Revelation 7:4

7:4 Now ¹  I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, ²  one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all ³  the tribes of the people of Israel: ⁴ 

Revelation 13:7

13:7 The beast ⁵  was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. ⁶  He was given ruling authority ⁷  over every tribe, people, ⁸  language, and nation,

Revelation 15:6

15:6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, dressed in clean bright linen, wearing wide golden belts ⁹  around their chests.

[7:4]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of new but related material.

[7:4]  ² tn Grk “who were sealed.”

[7:4]  ³ tn Normally, “every,” but since 144,000 is the total number, “all” is clearer here.

[7:4]  ⁴ 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.

[13:7]  ⁵ tn Grk “and it was given to him to go to war.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:7]  ⁶ tc Many mss omit the phrase “it was given to make war with the saints and to overcome them” (Ì⁴⁷ A C 2053 Ï^A sa). It is, however, found in Ì^115vid א 051 1006 (1611) 1841 (1854) 2329 2344 2351 (Ï^K) lat sy^ph,(h) bo. Although the ms evidence is somewhat in favor of the shorter reading, the support of ̹¹⁵ (a recently-discovered ms) for the longer reading balances things out. Normally, the shorter reading should be given preference. However, in an instance in which homoioteleuton could play a role, caution must be exercised. In this passage, accidental omission is quite likely. That this could have happened seems apparent from the two occurrences of the identical phrase “and it was given to him” (καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ, kai edoqh autw) in v. 7. The scribe’s eye skipped over the first καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ and went to the second, hence creating an accidental omission of eleven words.

[13:7]  ⁷ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:7]  ⁸ tn Grk “and people,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here or before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[15:6]  ⁹ tn Or “wide golden sashes,” but these would not be diagonal, as some modern sashes are, but horizontal. The Greek term can refer to a wide band of cloth or leather worn on the outside of one’s clothing (L&N 6.178).