aulhn) BDAG 150 s.v. αὐλή 1 states, “(outer) court of the temple…Rv 11:2.”

[11:2]  ³³ tn The precise meaning of the phrase ἔκβαλε ἔξωθεν (ekbale exwqen) is difficult to determine.

[11:2]  ³⁴ tn Or “to the nations” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[11:2]  ³⁵ sn The holy city appears to be a reference to Jerusalem. See also Luke 21:24.

[11:9]  ³⁶ tn The word “every” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the following list.

[11:9]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ tn Or “to be buried.”

[11:13]  ⁴¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:13]  ⁴² tn Grk “seven thousand names of men.”

[12:12]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ 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.

[13:12]  ⁵¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:12]  ⁵² tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:12]  ⁵³ tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”

[14:7]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “people, saying.” In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence. For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.

[14:9]  ⁶¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:9]  ⁶² tn Grk “And another angel, a third.”

[14:9]  ⁶³ tn Grk “followed them.”

[14:9]  ⁶⁴ tn For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.

[18:21]  ⁶⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[18:21]  ⁶⁷ tn On ὅρμημα ({ormhma) BDAG 724 s.v. states, “violent rush, onset ὁρμήματι βληθήσεται Βαβυλών Babylon will be thrown down with violence Rv 18:21.” L&N 68.82 refers to the suddenness of the force or violence.

[18:21]  ⁶⁸ sn Thrown down is a play on both the words and the action. The angel’s action with the stone illustrates the kind of sudden violent force with which the city will be overthrown.

[19:17]  ⁷¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:17]  ⁷² tn The precise significance of ἐν (en) here is difficult to determine.

[19:17]  ⁷³ tn On μεσουρανήματι (mesouranhmati) here see L&N 1.10: “high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.” The birds mentioned here are carrion birds like vultures, circling high overhead, and now being summoned to feast on the corpses.

[19:17]  ⁷⁴ tn This is the same Greek word (δεῖπνον, deipnon) used in 19:9.

[20:10]  ⁷⁶ tn Or “misled.”

[20:10]  ⁷⁷ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[20:10]  ⁷⁸ tn The verb in this clause is elided. In keeping with the previous past tenses some translations supply a past tense verb here (“were”), but in view of the future tense that follows (“they will be tormented”), a present tense verb was used to provide a transition from the previous past tense to the future tense that follows.

[21:16]  ⁸¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the somewhat parenthetical nature of the description of the city.

[21:16]  ⁸² tn Or “the city lies square.” On κεῖμαι (keimai) in this context, BDAG 537 s.v. 2 states, “lie, of things…ἡ πόλις τετράγωνος κεῖται is laid out as a square Rv 21:16.”

[21:16]  ⁸³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:16]  ⁸⁴ tn Grk “with the rod”; the word “measuring” is supplied from the description in v. 15.

[21:16]  ⁸⁵ tn Or “two thousand two hundred kilometers,” Grk “12,000 stades.” A stade was a measure of length about 607 ft (185 m).

[22:18]  ⁸⁶ tn Grk “written.”