Revelation 3:1

To the Church in Sardis

3:1 “To ¹  the angel of the church in Sardis write the following: ² 

“This is the solemn pronouncement of ³  the one who holds ⁴  the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a reputation ⁵  that you are alive, but ⁶  in reality ⁷  you are dead.

Revelation 4:8

4:8 Each one of the four living creatures had six wings ⁸  and was full of eyes all around and inside. ⁹  They never rest day or night, saying: ¹⁰ 

“Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God, the All-Powerful, ¹¹ 

Who was and who is, and who is still to come!”

Revelation 5:6

5:6 Then ¹²  I saw standing in the middle of the throne ¹³  and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb that appeared to have been killed. ¹⁴  He had ¹⁵  seven horns and seven eyes, which ¹⁶  are the seven ¹⁷  spirits of God ¹⁸  sent out into all the earth.

Revelation 5:9

5:9 They were singing a new song: ¹⁹ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ²⁰ 

and at the cost of your own blood ²¹  you have purchased ²²  for God

persons ²³  from every tribe, language, ²⁴  people, and nation.

[3:1]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated due to differences between Greek and English style.

[3:1]  ² tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.

[3:1]  ³ tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” See the note on the phrase “this is the solemn pronouncement of” in 2:1.

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “who has” (cf. 1:16).

[3:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “a name.”

[3:1]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[3:1]  ⁷ tn The prepositional phrase “in reality” is supplied in the translation to make explicit the idea that their being alive was only an illusion.

[4:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “six wings apiece,” but this is redundant with “each one” in English.

[4:8]  ⁹ tn Some translations render ἔσωθεν (eswqen) as “under [its] wings,” but the description could also mean “filled all around on the outside and on the inside with eyes.” Since the referent is not available to the interpreter, the exact force is difficult to determine.

[4:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “They never stop saying day and night.”

[4:8]  ¹¹ 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.”

[5:6]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[5:6]  ¹⁶ tn Perhaps, “in the middle of the throne area” (see L&N 83.10).

[5:6]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ sn The relative pronoun which is masculine, referring back to the eyes rather than to the horns.

[5:6]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ sn See the note on the phrase the seven spirits of God in Rev 4:5.

[5:9]  ²² tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

[5:9]  ²³ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:9]  ²⁴ tn The preposition ἐν (en) is taken to indicate price here, like the Hebrew preposition ב (bet) does at times. BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 5.b states, “The ἐν which takes the place of the gen. of price is also instrumental ἠγόρασας ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου Rv 5:9 (cp. 1 Ch 21:24 ἀγοράζω ἐν ἀργυρίῳ).”

[5:9]  ²⁵ tc The Greek text as it stands above (i.e., the reading τῷ θεῷ [tw qew] alone) is found in codex A. א 2050 2344 Ï sy add the term “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas), either before or after τῷ θεῷ, as an attempt to clarify the object of “purchased” (ἠγόρασας, hgorasa"). A few mss (1 vg^ms) delete the reference to God altogether and simply replace it with “us” (ἡμᾶς). This too is an attempt to remove ambiguity in the phrase and provide an object for “purchased.” The shorter reading, supported by the best witness for Revelation, best accounts for the other readings.

[5:9]  ²⁶ tn The word “persons” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:9]  ²⁷ tn Grk “and language,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.