Revelation 1:5

1:5 and from Jesus Christ – the faithful ¹  witness, ²  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 ³  from our sins at the cost of ⁴  his own blood

Revelation 1:18

1:18 and the one who lives! I ⁵  was dead, but look, now I am alive – forever and ever – and I hold the keys of death and of Hades! ⁶ 

Revelation 3:5

3:5 The one who conquers ⁷  will be dressed like them ⁸  in white clothing, ⁹  and I will never ¹⁰  erase ¹¹  his name from the book of life, but ¹²  will declare ¹³  his name before my Father and before his angels.

Revelation 3:10

3:10 Because you have kept ¹⁴  my admonition ¹⁵  to endure steadfastly, ¹⁶  I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

Revelation 3:17

3:17 Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, ¹⁷  and need nothing,” but ¹⁸  do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, ¹⁹  poor, blind, and naked,

Revelation 17:7

17:7 But ²⁰  the angel said to me, “Why are you astounded? I will interpret ²¹  for you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with the seven heads and ten horns that carries her.

Revelation 18:7

18:7 As much as ²²  she exalted herself and lived in sensual luxury, ²³  to this extent give her torment and grief because she said to herself, ²⁴  ‘I rule as queen and am no widow; I will never experience grief!’

[1:5]  ¹ 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]  ² sn The Greek term translated witness can mean both “witness” and “martyr.”

[1:5]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[1:18]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:18]  ⁶ tn Concerning “Hades” BDAG 19 s.v. ᾅδης 1 and 2 states: “Orig. proper noun, god of the nether world, ‘Hades’, then the nether world, Hades as place of the dead, Ac 2:27, 31 (Ps 15:10; Eccl 9:10; PGM 1, 179; 16, 8; Philo, Mos. 1, 195; Jos., Bell. 1, 596, Ant. 6, 332). Of Jonah’s fish ἐκ τοῦ κατωτάτου ᾅδου. In the depths, contrasted w. heaven ἕως (τοῦ) ᾅδου Mt 11:23; Lk 10:15 (PsSol 15:10; cp.; Is 14:11, 15); ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ 16:23; ἐν ῝Αιδου ApcPt Rainer. Accessible by gates (but the pl. is also used [e.g. Hom., X., Ael. Aristid. 47, 20 K.=23 p. 450 D.] when only one gate is meant), hence πύλαι ᾅδου (Il. 5, 646; Is 38:10; Wsd 16:13; 3 Macc 5:51; Pss. Sol. 16:2. – Lucian, Menipp. 6 the magicians can open τοῦ ῝Αιδου τὰς πύλας and conduct people in and out safely) Mt 16:18…locked ἔχω τὰς κλεῖς τοῦ θανάτου καὶ τοῦ ᾅδου Rv 1:18 (the genitives are either obj. [Ps.-Apollod. 3, 12, 6, 10 Aeacus, the son of Zeus holds the κλεῖς τοῦ ῝Αιδου; SEG VIII, 574, 3 (III ad) τῷ τὰς κλεῖδας ἔχοντι τῶν καθ᾿ ῝Αιδου (restored)] or possess.; in the latter case death and Hades are personif.; s. 2)…Hades personif.…w. θάνατος (cp. Is 28:15; Job 38:17…) Rv 6:8; 20:13f.”

[3:5]  ⁹ tn Or “who overcomes.”

[3:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “thus.”

[3:5]  ¹¹ tn Or “white robes.”

[3:5]  ¹² tn The negation here is with οὐ μή (ou mh), the strongest possible form of negation in Koine Greek.

[3:5]  ¹³ tn Or “will never wipe out.”

[3:5]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[3:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “will confess.”

[3:10]  ¹³ tn Or “obey.” For the translation of τηρέω (threw) as “obey” see L&N 36.19. In the Greek there is a wordplay: “because you have kept my word…I will keep you,” though the meaning of τηρέω is different each time.

[3:10]  ¹⁴ tn The Greek term λόγον (logon) is understood here in the sense of admonition or encouragement.

[3:10]  ¹⁵ tn Or “to persevere.” Here ὑπομονῆς (Jupomonhs) has been translated as a genitive of reference/respect related to τὸν λόγον (ton logon).

[3:17]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “and have become rich.” The semantic domains of the two terms for wealth here, πλούσιος (plousios, adjective) and πλουτέω (ploutew, verb) overlap considerably, but are given slightly different English translations for stylistic reasons.

[3:17]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[3:17]  ¹⁹ tn All the terms in this series are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.

[17:7]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[17:7]  ²² 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.

[18:7]  ²⁵ tn “As much as” is the translation of ὅσα (Josa).

[18:7]  ²⁶ tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”

[18:7]  ²⁷ tn Grk “said in her heart,” an idiom for saying something to oneself.