Revelation 5:6-8

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. 5:7 Then ⁸  he came and took the scroll ⁹  from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne, 5:8 and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground ¹⁰  before the Lamb. Each ¹¹  of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the saints). ¹² 

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.” ¹³ 

Daniel 7:13-14

7:13 I was watching in the night visions,

“And with ¹⁴  the clouds of the sky ¹⁵ 

one like a son of man ¹⁶  was approaching.

He went up to the Ancient of Days

and was escorted ¹⁷  before him.

7:14 To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty.

All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving ¹⁸  him.

His authority is eternal and will not pass away. ¹⁹ 

His kingdom will not be destroyed. ²⁰ 

Matthew 28:18

28:18 Then Jesus came up and said to them, ²¹  “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

John 5:22-23

5:22 Furthermore, the Father does not judge ²²  anyone, but has assigned ²³  all judgment to the Son, 5:23 so that all people ²⁴  will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Ephesians 1:20-23

1:20 This power ²⁵  he exercised ²⁶  in Christ when he raised him ²⁷  from the dead and seated him ²⁸  at his right hand in the heavenly realms ²⁹  1:21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 1:22 And God ³⁰  put ³¹  all things under Christ’s ³²  feet, ³³  and he gave him to the church as head over all things. ³⁴  1:23 Now the church is ³⁵  his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. ³⁶ 

Philippians 2:9-21

2:9 As a result God exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

2:10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow

– in heaven and on earth and under the earth –

2:11 and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord

to the glory of God the Father.

Lights in the World

2:12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, ³⁷  2:13 for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God. 2:14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 2:15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world ³⁸  2:16 by holding on to ³⁹  the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. 2:17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice together with all of you. 2:18 And in the same way you also should be glad and rejoice together with me.

Models for Ministry

2:19 Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be encouraged by hearing news about you. 2:20 For there is no one here like him who will readily demonstrate his deep concern for you. ⁴⁰  2:21 Others are busy with their own concerns, not those of Jesus Christ.

[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.

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:7]  ⁹ tn The words “the scroll” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:8]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

[5:8]  ¹¹ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[5:8]  ¹² sn This interpretive comment by the author forms a parenthesis in the narrative.

[7:17]  ¹³ sn An allusion to Isa 25:8.

[7:13]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX has ἐπί (epi, “upon”) here (cf. Matt 24:30; 26:64). Theodotion has μετά (meta, “with”) here (cf. Mark 14:62; Rev 1:7).

[7:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[7:13]  ¹⁶ sn This text is probably the main OT background for Jesus’ use of the term “son of man.” In both Jewish and Christian circles the reference in the book of Daniel has traditionally been understood to refer to an individual, usually in a messianic sense. Many modern scholars, however, understand the reference to have a corporate identity. In this view, the “son of man” is to be equated with the “holy ones” (vv. 18, 21, 22, 25) or the “people of the holy ones” (v. 27) and understood as a reference to the Jewish people. Others understand Daniel’s reference to be to the angel Michael.

[7:13]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “they brought him near.”

[7:14]  ¹⁸ tn Some take “serving” here in the sense of “worshiping.”

[7:14]  ¹⁹ tn Aram “is an eternal authority which will not pass away.”

[7:14]  ²⁰ tn Aram “is one which will not be destroyed.”

[28:18]  ²¹ tn Grk “coming, Jesus spoke to them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn, “saying”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[5:22]  ²² tn Or “condemn.”

[5:22]  ²³ tn Or “given,” or “handed over.”

[5:23]  ²⁴ tn Grk “all.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for stylistic reasons and for clarity (cf. KJV “all men”).

[1:20]  ²⁵ tn Grk “which” (v. 20 is a subordinate clause to v. 19).

[1:20]  ²⁶ tn The verb “exercised” (the aorist of ἐνεργέω, energew) has its nominal cognate in “exercise” in v. 19 (ἐνέργεια, energeia).

[1:20]  ²⁷ tn Or “This power he exercised in Christ by raising him”; Grk “raising him.” The adverbial participle ἐγείρας (egeiras) could be understood as temporal (“when he raised [him]”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “he exercised” earlier in the verse, or as means (“by raising [him]”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.

[1:20]  ²⁸ tc The majority of mss, especially the Western and Byzantine mss (D F G Ψ Ï b r Ambst), have the indicative ἐκάθισεν (ekaqisen, “he seated”) for καθίσας (kaqisa", “when he seated, by seating”). The indicative is thus coordinate with ἐνήργησεν (enhrghsen, “he exercised”) and provides an additional statement to “he exercised his power.” The participle (found in Ì^92vid א A B 0278 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 2464 al), on the other hand, is coordinate with ἐγείρας (egeiras) and as such provides evidence of God’s power: He exercised his power by raising Christ from the dead and by seating him at his right hand. As intriguing as the indicative reading is, it is most likely an intentional alteration of the original wording, accomplished by an early “Western” scribe, which made its way in the Byzantine text.

[1:20]  ²⁹ sn Eph 1:19-20. The point made in these verses is that the power required to live a life pleasing to God is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. For a similar thought, cf. John 15:1-11.

[1:22]  ³⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:22]  ³¹ tn Grk “subjected.”

[1:22]  ³² tn Grk “his”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:22]  ³³ sn An allusion to Ps 8:6.

[1:22]  ³⁴ tn Grk “and he gave him as head over all things to the church.”

[1:23]  ³⁵ tn Grk “which is.” The antecedent of “which” is easily lost in English, though in Greek it is quite clear. In the translation “church” is repeated to clarify the referent.

[1:23]  ³⁶ tn Or perhaps, “who is filled entirely.”

[2:12]  ³⁷ tn Grk “with fear and trembling.” The Greek words φόβος and τρόμος both imply fear in a negative sense (L&N 25.251 and 16.6 respectively) while the former can also refer to respect and awe for deity (L&N 53.59). Paul’s use of the terms in other contexts refers to “awe and reverence in the presence of God” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 284; see discussion on 282-84). The translation “awe and reverence” was chosen to portray the attitude the believer should have toward God as they consider their behavior in light of God working through Jesus Christ (2:6-11) and in the believer’s life (2:13) to accomplish their salvation.

[2:15]  ³⁸ tn Or “as stars in the universe.”

[2:16]  ³⁹ tn Or “holding out, holding forth.”

[2:20]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “For I have no one who is like-minded who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.”