Revelation 7:2-4

7:2 Then ¹  I saw another angel ascending from the east, ²  who had ³  the seal ⁴  of the living God. He ⁵  shouted out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given permission ⁶  to damage the earth and the sea: ⁷  7:3 “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants ⁸  of our God.” 7:4 Now ⁹  I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, ¹⁰  one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all ¹¹  the tribes of the people of Israel: ¹² 

[7:2]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[7:2]  ² tn Grk “from the rising of the sun.” BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατολή 2.a takes this as a geographical direction: “ἀπὸ ἀ. ἡλίου…from the east Rv 7:2; 16:12…simply ἀπὸ ἀ. …21:13.”

[7:2]  ³ tn Grk “having,” but v. 3 makes it clear that the angel’s purpose is to seal others with the seal he carries.

[7:2]  ⁴ tn Or “signet” (L&N 6.54).

[7:2]  ⁵ 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.

[7:2]  ⁶ tn The word “permission” is implied; Grk “to whom it was given to them to damage the earth.”

[7:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[7:3]  ⁸ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[7:4]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of new but related material.

[7:4]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “who were sealed.”

[7:4]  ¹¹ tn Normally, “every,” but since 144,000 is the total number, “all” is clearer here.

[7:4]  ¹² 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.