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!” 1
11:15 Then 2 the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:
“The kingdom of the world
has become the kingdom of our Lord
and of his Christ, 3
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
“We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, 5
the one who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and begun to reign. 6
“Great and astounding are your deeds,
Lord God, the All-Powerful! 10
Just 11 and true are your ways,
King over the nations! 12
15:4 Who will not fear you, O Lord,
and glorify 13 your name, because you alone are holy? 14
All nations 15 will come and worship before you
for your righteous acts 16 have been revealed.”
19:6 Then 22 I heard what sounded like the voice of a vast throng, like the roar of many waters and like loud crashes of thunder. They were shouting: 23
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God, 24 the All-Powerful, 25 reigns!
22:6 Then 26 the angel 27 said to me, “These words are reliable 28 and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants 29 what must happen soon.”
1 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
2 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
3 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
4 tn Grk “saying.”
5 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”
6 tn The aorist verb ἐβασίλευσας (ebasileusa") has been translated ingressively.
7 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
8 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
9 tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
10 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”
11 tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.
12 tc Certain
13 tn Or “and praise.”
sn Jeremiah 10:7 probably stands behind the idea of fearing God, and Psalm 86:9-10 stands behind the ideas of glorifying God, his uniqueness, and the nations coming to worship him. Many other OT passages also speak about the nations “coming to his temple” to worship (Isa 2:2-3, 49:22-23, 66:23-24; Micah 4:2; Zech 8:20-22). See G. K. Beale, Revelation [NIGTC], 796-97.
14 sn Because you alone are holy. In the Greek text the sentence literally reads “because alone holy.” Three points can be made in connection with John’s language here: (1) Omitting the second person, singular verb “you are” lays stress on the attribute of God’s holiness. (2) The juxtaposition of alone with holy stresses the unique nature of God’s holiness and complete “otherness” in relationship to his creation. It is not just moral purity which is involved in the use of the term holy, though it certainly includes that. It is also the pervasive OT idea that although God is deeply involved in the governing of his creation, he is to be regarded as separate and distinct from it. (3) John’s use of the term holy is also intriguing since it is the term ὅσιος (Josios) and not the more common NT term ἅγιος (Jagios). The former term evokes images of Christ’s messianic status in early Christian preaching. Both Peter in Acts 2:27 and Paul in Acts 13:35 apply Psalm 16:10 (LXX) to Jesus, referring to him as the “holy one” (ὅσιος). It is also the key term in Acts 13:34 (Isa 55:3 [LXX]) where it refers to the “holy blessings” (i.e., forgiveness and justification) brought about through Jesus in fulfillment of Davidic promise. Thus, in Rev 15:3-4, when John refers to God as “holy,” using the term ὅσιος in a context where the emphasis is on both God and Christ, there might be an implicit connection between divinity and the Messiah. This is bolstered by the fact that the Lamb is referred to in other contexts as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (cf. 1:5; 17:14; 19:16 and perhaps 11:15; G. K. Beale, Revelation [NIGTC], 796-97).
15 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
16 tn Or perhaps, “your sentences of condemnation.” On δικαίωμα (dikaiwma) in this context BDAG 249 s.v. 2. states, “righteous deed…δι᾿ ἑνὸς δικαιώματος (opp. παράπτωμα) Ro 5:18. – B 1:2 (cp. Wengst, Barnabas-brief 196, n.4); Rv 15:4 (here perh.= ‘sentence of condemnation’ [cp. Pla., Leg. 9, 864e; ins fr. Asia Minor: LBW 41, 2 [κατὰ] τὸ δι[καί]ωμα τὸ κυρω[θέν]= ‘acc. to the sentence which has become valid’]; difft. Wengst, s. above); 19:8.”
17 tn See BDAG 636 s.v. μετά A.2.a.α.
18 tn Grk “For this reason, her plagues will come.”
19 tn Grk “death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).
20 tn This is the same Greek word (πένθος, penqo") translated “grief” in vv. 7-8.
21 tn Here “burned down” was used to translate κατακαυθήσεται (katakauqhsetai) because a city is in view.
22 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
23 tn Grk “like the voice of a large crowd…saying.” Because of the complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the words “They were.”
24 tc Several
25 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22…κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ὁ π. Rv 19:6.”
26 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
27 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel mentioned in 21:9, 15; 22:1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
28 tn Grk “faithful.”
29 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.