Revelation 12:10

12:10 Then ¹  I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,

“The salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God,

and the ruling authority ²  of his Christ, ³  have now come,

because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, ⁴ 

the one who accuses them day and night ⁵  before our God,

has been thrown down.

Revelation 15:3

15:3 They ⁶  sang the song of Moses the servant ⁷  of God and the song of the Lamb: ⁸ 

“Great and astounding are your deeds,

Lord God, the All-Powerful! ⁹ 

Just ¹⁰  and true are your ways,

King over the nations! ¹¹ 

[12:10]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:10]  ² tn Or “the right of his Messiah to rule.” See L&N 37.35.

[12:10]  ³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[12:10]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or “who accuses them continually.”

[15:3]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[15:3]  ⁷ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[15:3]  ⁸ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:3]  ⁹ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

[15:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

[15:3]  ¹¹ tc Certain mss (Ì⁴⁷ א*^,2 C 1006 1611 1841 pc) read “ages” (αἰώνων, aiwnwn) instead of “nations” (ἐθνῶν, eqnwn), which itself is supported by several mss (א¹ A 051 Ï). The ms evidence seems to be fairly balanced, though αἰώνων has somewhat better support. The replacement of “ages” with “nations” is possibly a scribal attempt to harmonize this verse with the use of “nations” in the following verse. On the other hand, the idea of “nations” fits well with v. 4 and it may be that “ages” is a scribal attempt to assimilate this text to 1 Tim 1:17: “the king of the ages” (βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων, basileu" twn aiwnwn). The decision is a difficult one since both scenarios deal well with the evidence, though the verbal parallel with 1 Tim 1:17 is exact while the parallel with v. 4 is not. The term “king” occurs 17 other times (most occurrences refer to earthly kings) in Revelation and it is not used with either “ages” or “nations” apart from this verse. Probably the reading “nations” should be considered original due to the influence of 1 Tim 1:17.