Revelation 5:8

5:8 and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground ¹  before the Lamb. Each ²  of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the saints). ³ 

Revelation 15:2

15:2 Then ⁴  I saw something like a sea of glass ⁵  mixed with fire, and those who had conquered ⁶  the beast and his image and the number of his name. They were standing ⁷  by ⁸  the sea of glass, holding harps given to them by God. ⁹ 

Revelation 18:22

18:22 And the sound of the harpists, musicians,

flute players, and trumpeters

will never be heard in you ¹⁰  again.

No ¹¹  craftsman ¹²  who practices any trade

will ever be found in you again;

the noise of a mill ¹³  will never be heard in you again.

Revelation 18:2

18:2 He ¹⁴  shouted with a powerful voice:

“Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great!

She ¹⁵  has become a lair for demons,

a haunt ¹⁶  for every unclean spirit,

a haunt for every unclean bird,

a haunt for every unclean and detested beast. ¹⁷ 

Revelation 6:5

6:5 Then ¹⁸  when the Lamb opened the third seal I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” So ¹⁹  I looked, ²⁰  and here came ²¹  a black horse! The ²²  one who rode it ²³  had a balance scale ²⁴  in his hand.

Revelation 6:1

The Seven Seals

6:1 I looked on when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a thunderous voice, ²⁵  “Come!” ²⁶ 

Revelation 1:1-7

The Prologue

1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, ²⁷  which God gave him to show his servants ²⁸  what must happen very soon. ²⁹  He made it clear ³⁰  by sending his angel to his servant ³¹  John, 1:2 who then ³²  testified to everything that he saw concerning the word of God and the testimony about ³³  Jesus Christ. 1:3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this ³⁴  prophecy aloud, ³⁵  and blessed are ³⁶  those who hear and obey ³⁷  the things written in it, because the time is near! ³⁸ 

1:4 From John, ³⁹  to the seven churches that are in the province of Asia: ⁴⁰  Grace and peace to you ⁴¹  from “he who is,” ⁴²  and who was, and who is still to come, ⁴³  and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 1:5 and from Jesus Christ – the faithful ⁴⁴  witness, ⁴⁵  the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free ⁴⁶  from our sins at the cost of ⁴⁷  his own blood 1:6 and has appointed ⁴⁸  us as a kingdom, ⁴⁹  as priests ⁵⁰  serving his God and Father – to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! ⁵¹  Amen.

1:7 (Look! He is returning with the clouds, ⁵² 

and every eye will see him,

even ⁵³  those who pierced him, ⁵⁴ 

and all the tribes ⁵⁵  on the earth will mourn because ⁵⁶  of him.

This will certainly come to pass! ⁵⁷  Amen.) ⁵⁸ 

Psalms 33:2

33:2 Give thanks to the Lord with the harp!

Sing to him to the accompaniment of a ten-stringed instrument!

Psalms 43:4

43:4 Then I will go ⁵⁹  to the altar of God,

to the God who gives me ecstatic joy, ⁶⁰ 

so that I express my thanks to you, ⁶¹  O God, my God, with a harp.

Psalms 57:8

57:8 Awake, my soul! ⁶² 

Awake, O stringed instrument and harp!

I will wake up at dawn! ⁶³ 

Psalms 92:3

92:3 to the accompaniment of a ten-stringed instrument and a lyre,

to the accompaniment of the meditative tone of the harp.

Psalms 98:5

98:5 Sing to the Lord accompanied by a harp,

accompanied by a harp and the sound of music!

Psalms 147:7

147:7 Offer to the Lord a song of thanks! ⁶⁴ 

Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp!

Psalms 149:3

149:3 Let them praise his name with dancing!

Let them sing praises to him to the accompaniment of the tambourine and harp!

Psalms 150:3-6

150:3 Praise him with the blast of the horn!

Praise him with the lyre and the harp!

150:4 Praise him with the tambourine and with dancing!

Praise him with stringed instruments and the flute!

150:5 Praise him with loud cymbals!

Praise him with clanging cymbals!

150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

[5:8]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[5:8]  ³ sn This interpretive comment by the author forms a parenthesis in the narrative.

[15:2]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[15:2]  ⁵ sn See Rev 4:6 where the sea of glass was mentioned previously.

[15:2]  ⁶ tn Or “had been victorious over”; traditionally, “had overcome.”

[15:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “of his name, standing.” A new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the words “They were.”

[15:2]  ⁸ tn Or “on.” The preposition ἐπί (epi) with the accusative case could mean “on, at, by, near”; given the nature of this scene appearing in a vision, it is difficult to know precisely which the author of Revelation intended. See BDAG 363 s.v. ἐπί 1.c.γ, “At, by, near someone or someth.”

[15:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “harps of God.” The phrase τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) has been translated as a genitive of agency.

[18:22]  ¹⁰ tn The shift to a second person pronoun here corresponds to the Greek text.

[18:22]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:22]  ¹² tn On this term BDAG 1001 s.v. τεχνίτης states, “craftsperson, artisan, designer…Of a silversmith Ac 19:24, 25 v.l., 38….Of a potter 2 Cl 8:2 (metaph., cp. Ath. 15:2). πᾶς τεχνίτης πάσης τέχνης Rv 18:22.”

[18:22]  ¹³ tn This is a different Greek word (μύλος, mulos) from the one for the millstone in v. 21 (μύλινος, mulinos). See L&N 7.68.

[18:2]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style

[18:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “It” (the subject is embedded in the verb in Greek; the verb only indicates that it is third person). Since the city has been personified as the great prostitute, the feminine pronoun was used in the translation.

[18:2]  ¹⁶ tn Here BDAG 1067 s.v. φυλακή 3 states, “a place where guarding is done, prison…Of the nether world or its place of punishment (πνεῦμα 2 and 4c) 1 Pt 3:19 (BReicke, The Disobedient Spirits and Christian Baptism ’46, 116f). It is in a φ. in the latter sense that Satan will be rendered harmless during the millennium Rv 20:7. The fallen city of Babylon becomes a φυλακή haunt for all kinds of unclean spirits and birds 18:2ab.”

[18:2]  ¹⁷ tc There are several problems in this verse. It seems that according to the ms evidence the first two phrases (i.e., “and a haunt for every unclean spirit, and a haunt for every unclean bird” [καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς πνεύματος ἀκαθάρτου καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς ὀρνέου ἀκαθάρτου, kai fulakh panto" pneumato" akaqartou kai fulakh panto" orneou akaqartou]) are to be regarded as authentic, though there are some ms discrepancies. The similar beginnings (καὶ φυλακὴ παντός) and endings (ἀκαθάρτου) of each phrase would easily account for some mss omitting one or the other phrase. The third phrase (“a haunt for every unclean animal” [καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς θηρίου ἀκαθάρτου, kai fulakh panto" qhriou akaqartou]), however, is more problematic since it is missing in several important mss (א C 051 Ï). The passage as a whole, including the third phrase, seems to be an allusion to Isa 13:21 and 34:11. It seems reasonable, in such a case, to assume that since there is good ms evidence to support the third phrase (A 1611 2329 al), it probably dropped out of certain mss because of its similarity to the two preceding clauses. It is the presence of all three phrases in the original that most likely gave rise to the divergent ms evidence extant today.

[6:5]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[6:5]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the summons by the third creature.

[6:5]  ²⁰ tc The reading “and I looked” (καὶ εἶδον, kai eidon) or some slight variation (e.g., ἶδον, idon) has excellent ms support ({א A C P 1611}) and its omission seems to have come through the mss that have already placed “and look” (καὶ ἴδε or καὶ βλέπε [kai ide or kai blepe]) after the verb “come” (ἔρχου, ercou) in 6:1. Thus, for these copyists it was redundant to add “and I looked” again.

[6:5]  ²¹ tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[6:5]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:5]  ²³ tn Grk “the one sitting on it.”

[6:5]  ²⁴ sn A balance scale would have been a rod held by a rope in the middle with pans attached to both ends for measuring.

[6:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “saying like a voice [or sound] of thunder.”

[6:1]  ²⁶ tc The addition of “and see” (καὶ ἴδε or καὶ βλέπε [kai ide or kai blepe]) to “come” (ἔρχου, ercou) in 6:1, 3-5, 7 is a gloss directed to John, i.e., “come and look at the seals and the horsemen!” But the command ἔρχου is better interpreted as directed to each of the horsemen. The shorter reading also has the support of the better witnesses.

[1:1]  ²⁷ tn The phrase ἀποκάλυψις ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (ajpokaluyi" Ihsou Cristou, “the revelation of Jesus Christ”) could be interpreted as either an objective genitive (“the revelation about Jesus Christ”), subjective genitive (“the revelation from Jesus Christ”), or both (M. Zerwick’s “general” genitive [Biblical Greek, §§36-39]; D. B. Wallace’s “plenary” genitive [ExSyn 119-21]). In 1:1 and 22:16 it is clear that Jesus has sent his angel to proclaim the message to John; thus the message is from Christ, and this would be a subjective genitive. On a broader scale, though, the revelation is about Christ, so this would be an objective genitive. One important point to note is that the phrase under consideration is best regarded as the title of the book and therefore refers to the whole of the work in all its aspects. This fact favors considering this as a plenary genitive.

[1:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “slaves.” Although this translation frequently renders δοῦλος (doulos) as “slave,” the connotation is often of one who has sold himself into slavery; in a spiritual sense, the idea is that of becoming a slave of God or of Jesus Christ voluntarily. The voluntary notion is not conspicuous here; hence, the translation “servants.” In any case, the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ²⁹ tn BDAG 992-93 s.v. τάχος has “quickly, at once, without delay Ac 10:33 D; 12:7; 17:15 D; 22:18; 1 Cl 48:1; 63:4…soon, in a short time…Rv 1:1; 22:6…shortly Ac 25:4.”

[1:1]  ³⁰ tn Or “He indicated it clearly” (L&N 33.153).

[1:1]  ³¹ tn See the note on the word “servants” earlier in this verse.

[1:2]  ³² tn “Then” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to make the chronological succession clear in the translation.

[1:2]  ³³ tn The genitive phrase “about Jesus Christ” is taken as an objective genitive.

[1:3]  ³⁴ tn The word “this” is used to translate the Greek article τῆς (ths), bringing out its demonstrative force.

[1:3]  ³⁵ tn The word “aloud” has been supplied to indicate that in the original historical setting reading would usually refer to reading out loud in public rather than silently to oneself.

[1:3]  ³⁶ tn The words “blessed are” are repeated from the beginning of this verse for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[1:3]  ³⁷ tn Grk “keep.” L&N 36.19 has “to continue to obey orders or commandments – ‘to obey, to keep commandments, obedience.’”

[1:3]  ³⁸ sn The time refers to the time when the things prophesied would happen.

[1:4]  ³⁹ tn Grk “John.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[1:4]  ⁴¹ tn It is probable that the ὑμῖν (Jumin) applies to both elements of the greeting, i.e., to both grace and peace.

[1:4]  ⁴² tc The earliest and best mss (Ì^18vid א A C P 2050 al lat sy co) lack the term “God” (θεοῦ, qeou) between “from” (ἀπό, apo) and “he who is” (ὁ ὤν, Jo wn). Its inclusion, as supported by the bulk of the Byzantine witnesses, is clearly secondary and a scribal attempt to achieve two things: (1) to make explicit the referent in the passage, namely, God, and (2) to smooth out the grammar. The preposition “from” in Greek required a noun in the genitive case. But here in Rev 1:4 the words following the preposition “from” (ἀπό) are in another case, i.e., the nominative. There are two principal ways in which to deal with this grammatical anomaly. First, it could be a mistake arising from someone who just did not know Greek very well, or as a Jew, was heavily influenced by a Semitic form of Greek. Both of these unintentional errors are unlikely here. Commenting on this ExSyn 63 argues: “Either of these is doubtful here because (1) such a flagrant misunderstanding of the rudiments of Greek would almost surely mean that the author could not compose in Greek, yet the Apocalypse itself argues against this; (2) nowhere else does the Seer [i.e., John] use a nom. immediately after a preposition (in fact, he uses ἀπό 32 times with the gen. immediately following).” The passage appears to be an allusion to Exod 3:14 (in the LXX) where God refers to himself as “he who is” (ὁ ὤν), the same wording in Greek as here in Rev 1:4. Thus, it appears that John is wanting to leave the divine name untouched (perhaps to allude to God’s immutability, or as a pointer to the Old Testament as the key to unlocking the meaning of this book), irrespective of what it “looks” like grammatically. The translation has placed the “he who is” in quotation marks to indicate to the reader that the syntactical awkwardness is intentional. (For further comments, see ExSyn 63).

[1:4]  ⁴³ tn BDAG 106 s.v. ἀπό 5.d states: “The expr. εἰρήνη ἀπὸ ‘ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος’ Rv 1:4 is quite extraordinary. It may be an interpretation of the name Yahweh already current, or an attempt to show reverence for the divine name by preserving it unchanged, or simply one more of the grammatical peculiarities so frequent in Rv.”

[1:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “Jesus Christ – the faithful one, the witness…” Some take ὁ πιστός (Jo pistos) as a second substantive in relation to ὁ μάρτυς (Jo martus). In the present translation, however, ὁ πιστός was taken as an adjective in attributive position to ὁ μάρτυς. The idea of martyrdom and faithfulness are intimately connected. See BDAG 820 s.v. πιστός 1.a.α: “ὁ μάρτυς μου ὁ πιστός μου Rv 2:13 (μάρτυς 3); in this ‘book of martyrs’ Christ is ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστὸς (καὶ ὁ ἀληθινός) 1:5; 3:14; cp. 19:11 (the combination of ἀληθινός and πιστός in the last two passages is like 3 Macc 2:11). Cp. Rv 17:14.”

[1:5]  ⁴⁵ sn The Greek term translated witness can mean both “witness” and “martyr.”

[1:5]  ⁴⁶ tc The reading “set free” (λύσαντι, lusanti) has better ms support (̹⁸ א A C 1611 2050 2329 2351 Ï^A sy) than its rival, λούσαντι (lousanti, “washed”; found in P 1006 1841 1854 2053 2062 Ï^K lat bo). Internally, it seems that the reading “washed” could have arisen in at least one of three ways: (1) as an error of hearing (both “released” and “washed” are pronounced similarly in Greek); (2) an error of sight (both “released” and “washed” look very similar – a difference of only one letter – which could have resulted in a simple error during the copying of a ms); (3) through scribal inability to appreciate that the Hebrew preposition ב can be used with a noun to indicate the price paid for something. Since the author of Revelation is influenced significantly by a Semitic form of Greek (e.g., 13:10), and since the Hebrew preposition “in” (ב) can indicate the price paid for something, and is often translated with the preposition “in” (ἐν, en) in the LXX, the author may have tried to communicate by the use of ἐν the idea of a price paid for something. That is, John was trying to say that Christ delivered us at the price of his own blood. This whole process, however, may have been lost on a later scribe, who being unfamiliar with Hebrew, found the expression “delivered in his blood” too difficult, and noticing the obvious similarities between λύσαντι and λούσαντι, assumed an error and then proceeded to change the text to “washed in his blood” – a thought more tolerable in his mind. Both readings, of course, are true to scripture; the current question is what the author wrote in this verse.

[1:5]  ⁴⁷ tn The style here is somewhat Semitic, with the use of the ἐν (en) + the dative to mean “at the price of.” The addition of “own” in the English is stylistic and is an attempt to bring out the personal nature of the statement and the sacrificial aspect of Jesus’ death – a frequent refrain in the Apocalypse.

[1:6]  ⁴⁸ tn The verb ποιέω (poiew) can indicate appointment or assignment rather than simply “make” or “do.” See Mark 3:14 (L&N 37.106).

[1:6]  ⁴⁹ tn See BDAG 168 s.v. βασιλεία 1.a for the idea of “he made us a kingdom,” which was translated as “he appointed us (to be or function) as a kingdom” (see the note on the word “appointed” earlier in the verse).

[1:6]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “a kingdom, priests.” The term ἱερεῖς (Jiereis) is either in apposition to βασιλείαν (basileian) or as a second complement to the object “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas). The translation retains this ambiguity.

[1:6]  ⁵¹ tc Both the longer reading τῶν αἰώνων (twn aiwnwn, “to the ages of the ages” or, more idiomatically, “for ever and ever”; found in א C Ï) and the shorter (“for ever”; found in ̹⁸ A P 2050 pc bo) have good ms support. The author uses the longer expression (εἰς [τοὺς] αἰῶνας [τῶν] αἰώνων, ei" [tou"] aiwna" [twn] aiwnwn) in every other instance of αἰών in Revelation, twelve passages in all (1:18; 4:9, 10; 5:13; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 14:11; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5). Thus, on the one hand, the style of the author is consistent, while on the other hand, the scribes may have been familiar with such a stylistic feature, causing them to add the words here. The issues are more complex than can be presented here; the longer reading, however, is probably original (the shorter reading arising from accidental omission of the genitive phrase due to similarity with the preceding words).

[1:7]  ⁵² sn An allusion to Dan 7:13.

[1:7]  ⁵³ tn Here καί (kai) was translated as ascensive.

[1:7]  ⁵⁴ sn An allusion to Zech 12:10.

[1:7]  ⁵⁵ tn In this context, tribes (φυλαί, fulai) could also be translated as “nations” or “peoples” (L&N 11.56).

[1:7]  ⁵⁶ tn The conjunction ἐπί (epi) is most likely causal here. The people who crucified him are those of every tribe on the earth and they will mourn because he comes as judge.

[1:7]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “Yes, Amen.” The expression “This will certainly come to pass” is an attempt to capture the force of the juxtaposition of the Greek ναί (nai) and the Hebrew ἀμήν (amhn). See L&N 69.1.

[1:7]  ⁵⁸ sn These lines are placed in parentheses because they form an aside to the main argument.

[43:4]  ⁵⁹ tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”

[43:4]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[43:4]  ⁶¹ tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.

[57:8]  ⁶² tn Heb “glory,” but that makes little sense in the context. Some view כָּבוֹד (kavod, “glory”) here as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvediy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 16:9; 30:12; 108:1, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:90. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.”

[57:8]  ⁶³ tn BDB 1007 s.v. שַׁחַר takes “dawn” as an adverbial accusative, though others understand it as a personified direct object. “Dawn” is used metaphorically for the time of deliverance and vindication the psalmist anticipates. When salvation “dawns,” the psalmist will “wake up” in praise.

[147:7]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “sing to the Lord with thanksgiving.”