Revelation 7:4-12
Context7:4 Now 1 I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, 2 one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all 3 the tribes of the people of Israel: 4
7:5 From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand,
7:6 from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand,
7:7 from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand,
7:8 from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.
7:9 After these things I looked, and here was 5 an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, 6 people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 7:10 They were shouting out in a loud voice,
“Salvation belongs to our God, 7
to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
7:11 And all the angels stood 8 there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground 9 before the throne and worshiped God, 7:12 saying,
“Amen! Praise and glory,
and wisdom and thanksgiving,
and honor and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of new but related material.
2 tn Grk “who were sealed.”
3 tn Normally, “every,” but since 144,000 is the total number, “all” is clearer here.
4 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.
5 tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).
6 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
7 tn The dative here has been translated as a dative of possession.
8 tn The verb is pluperfect, but the force is simple past. See ExSyn 586.
9 tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”