Wahyu 15:3-4

15:3 They ¹  sang the song of Moses the servant ²  of God and the song of the Lamb: ³ 

“Great and astounding are your deeds,

Lord God, the All-Powerful! ⁴ 

Just ⁵  and true are your ways,

King over the nations! ⁶ 

15:4 Who will not fear you, O Lord,

and glorify ⁷  your name, because you alone are holy? ⁸ 

All nations ⁹  will come and worship before you

for your righteous acts ¹⁰  have been revealed.”

Wahyu 19:1-7

19:1 After these things I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a vast throng in heaven, saying,

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

19:2 because his judgments are true and just. ¹¹ 

For he has judged ¹²  the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,

and has avenged the blood of his servants ¹³  poured out by her own hands!” ¹⁴ 

19:3 Then ¹⁵  a second time the crowd shouted, “Hallelujah!” The smoke rises from her forever and ever. ¹⁶  19:4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures threw themselves to the ground ¹⁷  and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne, saying: “Amen! Hallelujah!”

19:5 Then ¹⁸  a voice came from the throne, saying:

“Praise our God

all you his servants,

and all you who fear Him,

both the small and the great!”

The Wedding Celebration of the Lamb

19:6 Then ¹⁹  I heard what sounded like the voice of a vast throng, like the roar of many waters and like loud crashes of thunder. They were shouting: ²⁰ 

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God, ²¹  the All-Powerful, ²²  reigns!

19:7 Let us rejoice ²³  and exult

and give him glory,

because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,

and his bride has made herself ready.

[15:3]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[15:3]  ² tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

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

[15:3]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

[15:3]  ⁶ 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.

[15:4]  ⁷ tn Or “and praise.”

[15:4]  sn Jeremiah 10:7 probably stands behind the idea of fearing God, and Psalm 86:9-10 stands behind the ideas of glorifying God, his uniqueness, and the nations coming to worship him. Many other OT passages also speak about the nations “coming to his temple” to worship (Isa 2:2-3, 49:22-23, 66:23-24; Micah 4:2; Zech 8:20-22). See G. K. Beale, Revelation [NIGTC], 796-97.

[15:4]  ⁸ sn Because you alone are holy. In the Greek text the sentence literally reads “because alone holy.” Three points can be made in connection with John’s language here: (1) Omitting the second person, singular verb “you are” lays stress on the attribute of God’s holiness. (2) The juxtaposition of alone with holy stresses the unique nature of God’s holiness and complete “otherness” in relationship to his creation. It is not just moral purity which is involved in the use of the term holy, though it certainly includes that. It is also the pervasive OT idea that although God is deeply involved in the governing of his creation, he is to be regarded as separate and distinct from it. (3) John’s use of the term holy is also intriguing since it is the term ὅσιος (Josios) and not the more common NT term ἅγιος (Jagios). The former term evokes images of Christ’s messianic status in early Christian preaching. Both Peter in Acts 2:27 and Paul in Acts 13:35 apply Psalm 16:10 (LXX) to Jesus, referring to him as the “holy one” (ὅσιος). It is also the key term in Acts 13:34 (Isa 55:3 [LXX]) where it refers to the “holy blessings” (i.e., forgiveness and justification) brought about through Jesus in fulfillment of Davidic promise. Thus, in Rev 15:3-4, when John refers to God as “holy,” using the term ὅσιος in a context where the emphasis is on both God and Christ, there might be an implicit connection between divinity and the Messiah. This is bolstered by the fact that the Lamb is referred to in other contexts as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (cf. 1:5; 17:14; 19:16 and perhaps 11:15; G. K. Beale, Revelation [NIGTC], 796-97).

[15:4]  ⁹ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[15:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps, “your sentences of condemnation.” On δικαίωμα (dikaiwma) in this context BDAG 249 s.v. 2. states, “righteous deed…δι᾿ ἑνὸς δικαιώματος (opp. παράπτωμα) Ro 5:18. – B 1:2 (cp. Wengst, Barnabas-brief 196, n.4); Rv 15:4 (here perh.= ‘sentence of condemnation’ [cp. Pla., Leg. 9, 864e; ins fr. Asia Minor: LBW 41, 2 [κατὰ] τὸ δι[καί]ωμα τὸ κυρω[θέν]= ‘acc. to the sentence which has become valid’]; difft. Wengst, s. above); 19:8.”

[19:2]  ¹¹ tn Compare the similar phrase in Rev 16:7.

[19:2]  ¹² tn Or “has punished.” See BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α, describing the OT background which involves both the vindication of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty.

[19:2]  ¹³ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[19:2]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “from her hand” (referring to her responsibility in causing the blood of God’s followers to be shed).

[19:3]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “her smoke ascends forever and ever.”

[19:4]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “creatures fell down.” 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.”

[19:5]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:6]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:6]  ²⁰ tn Grk “like the voice of a large crowd…saying.” Because of the complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the words “They were.”

[19:6]  ²¹ tc Several mss (א² P 1611 2053 2344 pc Ï^K lat ) read “the Lord our God” (κύριος ὁ θεός ἡμῶν, kurio" Jo qeo" Jhmwn). Other important mss (A 1006 1841 pc), however, omit the “our” (ἡμῶν). Further, certain mss (051 Ï^A) omit “Lord” (κύριος), while others (including א*) change the order of the statement to “God our Lord” (ὁ θεός ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν). The expression “the Lord God, the All-Powerful” occurs in 6 other places in Revelation (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22) and the pronoun “our” is never used. Scribes familiar with the expression in this book, and especially with the frequent κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ (kurio" Jo qeo" Jo pantokratwr; “the Lord God, the All-Powerful”) in the OT Prophets (LXX; cf. Jer 39:19; Hos 12:6; Amos 3:13; 4:13; 5:8, 14, 15, 16, 27; 9:5, 6, 15; Nah 3:5; Zech 10:3), would naturally omit the pronoun. Its presence may have arisen due to liturgical motivations or to conform to the expression “our God” in 19:1, 5, but this seems much less likely than an aversion to using the pronoun here and only here in the Greek Bible in the fuller title κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ.

[19:6]  ²² 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…κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ὁ π. Rv 19:6.”

[19:7]  ²³ tn This verb and the next two verbs are hortatory subjunctives (giving exhortations).