Revelation 8:3-5

8:3 Another ¹  angel holding ²  a golden censer ³  came and was stationed ⁴  at the altar. A ⁵  large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne. 8:4 The ⁶  smoke coming from the incense, ⁷  along with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 8:5 Then ⁸  the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth, and there were crashes of thunder, roaring, ⁹  flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

[8:3]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[8:3]  ² tn Grk “having.”

[8:3]  ³ sn A golden censer was a bowl in which incense was burned. The imagery suggests the OT role of the priest.

[8:3]  ⁴ tn The verb “to station” was used to translate ἑστάθη (Jestaqh) because it connotes the idea of purposeful arrangement in English, which seems to be the idea in the Greek.

[8:3]  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.

[8:4]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[8:4]  ⁷ tn The expression τῶν θυμιαμάτων (twn qumiamatwn) is taken as a “genitive of producer,” i.e., the noun in the genitive produces the head noun.

[8:5]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[8:5]  ⁹ tn Or “sounds,” “voices.” It is not entirely clear what this refers to. BDAG 1071 s.v. φωνή 1 states, “In Rv we have ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί (cp. Ex 19:16) 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18 (are certain other sounds in nature thought of here in addition to thunder, as e.g. the roar of the storm?…).”