Revelation 2:5

2:5 Therefore, remember from what high state ¹  you have fallen and repent! Do ²  the deeds you did at the first; ³  if not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place – that is, if you do not repent. ⁴ 

Revelation 2:9

2:9 ‘I know the distress you are suffering ⁵  and your poverty (but you are rich). I also know ⁶  the slander against you ⁷  by those who call themselves Jews and really are not, but are a synagogue ⁸  of Satan.

Revelation 2:14

2:14 But I have a few things against you: You have some people there who follow the teaching of Balaam, ⁹  who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block ¹⁰  before the people ¹¹  of Israel so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. ¹² 

Revelation 2:20

2:20 But I have this against you: You tolerate that ¹³  woman ¹⁴  Jezebel, ¹⁵  who calls herself a prophetess, and by her teaching deceives ¹⁶  my servants ¹⁷  to commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. ¹⁸ 

Revelation 4:11

4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

since you created all things,

and because of your will they existed and were created!” ¹⁹ 

Revelation 11:17

11:17 with these words: ²⁰ 

“We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, ²¹ 

the one who is and who was,

because you have taken your great power

and begun to reign. ²² 

Revelation 18:10

18:10 They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment, and will say,

“Woe, woe, O great city,

Babylon the powerful city!

For in a single hour your doom ²³  has come!”

[2:5]  ¹ tn Grk “from where,” but status is in view rather than physical position. On this term BDAG 838 s.v. πόθεν 1 states, “from what place? from where?…In imagery μνημόνευε πόθεν πέπτωκες remember from what (state) you have fallen Rv 2:5.”

[2:5]  ² tn Grk “and do” (a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text). For stylistic reasons in English a new sentence was started here in the translation. The repeated mention of repenting at the end of the verse suggests that the intervening material (“do the deeds you did at first”) specifies how the repentance is to be demonstrated.

[2:5]  ³ tn Or “you did formerly.”

[2:5]  ⁴ tn Although the final clause is somewhat awkward, it is typical of the style of Revelation.

[2:9]  ⁵ tn Or “know your suffering.” This could refer to suffering or distress caused by persecution (see L&N 22.2).

[2:9]  ⁶ tn Because of the length and complexity of this Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the phrase “I also know” to link this English sentence back to “I know” at the beginning of the verse.

[2:9]  ⁷ tn The words “against you” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[2:9]  ⁸ sn A synagogue was a place for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (e.g., Mt 4:23, Mk 1:21, Lk 4:15, Jn 6:59).

[2:14]  ⁹ sn See Num 22-24; 31:16.

[2:14]  ¹⁰ tn That is, a cause for sinning. An alternate translation is “who instructed Balak to cause the people of Israel to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols…”

[2:14]  ¹¹ tn Grk “sons,” but the expression υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραήλ (Juioi Israhl) is an idiom for the people of Israel as an ethnic entity (see L&N 11.58).

[2:14]  ¹² tn Due to the actual events in the OT (Num 22-24; 31:16), πορνεῦσαι (porneusai) is taken to mean “sexual immorality.” BDAG 854 s.v. πορνεύω 1 states, “engage in illicit sex, to fornicate, to whore…W. φαγεῖν εἰδωλόθυτα ‘eat meat offered to idols’ Rv 2:14, 20.”

[2:20]  ¹³ tn The Greek article has been translated here with demonstrative force.

[2:20]  ¹⁴ tc The ms evidence for γυναῖκα (gunaika, “woman”) alone includes {א C P 1611 2053 pc lat}. The ms evidence for the addition of “your” (σου, sou) includes A 1006 2351 Ï^K pc sy. With the pronoun, the text reads “your wife, Jezebel” instead of “that woman, Jezebel.” In Revelation, A C are the most important mss, along with א Ì⁴⁷ (which only reads in portions of chapters 9-17) 1006 1611 2053; in this instance, the external evidence slightly favors the shorter reading. But internally, it gains strength. The longer reading implies the idea that the angel in 2:18 is the bishop or leader of the church in Thyatira. The pronoun “your” (σου) is used four times in vv. 19-20 and may have been the cause for the scribe copying it again. Further, once the monarchical episcopate was in vogue (beginning in the 2nd century) scribes might have been prone to add “your” here.

[2:20]  ¹⁵ sn Jezebel was the name of King Ahab’s idolatrous and wicked queen in 1 Kgs 16:31; 18:1-5; 19:1-3; 21:5-24. It is probable that the individual named here was analogous to her prototype in idolatry and immoral behavior, since those are the items singled out for mention.

[2:20]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “teaches and deceives” (διδάσκει καὶ πλανᾷ, didaskei kai plana), a construction in which the first verb appears to specify the means by which the second is accomplished: “by her teaching, deceives…”

[2:20]  ¹⁷ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[2:20]  ¹⁸ sn To commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. Note the conclusions of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:29, which specifically prohibits Gentile Christians from engaging in these activities.

[4:11]  ¹⁷ tc The past tense of “they existed” (ἦσαν, hsan) and the order of the expression “they existed and were created” seems backwards both logically and chronologically. The text as it stands is the more difficult reading and seems to have given rise to codex A omitting the final “they were created,” 2329 replacing “they existed” (ἦσαν) with “have come into being” (ἐγένοντο, egeneto), and 046 adding οὐκ (ouk, “not”) before ἦσαν (“they did not exist, [but were created]”). Several mss (1854 2050 Ï^A sa) also attempt to alleviate the problem by replacing ἦσαν with “they are” (εἰσιν, eisin).

[11:17]  ²¹ tn Grk “saying.”

[11:17]  ²² 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.”

[11:17]  ²³ tn The aorist verb ἐβασίλευσας (ebasileusa") has been translated ingressively.

[18:10]  ²⁵ tn Or “judgment,” condemnation,” “punishment.” BDAG 569 s.v. κρίσις 1.a.β states, “The word oft. means judgment that goes against a person, condemnation, and the sentence that follows…ἡ κ. σου your judgment Rv 18:10.”