Wahyu 1:4

1:4 From John, ¹  to the seven churches that are in the province of Asia: ²  Grace and peace to you ³  from “he who is,” ⁴  and who was, and who is still to come, ⁵  and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,

Wahyu 2:1

To the Church in Ephesus

2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus, ⁶  write the following: ⁷ 

“This is the solemn pronouncement of ⁸  the one who has a firm grasp on ⁹  the seven stars in his right hand ¹⁰  – the one who walks among the seven golden ¹¹  lampstands:

Wahyu 4:5

4:5 From ¹²  the throne came out flashes of lightning and roaring ¹³  and crashes of thunder. Seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God, ¹⁴  were burning in front of the throne

Wahyu 10:4

10:4 When the seven thunders spoke, I was preparing to write, but ¹⁵  just then ¹⁶  I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders spoke and do not write it down.”

Wahyu 12:3

12:3 Then ¹⁷  another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns. ¹⁸ 

Wahyu 15:1

The Final Plagues

15:1 Then ¹⁹  I saw another great and astounding sign in heaven: seven angels who have seven final plagues ²⁰  (they are final because in them God’s anger is completed).

Wahyu 15:6--16:1

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 ²¹  around their chests. 15:7 Then ²²  one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath ²³  of God who lives forever and ever, 15:8 and the temple was filled with smoke from God’s glory and from his power. Thus ²⁴  no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues from the seven angels were completed.

The Bowls of God’s Wrath

16:1 Then ²⁵  I heard a loud voice from the temple declaring to the seven angels: “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls containing God’s wrath.” ²⁶ 

Wahyu 17:1

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17:1 Then ²⁷  one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me. ²⁸  “Come,” he said, “I will show you the condemnation and punishment ²⁹  of the great prostitute who sits on many waters,

[1:4]  ¹ tn Grk “John.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:4]  ² tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[1:4]  ³ tn It is probable that the ὑμῖν (Jumin) applies to both elements of the greeting, i.e., to both grace and peace.

[1:4]  ⁴ tc The earliest and best mss (Ì^18vid א A C P 2050 al lat sy co) lack the term “God” (θεοῦ, qeou) between “from” (ἀπό, apo) and “he who is” (ὁ ὤν, Jo wn). Its inclusion, as supported by the bulk of the Byzantine witnesses, is clearly secondary and a scribal attempt to achieve two things: (1) to make explicit the referent in the passage, namely, God, and (2) to smooth out the grammar. The preposition “from” in Greek required a noun in the genitive case. But here in Rev 1:4 the words following the preposition “from” (ἀπό) are in another case, i.e., the nominative. There are two principal ways in which to deal with this grammatical anomaly. First, it could be a mistake arising from someone who just did not know Greek very well, or as a Jew, was heavily influenced by a Semitic form of Greek. Both of these unintentional errors are unlikely here. Commenting on this ExSyn 63 argues: “Either of these is doubtful here because (1) such a flagrant misunderstanding of the rudiments of Greek would almost surely mean that the author could not compose in Greek, yet the Apocalypse itself argues against this; (2) nowhere else does the Seer [i.e., John] use a nom. immediately after a preposition (in fact, he uses ἀπό 32 times with the gen. immediately following).” The passage appears to be an allusion to Exod 3:14 (in the LXX) where God refers to himself as “he who is” (ὁ ὤν), the same wording in Greek as here in Rev 1:4. Thus, it appears that John is wanting to leave the divine name untouched (perhaps to allude to God’s immutability, or as a pointer to the Old Testament as the key to unlocking the meaning of this book), irrespective of what it “looks” like grammatically. The translation has placed the “he who is” in quotation marks to indicate to the reader that the syntactical awkwardness is intentional. (For further comments, see ExSyn 63).

[1:4]  ⁵ tn BDAG 106 s.v. ἀπό 5.d states: “The expr. εἰρήνη ἀπὸ ‘ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος’ Rv 1:4 is quite extraordinary. It may be an interpretation of the name Yahweh already current, or an attempt to show reverence for the divine name by preserving it unchanged, or simply one more of the grammatical peculiarities so frequent in Rv.”

[2:1]  ⁶ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[2:1]  ⁷ tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.

[2:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” The expression τάδε λέγει (tade legei) occurs eight times in the NT, seven of which are in Rev 2-3. “The pronoun is used to add solemnity to the prophetic utterance that follows. …In classical drama, it was used to introduce a new actor to the scene (Smyth, Greek Grammar, 307 [§1241]). But the τάδε λέγει formula in the NT derives from the OT, where it was used to introduce a prophetic utterance (BAGD, s.v. ὅδε, 1)” (ExSyn 328). Thus, the translation “this is the solemn pronouncement of” for τάδε λέγει is very much in keeping with the OT connotations of this expression.

[2:1]  sn The expression This is the solemn pronouncement of reflects an OT idiom. The LXX has the same Greek phrase (τάδε λέγει, tade legei) about 350 times, with nearly 320 of them having “the Lord” (Heb יהוה, Yahweh) as subject. That the author of Revelation would use such an expression seven times with the risen Christ as the speaker may well imply something of Christ’s sovereignty and deity. Cf. also Acts 21:11 in which the Holy Spirit is the speaker of this expression.

[2:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “holds,” but the term (i.e., κρατῶν, kratwn) with an accusative object, along with the context, argues for a sense of firmness. (Cf. ExSyn 132.)

[2:1]  ¹⁰ sn On seven stars in his right hand see 1:16.

[2:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “lampstands of gold” with the genitive τῶν χρυσῶν (twn cruswn) translated as an attributive genitive.

[4:5]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[4:5]  ¹³ 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?…).”

[4:5]  ¹⁴ sn Some interpret the seven spirits of God as angelic beings, while others see them as a reference to the sevenfold ministry of the Holy Spirit.

[10:4]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[10:4]  ¹⁶ tn The words “just then” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:3]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:3]  ¹⁸ tn For the translation of διάδημα (diadhma) as “diadem crown” see L&N 6.196.

[12:3]  sn Diadem crowns were a type of crown used as a symbol of the highest ruling authority in a given area, and thus often associated with kingship.

[15:1]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[15:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “seven plagues – the last ones.”

[15:6]  ²¹ 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).

[15:7]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[15:7]  ²³ tn Or “anger.”

[15:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “power, and no one.” A new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “thus” to indicate the implied result of the temple being filled with smoke.

[16:1]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[16:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “anger.” Here τοῦ θυμοῦ (tou qumou) has been translated as a genitive of content.

[17:1]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[17:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “with me.” The translation “with me” implies that John was engaged in a dialogue with the one speaking to him (e.g., Jesus or an angel) when in reality it was a one-sided conversation, with John doing all the listening. For this reason, μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ (met’ emou, “with me”) was translated as “to me.”

[17:1]  ²⁹ tn Here one Greek term, κρίμα (krima), has been translated by the two English terms “condemnation” and “punishment.” See BDAG 567 s.v. 4.b, “mostly in an unfavorable sense, of the condemnatory verdict and sometimes the subsequent punishment itself 2 Pt 2:3; Jd 4…τὸ κ. τῆς πόρνης the condemnation and punishment of the prostitute Rv 17:1.”