Revelation 5:6

5:6 Then ¹  I saw standing in the middle of the throne ²  and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb that appeared to have been killed. ³  He had ⁴  seven horns and seven eyes, which ⁵  are the seven ⁶  spirits of God ⁷  sent out into all the earth.

Revelation 7:17

7:17 because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” ⁸ 

Ezekiel 1:4-5

1:4 As I watched, I noticed ⁹  a windstorm ¹⁰  coming from the north – an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, ¹¹  such that bright light ¹²  rimmed it and came from ¹³  it like glowing amber ¹⁴  from the middle of a fire. 1:5 In the fire ¹⁵  were what looked like ¹⁶  four living beings. ¹⁷  In their appearance they had human form, ¹⁸ 

[5:6]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[5:6]  ² tn Perhaps, “in the middle of the throne area” (see L&N 83.10).

[5:6]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ sn The relative pronoun which is masculine, referring back to the eyes rather than to the horns.

[5:6]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ sn See the note on the phrase the seven spirits of God in Rev 4:5.

[7:17]  ⁸ sn An allusion to Isa 25:8.

[1:4]  ⁹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[1:4]  ¹⁰ sn Storms are often associated with appearances of God (see Nah 1:3; Ps 18:12). In some passages, the “storm” (סְעָרָה, sÿ’arah) may be a whirlwind (Job 38:1, 2 Kgs 2:1).

[1:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fire taking hold of itself,” perhaps repeatedly. The phrase occurs elsewhere only in Exod 9:24 in association with a hailstorm. The LXX interprets the phrase as fire flashing like lightning, but it is possibly a self-sustaining blaze of divine origin. The LXX also reverses the order of the descriptors, i.e., “light went around it and fire flashed like lightning within it.”

[1:4]  ¹² tn Or “radiance.” The term also occurs in 1:27b.

[1:4]  ¹³ tc Or “was in it”; cf. LXX ἐν τῷ μέσῳ αὐτοῦ (en tw mesw autou, “in its midst”).

[1:4]  ¹⁴ tn The LXX translates חַשְׁמַל (khashmal) with the word ἤλεκτρον (hlektron, “electrum”; so NAB), an alloy of silver and gold, perhaps envisioning a comparison to the glow of molten metal.

[1:5]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “from its midst” (מִתּוֹכָהּ, mitokhah). The LXX reads ἐν τῷ μέσῳ (en tw mesw, “in the midst of it”). The LXX also reads ἐν for מִתּוֹךְ (mitokh) in v. 4. The translator of the LXX of Ezekiel either read בְּתוֹךְ (bÿtokh, “within”) in his Hebrew exemplar or could not imagine how מִתּוֹךְ could make sense and so chose to use ἐν. The Hebrew would be understood by adding “from its midst emerged the forms of four living beings.”

[1:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “form, figure, appearance.”

[1:5]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew term is feminine plural yet thirty-three of the forty-five pronominal suffixes and verbal references which refer to the living beings in the chapter are masculine plural. The grammatical vacillation between masculine and feminine plurals suggests the difficulty Ezekiel had in penning these words as he was overcome by the vision of God. In ancient Near Eastern sculpture very similar images of part-human, part-animal creatures serve as throne and sky bearers. For a discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:26-31. Ezekiel’s vision is an example of contextualization, where God accommodates his self-revelation to cultural expectations and norms.

[1:5]  ¹⁸ sn They had human form may mean they stood erect.