Revelation 13:7

13:7 The beast ¹  was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. ²  He was given ruling authority ³  over every tribe, people, ⁴  language, and nation,

Revelation 13:12

13:12 He ⁵  exercised all the ruling authority ⁶  of the first beast on his behalf, ⁷  and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed.

Revelation 5:6

5:6 Then ⁸  I saw standing in the middle of the throne ⁹  and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb that appeared to have been killed. ¹⁰  He had ¹¹  seven horns and seven eyes, which ¹²  are the seven ¹³  spirits of God ¹⁴  sent out into all the earth.

[13:7]  ¹ tn Grk “and it was given to him to go to war.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:7]  ² tc Many mss omit the phrase “it was given to make war with the saints and to overcome them” (Ì⁴⁷ A C 2053 Ï^A sa). It is, however, found in Ì^115vid א 051 1006 (1611) 1841 (1854) 2329 2344 2351 (Ï^K) lat sy^ph,(h) bo. Although the ms evidence is somewhat in favor of the shorter reading, the support of ̹¹⁵ (a recently-discovered ms) for the longer reading balances things out. Normally, the shorter reading should be given preference. However, in an instance in which homoioteleuton could play a role, caution must be exercised. In this passage, accidental omission is quite likely. That this could have happened seems apparent from the two occurrences of the identical phrase “and it was given to him” (καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ, kai edoqh autw) in v. 7. The scribe’s eye skipped over the first καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ and went to the second, hence creating an accidental omission of eleven words.

[13:7]  ³ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:7]  ⁴ tn Grk “and people,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here or before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[13:12]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:12]  ⁶ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:12]  ⁷ 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.”

[5:6]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[5:6]  ¹⁰ tn Perhaps, “in the middle of the throne area” (see L&N 83.10).

[5:6]  ¹¹ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.” The phrase behind this translation is ὡς ἐσφαγμένον (Jw" ejsfagmenon). The particle ὡς is used in Greek generally for comparison, and in Revelation it is used often to describe the appearance of what the author saw. This phrase does not imply that the Lamb “appeared to have been killed” but in reality was not, because the wider context of the NT shows that in fact the Lamb, i.e., Jesus, was killed. See 13:3 for the only other occurrence of this phrase in the NT.

[5:6]  ¹² tn Grk “killed, having.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “he.”

[5:6]  ¹³ sn The relative pronoun which is masculine, referring back to the eyes rather than to the horns.

[5:6]  ¹⁴ tc There is good ms evidence for the inclusion of “seven” (ἑπτά, Jepta; ̲⁴ א 2053 2351 Ï^K). There is equally good ms support for the omission of the term (A 1006 1611 Ï^A pc). It may have been accidentally added due to its repeated presence in the immediately preceding phrases, or it may have been intentionally added to maintain the symmetry of the phrases or more likely to harmonize the phrase with 1:4; 3:1; 4:5. Or it may have been accidentally deleted by way of homoioteleuton (τὰ ἑπτά, ta Jepta). A decision is difficult in this instance. NA²⁷ also does not find the problem easy to solve, placing the word in brackets to indicate doubts as to its authenticity.

[5:6]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on the phrase the seven spirits of God in Rev 4:5.