Revelation 5:1

The Opening of the Scroll

5:1 Then ¹  I saw in the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne a scroll written on the front and back ²  and sealed with seven seals. ³ 

Revelation 5:9

5:9 They were singing a new song: ⁴ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ⁵ 

and at the cost of your own blood ⁶  you have purchased ⁷  for God

persons ⁸  from every tribe, language, ⁹  people, and nation.

[5:1]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[5:1]  ² tn Grk “written on the inside and the outside” (an idiom for having writing on both sides).

[5:1]  ³ tn L&N 6.55 states, “From the immediate context of Re 5:1 it is not possible to determine whether the scroll in question had seven seals on the outside or whether the scroll was sealed at seven different points. However, since according to chapter six of Revelation the seals were broken one after another, it would appear as though the scroll had been sealed at seven different places as it had been rolled up.”

[5:9]  ⁴ tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

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

[5:9]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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.