Revelation 14:3

14:3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No ¹  one was able to learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth.

Revelation 14:5-6

14:5 and no lie was found on their lips; ²  they ³  are blameless.

Three Angels and Three Messages

14:6 Then ⁴  I saw another ⁵  angel flying directly overhead, ⁶  and he had ⁷  an eternal gospel to proclaim ⁸  to those who live ⁹  on the earth – to every nation, tribe, ¹⁰  language, and people.

Revelation 14:20

14:20 Then ¹¹  the winepress was stomped ¹²  outside the city, and blood poured out of the winepress up to the height of horses’ bridles ¹³  for a distance of almost two hundred miles. ¹⁴ 

[14:3]  ¹ tn Grk “elders, and no one.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but because of the length and complexity of the sentence a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[14:5]  ² tn Grk “in their mouth was not found a lie.”

[14:5]  ³ tc Several mss (Ì⁴⁷ א 1 1006 1611 2351 Ï^K pc) have the conjunction “for” (γάρ, gar) here so that the phrase reads: “for they are blameless.” Other important mss (A C P 1854 2053 al lat) lack the word. The shorter reading is to be preferred since the scribes were more likely to make the connection explicit through the addition of “for” than they would have been to omit the conjunction. As it is, the passage without the conjunction makes good sense and evokes a very somber tone.

[14:6]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[14:6]  ⁴ tc Most mss (Ì47 א* Ï sa) lack ἄλλον (allon, “another”) here, but the support for it is stronger (Ì^115vid א² A C P 051 1006 1611 1841 2053 2329 al latt sy bo). The problem that its inclusion represents is that there is no reference to any other angel in the immediate context (the last mention was in 11:15). In this instance, the longer reading is harder. The word was probably intentionally omitted in order to resolve the tension; less likely, it might have been accidentally omitted since its spelling is similar to “angel” (ἄγγελος, angelos).

[14:6]  ⁵ tn L&N 1.10 states, “a point or region of the sky directly above the earth – ‘high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.’”

[14:6]  ⁶ tn Grk “having.”

[14:6]  ⁷ tn Or “an eternal gospel to announce as good news.”

[14:6]  ⁸ tn Grk “to those seated on the earth.”

[14:6]  ⁹ tn Grk “and tribe,” 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.

[14:20]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[14:20]  ⁵ sn The winepress was stomped. See Isa 63:3, where Messiah does this alone (usually several individuals would join in the process).

[14:20]  ⁶ tn L&N 6.7 states, “In Re 14:20 the reference to a bit and bridle is merely an indication of measurement, that is to say, the height of the bit and bridle from the ground, and one may reinterpret this measurement as ‘about a meter and a half’ or ‘about five feet.’”

[14:20]  ⁷ tn Grk “1,600 stades.” A stade was a measure of length about 607 ft (185 m). Thus the distance here would be 184 mi or 296 km.