Revelation 10:11

10:11 Then ¹  they ²  told me: “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, ³  languages, and kings.”

Revelation 1:1

The Prologue

1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, ⁴  which God gave him to show his servants ⁵  what must happen very soon. ⁶  He made it clear ⁷  by sending his angel to his servant ⁸  John,

Revelation 11:5

11:5 If ⁹  anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths ¹⁰  and completely consumes ¹¹  their enemies. If ¹²  anyone wants to harm them, they must be killed this way.

Revelation 13:10

13:10 If anyone is meant for captivity,

into captivity he will go.

If anyone is to be killed by the sword, ¹³ 

then by the sword he must be killed.

This ¹⁴  requires steadfast endurance ¹⁵  and faith from the saints.

Revelation 17:10

17:10 five have fallen; one is, ¹⁶  and the other has not yet come, but whenever he does come, he must remain for only a brief time.

Revelation 20:3

20:3 The angel ¹⁷  then ¹⁸  threw him into the abyss and locked ¹⁹  and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.)

Revelation 22:6

A Final Reminder

22:6 Then ²⁰  the angel ²¹  said to me, “These words are reliable ²²  and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants ²³  what must happen soon.”

Revelation 4:1

The Amazing Scene in Heaven

4:1 After these things I looked, and there was ²⁴  a door standing open in heaven! ²⁵  And the first voice I had heard speaking to me ²⁶  like a trumpet ²⁷  said: “Come up here so that ²⁸  I can show you what must happen after these things.”

[10:11]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[10:11]  ² tn The referent of “they” is not clear in the Greek text.

[10:11]  ³ tn Grk “and nations,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here or before the next item since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[1:1]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or “He indicated it clearly” (L&N 33.153).

[1:1]  ⁸ tn See the note on the word “servants” earlier in this verse.

[11:5]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:5]  ⁸ tn This is a collective singular in Greek.

[11:5]  ⁹ tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesqiw) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”

[11:5]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:10]  ¹⁰ tc Many mss (C 051* 2351 Ï^A pc) read “if anyone will kill with the sword, it is necessary for him to be killed with the sword” (εἴ τις ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτενεῖ, δεῖ αὐτὸν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι). Other mss (א 1006 1611* 1854 al) are similar except that they read a present tense “kills” (ἀποκτείνει, apokteinei) in this sentence. Both of these variants may be regarded as essentially saying the same thing. On the other hand, codex A reads “if anyone is to be killed by the sword, he is to be killed by the sword” (εἴ τις ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι). Thus the first two variants convey the idea of retribution, while the last variant, supported by codex A, does not. (There are actually a dozen variants here, evidence that scribes found the original text quite difficult. Only the most important variants are discussed in this note.) The first two variants seem to be in line with Jesus’ comments in Matt 26:52: “everyone who takes up the sword will die by the sword.” The last variant, however, seems to be taking up an idea found in Jer 15:2: “Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.” Though G. B. Caird, Revelation (HNTC), 169-70, gives four arguments in favor of the first reading (i.e., “whoever kills with the sword must with the sword be killed”), the arguments he puts forward can be read equally as well to support the latter alternative. In the end, the reading in codex A seems to be original. The fact that this sentence seems to be in parallel with 10a (which simply focuses on God’s will and suffering passively and is therefore akin to the reading in codex A), and that it most likely gave rise to the others as the most difficult reading, argues for its authenticity.

[13:10]  ¹¹ tn On ὧδε (Jwde) here, BDAG 1101 s.v. 2 states: “a ref. to a present event, object, or circumstance, in this case, at this point, on this occasion, under these circumstances…in this case moreover 1 Cor 4:2. ὧδε ἡ σοφία ἐστίν…Rv 13:18; cf. 17:9. ὧδέ ἐστιν ἡ ὑπομονή…13:10; 14:12.”

[13:10]  ¹² tn Or “perseverance.”

[17:10]  ¹³ tn That is, one currently reigns.

[20:3]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel introduced in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:3]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[20:3]  ¹⁸ tn Or “and shut.” While the lexical force of the term is closer to “shut,” it is acceptable to render the verb ἔκλεισεν (ekleisen) as “locked” here in view of the mention of the key in the previous verse.

[22:6]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[22:6]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel mentioned in 21:9, 15; 22:1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:6]  ²¹ tn Grk “faithful.”

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

[4:1]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Or “in the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

[4:1]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ sn The phrase speaking to me like a trumpet refers back to Rev 1:10.

[4:1]  ²⁶ 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.