Revelation 7:3-4

7:3 “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants 1  of our God.” 7:4 Now 2  I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, 3  one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all 4  the tribes of the people of Israel: 5 

1 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

2 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of new but related material.

3 tn Grk “who were sealed.”

4 tn Normally, “every,” but since 144,000 is the total number, “all” is clearer here.

5 tn Grk “the sons of Israel,” normally an idiom for the Israelites as an ethnic entity (L&N 11.58). However, many scholars understand the expression in this context to refer to Christians rather than ethnic Israelites.