Revelation 3:14

To the Church in Laodicea

3:14 “To ¹  the angel of the church in Laodicea write the following: ² 

“This is the solemn pronouncement of ³  the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator ⁴  of God’s creation:

Psalms 89:36-37

89:36 His dynasty will last forever. ⁵ 

His throne will endure before me, like the sun, ⁶ 

89:37 it will remain stable, like the moon, ⁷ 

his throne will endure like the skies.” ⁸  (Selah)

Isaiah 55:4

55:4 Look, I made him a witness to nations, ⁹ 

a ruler and commander of nations.”

John 3:11

3:11 I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁰  we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but ¹¹  you people ¹²  do not accept our testimony. ¹³ 

John 3:32

3:32 He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.

John 8:14-16

8:14 Jesus answered, ¹⁴  “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you people ¹⁵  do not know where I came from or where I am going. ¹⁶  8:15 You people ¹⁷  judge by outward appearances; ¹⁸  I do not judge anyone. ¹⁹  8:16 But if I judge, my evaluation is accurate, ²⁰  because I am not alone when I judge, ²¹  but I and the Father who sent me do so together. ²² 

John 18:37

18:37 Then Pilate said, ²³  “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world – to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to ²⁴  my voice.”

John 18:1

Betrayal and Arrest

18:1 When he had said these things, ²⁵  Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley. ²⁶  There was an orchard ²⁷  there, and he and his disciples went into it.

John 6:13

6:13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves ²⁸  left over by the people who had eaten.

John 6:1

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

6:1 After this ²⁹  Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias). ³⁰ 

John 5:7-10

5:7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, ³¹  I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get into the water, ³²  someone else ³³  goes down there ³⁴  before me.” 5:8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat ³⁵  and walk.” 5:9 Immediately the man was healed, ³⁶  and he picked up his mat ³⁷  and started walking. (Now that day was a Sabbath.) ³⁸ 

5:10 So the Jewish leaders ³⁹  said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and you are not permitted to carry your mat.” ⁴⁰ 

[3:14]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated due to differences between Greek and English style.

[3:14]  ² tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.

[3:14]  ³ tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” See the note on the phrase “this is the solemn pronouncement of” in 2:1.

[3:14]  ⁴ tn Or “the beginning of God’s creation”; or “the ruler of God’s creation.” From a linguistic standpoint all three meanings for ἀρχή (arch) are possible. The term is well attested in both LXX (Gen 40:13, 21; 41:13) and intertestamental Jewish literature (2 Macc 4:10, 50) as meaning “ruler, authority” (BDAG 138 s.v. 6). Some have connected this passage to Paul’s statements in Col 1:15, 18 which describe Christ as ἀρχή and πρωτότοκος (prwtotoko"; e.g., see R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 124) but the term ἀρχή has been understood as either “beginning” or “ruler” in that passage as well. The most compelling connection is to be found in the prologue to John’s Gospel (1:2-4) where the λόγος (logos) is said to be “in the beginning (ἀρχή) with God,” a temporal reference connected with creation, and then v. 3 states that “all things were made through him.” The connection with the original creation suggests the meaning “originator” for ἀρχή here. BDAG 138 s.v. 3 gives the meaning “the first cause” for the word in Rev 3:14, a term that is too philosophical for the general reader, so the translation “originator” was used instead. BDAG also notes, “but the mng. beginning = ‘first created’ is linguistically probable (s. above 1b and Job 40:19; also CBurney, Christ as the ᾿Αρχή of Creation: JTS 27, 1926, 160-77).” Such a meaning is unlikely here, however, since the connections described above are much more probable.

[89:36]  ⁵ tn Heb “his offspring forever will be.”

[89:36]  ⁶ tn Heb “and his throne like the sun before me.”

[89:37]  ⁷ tn Heb “like the moon it will be established forever.”

[89:37]  ⁸ tn Heb “and a witness in the sky, secure.” Scholars have offered a variety of opinions as to the identity of the “witness” referred to here, none of which is very convincing. It is preferable to join וְעֵד (vÿ’ed) to עוֹלָם (’olam) in the preceding line and translate the commonly attested phrase עוֹלָם וְעֵד (“forever”). In this case one may translate the second line, “[it] will be secure like the skies.” Another option (the one reflected in the present translation) is to take עד as a rare noun meaning “throne” or “dais.” This noun is attested in Ugaritic; see, for example, CTA 16 vi 22-23, where ksi (= כִּסֵּא, kisse’, “throne”) and ’d (= עד, “dais”) appear as synonyms in the poetic parallelism (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 91). Emending בַּשַּׁחַק (bashakhaq, “in the heavens”) to כַּשַׁחַק (kashakhaq, “like the heavens”) – bet/kaf (כ/ב) confusion is widely attested – one can then read “[his] throne like the heavens [is] firm/stable.” Verse 29 refers to the enduring nature of the heavens, while Job 37:18 speaks of God spreading out the heavens (שְׁחָקִים, shÿkhaqim) and compares their strength to a bronze mirror. Ps 89:29 uses the term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim, “skies”) which frequently appears in parallelism to שְׁחָקִים.

[55:4]  ⁹ sn Ideally the Davidic king was to testify to the nations of God’s greatness (cf. Pss 18:50 HT [18:49 ET]; 22:28 HT [22:27 ET]). See J. H. Eaton, Kingship in the Psalms (SBT), 182-84.

[3:11]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:11]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to show the contrast present in the context.

[3:11]  ¹² tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in the translation to indicate that the verb is second person plural (referring to more than Nicodemus alone).

[3:11]  ¹³ sn Note the remarkable similarity of Jesus’ testimony to the later testimony of the Apostle John himself in 1 John 1:2: “And we have seen and testify and report to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us.” This is only one example of how thoroughly the author’s own thoughts were saturated with the words of Jesus (and also how difficult it is to distinguish the words of Jesus from the words of the author in the Fourth Gospel).

[8:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Jesus answered and said to them.”

[8:14]  ¹⁵ tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to indicate that the pronoun (“you”) and verb (“do not know”) in Greek are plural.

[8:14]  ¹⁶ sn You people do not know where I came from or where I am going. The ignorance of the religious authorities regarding Jesus’ origin works on two levels at once: First, they thought Jesus came from Galilee (although he really came from Bethlehem in Judea) and second, they did not know that he came from heaven (from the Father), and this is where he would return. See further John 7:52.

[8:15]  ¹⁷ tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to indicate that the pronoun and verb (“judge”) in Greek are plural.

[8:15]  ¹⁸ tn Or “judge according to external things”; Grk “according to the flesh.” These translations are given by BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 5.

[8:15]  ¹⁹ sn What is the meaning of Jesus’ statement “I do not judge anyone”? It is clear that Jesus did judge (even in the next verse). The point is that he didn’t practice the same kind of judgment that the Pharisees did. Their kind of judgment was condemnatory. They tried to condemn people. Jesus did not come to judge the world, but to save it (3:17). Nevertheless, and not contradictory to this, the coming of Jesus did bring judgment, because it forced people to make a choice. Would they accept Jesus or reject him? Would they come to the light or shrink back into the darkness? As they responded, so were they judged – just as 3:19-21 previously stated. One’s response to Jesus determines one’s eternal destiny.

[8:16]  ²⁰ tn Grk “my judgment is true.”

[8:16]  ²¹ tn The phrase “when I judge” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the context.

[8:16]  ²² tn The phrase “do so together” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the context.

[18:37]  ²³ tn Grk “said to him.”

[18:37]  ²⁴ tn Or “obeys”; Grk “hears.”

[18:1]  ²⁵ sn When he had said these things appears to be a natural transition at the end of the Farewell Discourse (the farewell speech of Jesus to his disciples in John 13:31-17:26, including the final prayer in 17:1-26). The author states that Jesus went out with his disciples, a probable reference to their leaving the upper room where the meal and discourse described in chaps. 13-17 took place (although some have seen this only as a reference to their leaving the city, with the understanding that some of the Farewell Discourse, including the concluding prayer, was given en route, cf. 14:31). They crossed the Kidron Valley and came to a garden, or olive orchard, identified in Matt 26:36 and Mark 14:32 as Gethsemane. The name is not given in Luke’s or John’s Gospel, but the garden must have been located somewhere on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives.

[18:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the wadi of the Kidron,” or “the ravine of the Kidron” (a wadi is a stream that flows only during the rainy season and is dry during the dry season).

[18:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “a garden.”

[6:13]  ²⁸ sn Note that the fish mentioned previously (in John 6:9) are not emphasized here, only the five barley loaves. This is easy to understand, however, because the bread is of primary importance for the author in view of Jesus’ upcoming discourse on the Bread of Life.

[6:1]  ²⁹ tn Again, μετὰ ταῦτα (meta tauta) is a vague temporal reference. How Jesus got from Jerusalem to Galilee is not explained, which has led many scholars (e.g., Bernard, Bultmann, and Schnackenburg) to posit either editorial redaction or some sort of rearrangement or dislocation of material (such as reversing the order of chaps. 5 and 6, for example). Such a rearrangement of the material would give a simple and consistent connection of events, but in the absence of all external evidence it does not seem to be supportable. R. E. Brown (John [AB], 1:236) says that such an arrangement is attractive in some ways but not compelling, and that no rearrangement can solve all the geographical and chronological problems in John.

[6:1]  ³⁰ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. Only John in the New Testament refers to the Sea of Galilee by the name Sea of Tiberias (see also John 21:1), but this is correct local usage. In the mid-20’s Herod completed the building of the town of Tiberias on the southwestern shore of the lake; after this time the name came into use for the lake itself.

[5:7]  ³¹ tn Or “Lord.” The Greek κύριος (kurios) means both “Sir” and “Lord.” In this passage the paralytic who was healed by Jesus never acknowledges Jesus as Lord – he rather reports Jesus to the authorities.

[5:7]  ³² tn Grk “while I am going.”

[5:7]  ³³ tn Grk “another.”

[5:7]  ³⁴ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[5:8]  ³⁵ tn Or “pallet,” “mattress,” “cot,” or “stretcher.” Some of these items, however, are rather substantial (e.g., “mattress”) and would probably give the modern English reader a false impression.

[5:9]  ³⁶ tn Grk “became well.”

[5:9]  ³⁷ tn Or “pallet,” “mattress,” “cot,” or “stretcher.” See the note on “mat” in the previous verse.

[5:9]  ³⁸ tn Grk “Now it was Sabbath on that day.”

[5:10]  ³⁹ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. Here the author refers to the Jewish authorities or leaders in Jerusalem. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9).

[5:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “pallet,” “mattress,” “cot,” or “stretcher.” See the note on “mat” in v. 8.