Revelation 7:10-14

7:10 They were shouting out in a loud voice,

“Salvation belongs to our God, ¹ 

to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

7:11 And all the angels stood ²  there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground ³  before the throne and worshiped God, 7:12 saying,

“Amen! Praise and glory,

and wisdom and thanksgiving,

and honor and power and strength

be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

7:13 Then ⁴  one of the elders asked ⁵  me, “These dressed in long white robes – who are they and where have they come from?” 7:14 So ⁶  I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.” ⁷  Then ⁸  he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They ⁹  have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb!

Revelation 14:1-4

An Interlude: The Song of the 144,000

14:1 Then ¹⁰  I looked, and here was ¹¹  the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 14:2 I also heard a sound ¹²  coming out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. Now ¹³  the sound I heard was like that made by harpists playing their harps, 14:3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No ¹⁴  one was able to learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth.

14:4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves ¹⁵  with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,

Revelation 15:3

15:3 They ¹⁶  sang the song of Moses the servant ¹⁷  of God and the song of the Lamb: ¹⁸ 

“Great and astounding are your deeds,

Lord God, the All-Powerful! ¹⁹ 

Just ²⁰  and true are your ways,

King over the nations! ²¹ 

[7:10]  ¹ tn The dative here has been translated as a dative of possession.

[7:11]  ² tn The verb is pluperfect, but the force is simple past. See ExSyn 586.

[7:11]  ³ tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” 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.”

[7:13]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[7:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “spoke” or “declared to,” but in the context “asked” reads more naturally in English.

[7:14]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous question.

[7:14]  ⁷ tn Though the expression “the answer” is not in the Greek text, it is clearly implied. Direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context.

[7:14]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[7:14]  ⁹ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:1]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[14:1]  ¹¹ tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[14:2]  ¹² tn Or “a voice” (cf. Rev 1:15), but since in this context nothing is mentioned as the content of the voice, it is preferable to translate φωνή (fwnh) as “sound” here.

[14:2]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of a new topic.

[14:3]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “elders, and no one.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but because of the length and complexity of the sentence a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[14:4]  ¹⁵ tn The aorist passive verb is rendered as a reflexive (“defiled themselves”) by BDAG 657 s.v. μολύνω 2.

[15:3]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[15:3]  ¹⁷ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[15:3]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:3]  ¹⁹ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

[15:3]  ²⁰ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

[15:3]  ²¹ tc Certain mss (Ì⁴⁷ א*^,2 C 1006 1611 1841 pc) read “ages” (αἰώνων, aiwnwn) instead of “nations” (ἐθνῶν, eqnwn), which itself is supported by several mss (א¹ A 051 Ï). The ms evidence seems to be fairly balanced, though αἰώνων has somewhat better support. The replacement of “ages” with “nations” is possibly a scribal attempt to harmonize this verse with the use of “nations” in the following verse. On the other hand, the idea of “nations” fits well with v. 4 and it may be that “ages” is a scribal attempt to assimilate this text to 1 Tim 1:17: “the king of the ages” (βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων, basileu" twn aiwnwn). The decision is a difficult one since both scenarios deal well with the evidence, though the verbal parallel with 1 Tim 1:17 is exact while the parallel with v. 4 is not. The term “king” occurs 17 other times (most occurrences refer to earthly kings) in Revelation and it is not used with either “ages” or “nations” apart from this verse. Probably the reading “nations” should be considered original due to the influence of 1 Tim 1:17.