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, ¹  “Come!” ² 

Revelation 7:4

7:4 Now ³  I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, ⁴  one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all ⁵  the tribes of the people of Israel: ⁶ 

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

[6:1]  ² 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.

[7:4]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of new but related material.

[7:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “who were sealed.”

[7:4]  ⁵ tn Normally, “every,” but since 144,000 is the total number, “all” is clearer here.

[7:4]  ⁶ tn Grk “the sons of Israel,” normally an idiom for the Israelites as an ethnic entity (L&N 11.58). However, many scholars understand the expression in this context to refer to Christians rather than ethnic Israelites.