2:8 “To 5 the angel of the church in Smyrna write the following: 6
“This is the solemn pronouncement of 7 the one who is the first and the last, the one who was dead, but 8 came to life:
1 tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.” The pendent dative is allowed to stand in the English translation because it is characteristic of the author’s style in Revelation.
2 tn Or “grant.”
3 tn Or “stands.”
4 tc The omission of “my” (μου, mou) after “God” (θεοῦ, qeou) is well attested, supported by א A C and the Andreas of Caesarea group of Byzantine
5 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated due to differences between Greek and English style.
6 tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.
7 tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” See the note on the phrase “this is the solemn pronouncement of” in 2:1.
sn The expression This is the solemn pronouncement of reflects an OT idiom. See the note on this phrase in 2:1.
8 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present between these two phrases.
9 tn Or “who overcomes.”
10 tn Grk “thus.”
11 tn Or “white robes.”
12 tn The negation here is with οὐ μή (ou mh), the strongest possible form of negation in Koine Greek.
13 tn Or “will never wipe out.”
14 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
15 tn Grk “will confess.”
16 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
17 tn Grk “fell upon.”
18 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn The prepositional phrase “since the foundation of the world” is traditionally translated as a modifier of the immediately preceding phrase in the Greek text, “the Lamb who was killed” (so also G. B. Caird, Revelation [HNTC], 168), but it is more likely that the phrase “since the foundation of the world” modifies the verb “written” (as translated above). Confirmation of this can be found in Rev 17:8 where the phrase “written in the book of life since the foundation of the world” occurs with no ambiguity.
20 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”
21 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the second beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 tn Grk “it was given [permitted] to it [the second beast].”
23 tn Grk “breath,” but in context the point is that the image of the first beast is made to come to life and speak.
24 tn Grk “of the beast”; the word “first” has been supplied to specify the referent.
25 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
26 tn Here BDAG 552 s.v. κοινός 2 states, “pert. to being of little value because of being common, common, ordinary, profane…b. specifically, of that which is ceremonially impure: Rv 21:27.”
27 tn Or “what is abhorrent”; Grk “who practices abominations.”
28 tn Grk “practicing abomination or falsehood.” Because of the way βδέλυγμα (bdelugma) has been translated (“does what is detestable”) it was necessary to repeat the idea from the participle ποιῶν (poiwn, “practices”) before the term “falsehood.” On this term, BDAG 1097 s.v. ψεῦδος states, “ποιεῖν ψεῦδος practice (the things that go with) falsehood Rv 21:27; 22:15.” Cf. Rev 3:9.
29 tn Grk “those who are written”; the word “names” is implied.
30 tc The Textus Receptus, on which the KJV rests, reads “the book” of life (ἀπὸ βίβλου, apo biblou) instead of “the tree” of life. When the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus translated the NT he had access to no Greek