7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so no wind could blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.
14:1 Then 8 I looked, and here was 9 the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
19:17 Then 10 I saw one angel standing in 11 the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: 12
“Come, gather around for the great banquet 13 of God,
1 tn Grk “Behold.”
2 tn Grk “come in to him.”
sn The expression in Greek does not mean entrance into the person, as is popularly taken, but entrance into a room or building toward the person. See ExSyn 380-82. Some interpreters understand the door here to be the door to the Laodicean church, and thus a collective or corporate image rather than an individual one.
3 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
4 tn The participle λαλοῦσαν (lalousan) has been translated as “began to speak.” The use of πάλιν (palin) indicates an ingressive idea.
5 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.”
6 tn Grk “again, saying.” The participle λέγουσαν (legousan) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
7 tn The perfect passive participle ἠνεῳγμένον (hnewgmenon) is in second attributive position and has been translated as an attributive adjective.
8 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
9 tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).
10 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
11 tn The precise significance of ἐν (en) here is difficult to determine.
12 tn On μεσουρανήματι (mesouranhmati) here see L&N 1.10: “high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.” The birds mentioned here are carrion birds like vultures, circling high overhead, and now being summoned to feast on the corpses.
13 tn This is the same Greek word (δεῖπνον, deipnon) used in 19:9.