Wahyu 1:5-6

1:5 and from Jesus Christ – the faithful ¹  witness, ²  the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free ³  from our sins at the cost of ⁴  his own blood 1:6 and has appointed ⁵  us as a kingdom, ⁶  as priests ⁷  serving his God and Father – to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! ⁸  Amen.

Wahyu 4:9-11

4:9 And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, ⁹  and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 4:10 the twenty-four elders throw themselves to the ground ¹⁰  before the one who sits on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever, and they offer their crowns ¹¹  before his ¹²  throne, saying:

4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

since you created all things,

and because of your will they existed and were created!” ¹³ 

Wahyu 5:9-14

5:9 They were singing a new song: ¹⁴ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ¹⁵ 

and at the cost of your own blood ¹⁶  you have purchased ¹⁷  for God

persons ¹⁸  from every tribe, language, ¹⁹  people, and nation.

5:10 You have appointed ²⁰  them ²¹  as a kingdom and priests ²²  to serve ²³  our God, and they will reign ²⁴  on the earth.”

5:11 Then ²⁵  I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their ²⁶  number was ten thousand times ten thousand ²⁷  – thousands times thousands – 5:12 all of whom ²⁸  were singing ²⁹  in a loud voice:

“Worthy is the lamb who was killed ³⁰ 

to receive power and wealth

and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and praise!”

5:13 Then ³¹  I heard every creature – in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them – singing: ³² 

“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb

be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power ³³  forever and ever!”

5:14 And the four living creatures were saying “Amen,” and the elders threw themselves to the ground ³⁴  and worshiped.

[1:5]  ¹ tn Or “Jesus Christ – the faithful one, the witness…” Some take ὁ πιστός (Jo pistos) as a second substantive in relation to ὁ μάρτυς (Jo martus). In the present translation, however, ὁ πιστός was taken as an adjective in attributive position to ὁ μάρτυς. The idea of martyrdom and faithfulness are intimately connected. See BDAG 820 s.v. πιστός 1.a.α: “ὁ μάρτυς μου ὁ πιστός μου Rv 2:13 (μάρτυς 3); in this ‘book of martyrs’ Christ is ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστὸς (καὶ ὁ ἀληθινός) 1:5; 3:14; cp. 19:11 (the combination of ἀληθινός and πιστός in the last two passages is like 3 Macc 2:11). Cp. Rv 17:14.”

[1:5]  ² sn The Greek term translated witness can mean both “witness” and “martyr.”

[1:5]  ³ tc The reading “set free” (λύσαντι, lusanti) has better ms support (̹⁸ א A C 1611 2050 2329 2351 Ï^A sy) than its rival, λούσαντι (lousanti, “washed”; found in P 1006 1841 1854 2053 2062 Ï^K lat bo). Internally, it seems that the reading “washed” could have arisen in at least one of three ways: (1) as an error of hearing (both “released” and “washed” are pronounced similarly in Greek); (2) an error of sight (both “released” and “washed” look very similar – a difference of only one letter – which could have resulted in a simple error during the copying of a ms); (3) through scribal inability to appreciate that the Hebrew preposition ב can be used with a noun to indicate the price paid for something. Since the author of Revelation is influenced significantly by a Semitic form of Greek (e.g., 13:10), and since the Hebrew preposition “in” (ב) can indicate the price paid for something, and is often translated with the preposition “in” (ἐν, en) in the LXX, the author may have tried to communicate by the use of ἐν the idea of a price paid for something. That is, John was trying to say that Christ delivered us at the price of his own blood. This whole process, however, may have been lost on a later scribe, who being unfamiliar with Hebrew, found the expression “delivered in his blood” too difficult, and noticing the obvious similarities between λύσαντι and λούσαντι, assumed an error and then proceeded to change the text to “washed in his blood” – a thought more tolerable in his mind. Both readings, of course, are true to scripture; the current question is what the author wrote in this verse.

[1:5]  tn Or “and released us” (L&N 37.127).

[1:5]  ⁴ tn The style here is somewhat Semitic, with the use of the ἐν (en) + the dative to mean “at the price of.” The addition of “own” in the English is stylistic and is an attempt to bring out the personal nature of the statement and the sacrificial aspect of Jesus’ death – a frequent refrain in the Apocalypse.

[1:6]  ⁵ tn The verb ποιέω (poiew) can indicate appointment or assignment rather than simply “make” or “do.” See Mark 3:14 (L&N 37.106).

[1:6]  ⁶ tn See BDAG 168 s.v. βασιλεία 1.a for the idea of “he made us a kingdom,” which was translated as “he appointed us (to be or function) as a kingdom” (see the note on the word “appointed” earlier in the verse).

[1:6]  ⁷ tn Grk “a kingdom, priests.” The term ἱερεῖς (Jiereis) is either in apposition to βασιλείαν (basileian) or as a second complement to the object “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas). The translation retains this ambiguity.

[1:6]  ⁸ tc Both the longer reading τῶν αἰώνων (twn aiwnwn, “to the ages of the ages” or, more idiomatically, “for ever and ever”; found in א C Ï) and the shorter (“for ever”; found in ̹⁸ A P 2050 pc bo) have good ms support. The author uses the longer expression (εἰς [τοὺς] αἰῶνας [τῶν] αἰώνων, ei" [tou"] aiwna" [twn] aiwnwn) in every other instance of αἰών in Revelation, twelve passages in all (1:18; 4:9, 10; 5:13; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 14:11; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5). Thus, on the one hand, the style of the author is consistent, while on the other hand, the scribes may have been familiar with such a stylistic feature, causing them to add the words here. The issues are more complex than can be presented here; the longer reading, however, is probably original (the shorter reading arising from accidental omission of the genitive phrase due to similarity with the preceding words).

[4:9]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[4:10]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the twenty-four elders fall 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.”

[4:10]  ¹¹ sn See the note on the word crown in Rev 3:11.

[4:10]  ¹² tn The pronoun “his” is understood from the demonstrative force of the article τοῦ (tou) before θρόνου (qronou).

[4:11]  ¹³ tc The past tense of “they existed” (ἦσαν, hsan) and the order of the expression “they existed and were created” seems backwards both logically and chronologically. The text as it stands is the more difficult reading and seems to have given rise to codex A omitting the final “they were created,” 2329 replacing “they existed” (ἦσαν) with “have come into being” (ἐγένοντο, egeneto), and 046 adding οὐκ (ouk, “not”) before ἦσαν (“they did not exist, [but were created]”). Several mss (1854 2050 Ï^A sa) also attempt to alleviate the problem by replacing ἦσαν with “they are” (εἰσιν, eisin).

[5:9]  ¹⁴ tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

[5:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:9]  ¹⁶ tn The preposition ἐν (en) is taken to indicate price here, like the Hebrew preposition ב (bet) does at times. BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 5.b states, “The ἐν which takes the place of the gen. of price is also instrumental ἠγόρασας ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου Rv 5:9 (cp. 1 Ch 21:24 ἀγοράζω ἐν ἀργυρίῳ).”

[5:9]  ¹⁷ tc The Greek text as it stands above (i.e., the reading τῷ θεῷ [tw qew] alone) is found in codex A. א 2050 2344 Ï sy add the term “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas), either before or after τῷ θεῷ, as an attempt to clarify the object of “purchased” (ἠγόρασας, hgorasa"). A few mss (1 vg^ms) delete the reference to God altogether and simply replace it with “us” (ἡμᾶς). This too is an attempt to remove ambiguity in the phrase and provide an object for “purchased.” The shorter reading, supported by the best witness for Revelation, best accounts for the other readings.

[5:9]  ¹⁸ tn The word “persons” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:9]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “and language,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[5:10]  ²⁰ tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoihsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.

[5:10]  ²¹ tc The vast majority of witnesses have αὐτούς (autous, “them”) here, while the Textus Receptus reads ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”) with insignificant support (pc gig vg^cl sa Prim Bea). There is no question that the original text read αὐτούς here.

[5:10]  ²² tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”

[5:10]  ²³ tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”

[5:10]  ²⁴ tc The textual problem here between the present tense βασιλεύουσιν (basileuousin, “they are reigning”; so A 1006 1611 Ï^K pc) and the future βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, “they will reign”; so א 1854 2053 Ï^A pc lat co) is a difficult one. Both readings have excellent support. On the one hand, the present tense seems to be the harder reading in this context. On the other hand, codex A elsewhere mistakes the future for the present (20:6). Further, the lunar sigma in uncial script could have been overlooked by some scribes, resulting in the present tense. All things considered, there is a slight preference for the future.

[5:11]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:11]  ²⁶ tn Grk “elders, and the number of them was.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[5:11]  ²⁷ tn Or “myriads of myriads.” Although μυριάς (murias) literally means “10,000,” the point of the combination here may simply be to indicate an incalculably huge number. See L&N 60.9.

[5:12]  ²⁸ tn The words “all of whom” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to indicate the resumption of the phrase “the voice of many angels” at the beginning of the verse.

[5:12]  ²⁹ tn Grk “saying.”

[5:12]  ³⁰ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:13]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[5:13]  ³² tn Grk “saying.”

[5:13]  ³³ tn Or “dominion.”

[5:14]  ³⁴ tn Grk “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.”