Wahyu 1:1

The Prologue

1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, ¹  which God gave him to show his servants ²  what must happen very soon. ³  He made it clear ⁴  by sending his angel to his servant ⁵  John,

Wahyu 1:11

1:11 saying: “Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches – to Ephesus, ⁶  Smyrna, ⁷  Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

Wahyu 2:20

2:20 But I have this against you: You tolerate that ⁸  woman ⁹  Jezebel, ¹⁰  who calls herself a prophetess, and by her teaching deceives ¹¹  my servants ¹²  to commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. ¹³ 

Wahyu 2:24

2:24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, all who do not hold to this teaching ¹⁴  (who have not learned the so-called “deep secrets ¹⁵  of Satan”), to you I say: I do not put any additional burden on you.

Wahyu 6:11

6:11 Each ¹⁶  of them was given a long white robe and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached ¹⁷  of both their fellow servants ¹⁸  and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been.

Wahyu 14:6

Three Angels and Three Messages

14:6 Then ¹⁹  I saw another ²⁰  angel flying directly overhead, ²¹  and he had ²²  an eternal gospel to proclaim ²³  to those who live ²⁴  on the earth – to every nation, tribe, ²⁵  language, and people.

Wahyu 21:8

21:8 But to the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, ²⁶  idol worshipers, ²⁷  and all those who lie, their place ²⁸  will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. ²⁹  That ³⁰  is the second death.”

[1:1]  ¹ tn The phrase ἀποκάλυψις ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (ajpokaluyi" Ihsou Cristou, “the revelation of Jesus Christ”) could be interpreted as either an objective genitive (“the revelation about Jesus Christ”), subjective genitive (“the revelation from Jesus Christ”), or both (M. Zerwick’s “general” genitive [Biblical Greek, §§36-39]; D. B. Wallace’s “plenary” genitive [ExSyn 119-21]). In 1:1 and 22:16 it is clear that Jesus has sent his angel to proclaim the message to John; thus the message is from Christ, and this would be a subjective genitive. On a broader scale, though, the revelation is about Christ, so this would be an objective genitive. One important point to note is that the phrase under consideration is best regarded as the title of the book and therefore refers to the whole of the work in all its aspects. This fact favors considering this as a plenary genitive.

[1:1]  ² tn Grk “slaves.” Although this translation frequently renders δοῦλος (doulos) as “slave,” the connotation is often of one who has sold himself into slavery; in a spiritual sense, the idea is that of becoming a slave of God or of Jesus Christ voluntarily. The voluntary notion is not conspicuous here; hence, the translation “servants.” In any case, the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ³ tn BDAG 992-93 s.v. τάχος has “quickly, at once, without delay Ac 10:33 D; 12:7; 17:15 D; 22:18; 1 Cl 48:1; 63:4…soon, in a short time…Rv 1:1; 22:6…shortly Ac 25:4.”

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Or “He indicated it clearly” (L&N 33.153).

[1:1]  ⁵ tn See the note on the word “servants” earlier in this verse.

[1:11]  ⁶ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[1:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “and to Smyrna.” For stylistic reasons the conjunction καί (kai) and the preposition εἰς (eis) have not been translated before the remaining elements of the list. In lists with more than two elements contemporary English generally does not repeat the conjunction except between the next to last and last elements.

[2:20]  ⁸ tn The Greek article has been translated here with demonstrative force.

[2:20]  ⁹ tc The ms evidence for γυναῖκα (gunaika, “woman”) alone includes {א C P 1611 2053 pc lat}. The ms evidence for the addition of “your” (σου, sou) includes A 1006 2351 Ï^K pc sy. With the pronoun, the text reads “your wife, Jezebel” instead of “that woman, Jezebel.” In Revelation, A C are the most important mss, along with א Ì⁴⁷ (which only reads in portions of chapters 9-17) 1006 1611 2053; in this instance, the external evidence slightly favors the shorter reading. But internally, it gains strength. The longer reading implies the idea that the angel in 2:18 is the bishop or leader of the church in Thyatira. The pronoun “your” (σου) is used four times in vv. 19-20 and may have been the cause for the scribe copying it again. Further, once the monarchical episcopate was in vogue (beginning in the 2nd century) scribes might have been prone to add “your” here.

[2:20]  ¹⁰ sn Jezebel was the name of King Ahab’s idolatrous and wicked queen in 1 Kgs 16:31; 18:1-5; 19:1-3; 21:5-24. It is probable that the individual named here was analogous to her prototype in idolatry and immoral behavior, since those are the items singled out for mention.

[2:20]  ¹¹ tn Grk “teaches and deceives” (διδάσκει καὶ πλανᾷ, didaskei kai plana), a construction in which the first verb appears to specify the means by which the second is accomplished: “by her teaching, deceives…”

[2:20]  ¹² tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[2:20]  ¹³ sn To commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. Note the conclusions of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:29, which specifically prohibits Gentile Christians from engaging in these activities.

[2:24]  ¹⁴ sn That is, the teaching of Jezebel (v. 20).

[2:24]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “deep things.” For the translation “deep secrets” see L&N 28.76; cf. NAB, NIV, CEV.

[6:11]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:11]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “until they had been completed.” The idea of a certain “number” of people is implied by the subject of πληρωθῶσιν (plhrwqwsin).

[6:11]  ¹⁸ tn Though σύνδουλος (sundoulos) has been translated “fellow servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[14:6]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[14:6]  ²⁰ tc Most mss (Ì47 א* Ï sa) lack ἄλλον (allon, “another”) here, but the support for it is stronger (Ì^115vid א² A C P 051 1006 1611 1841 2053 2329 al latt sy bo). The problem that its inclusion represents is that there is no reference to any other angel in the immediate context (the last mention was in 11:15). In this instance, the longer reading is harder. The word was probably intentionally omitted in order to resolve the tension; less likely, it might have been accidentally omitted since its spelling is similar to “angel” (ἄγγελος, angelos).

[14:6]  ²¹ tn L&N 1.10 states, “a point or region of the sky directly above the earth – ‘high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.’”

[14:6]  ²² tn Grk “having.”

[14:6]  ²³ tn Or “an eternal gospel to announce as good news.”

[14:6]  ²⁴ tn Grk “to those seated on the earth.”

[14:6]  ²⁵ tn Grk “and tribe,” 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.

[21:8]  ²⁶ tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”

[21:8]  ²⁷ tn Grk “idolaters.”

[21:8]  ²⁸ tn Grk “their share.”

[21:8]  ²⁹ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[21:8]  ³⁰ tn Grk “sulfur, which is.” The relative pronoun has been translated as “that” to indicate its connection to the previous clause. The nearest logical antecedent is “the lake [that burns with fire and sulfur],” although “lake” (λίμνη, limnh) is feminine gender, while the pronoun “which” (ὅ, Jo) is neuter gender. This means that (1) the proper antecedent could be “their place” (Grk “their share,”) agreeing with the relative pronoun in number and gender, or (2) the neuter pronoun still has as its antecedent the feminine noun “lake,” since agreement in gender between pronoun and antecedent was not always maintained, with an explanatory phrase occurring with a neuter pronoun regardless of the case of the antecedent. In favor of the latter explanation is Rev 20:14, where the phrase “the lake of fire” is in apposition to the phrase “the second death.”