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1 Samuel 11
New English Translation

Saul Comes to the Aid of Jabesh

11 [a] Nahash[b] the Ammonite marched[c] against Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh Gilead said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us and we will serve you.”

2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “The only way I will make a treaty with you is if you let me gouge out the right eye of every one of you and in so doing humiliate all Israel!”

3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Leave us alone for seven days so that we can send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. If there is no one who can deliver us, we will come out voluntarily to you.”

4 When the messengers went to Gibeah (where Saul lived)[d] and informed the people of these matters, all the people wept loudly.[e] 5 Now Saul was walking behind the[f] oxen as he came from the field. Saul asked, “What has happened to the people? Why are they weeping?” So they told him about[g] the men of Jabesh.

6 The Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and he became very angry. 7 He took a pair[h] of oxen and cut them up. Then he sent the pieces throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, who said, “Whoever does not go out after Saul and after Samuel should expect this to be done to his oxen!” Then the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they went out as one army.[i] 8 When Saul counted them at Bezek, the Israelites were 300,000 strong[j] and the men of Judah numbered 30,000.

9 They said to the messengers who had come, “Here’s what you should say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: ‘Tomorrow deliverance will come to you when the sun is fully up.’” When the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh Gilead, they were happy. 10 The men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you[k] and you can do with us whatever you wish.”[l]

11 The next day Saul placed the people in three groups. They went to the Ammonite camp during the morning watch and struck them[m] down until the hottest part of the day. The survivors scattered; no two of them remained together.

Saul Is Established as King

12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who were the ones asking, ‘Will Saul reign over us?’ Hand over those men so we may execute them!” 13 But Saul said, “No one will be killed on this day. For today the Lord has given Israel a victory!” 14 Samuel said to the people, “Come on! Let’s go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal, where[n] they established Saul as king in the Lord’s presence. They offered up peace offerings there in the Lord’s presence. Saul and all the Israelites were very happy.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 11:1 tc 4QSama and Josephus (Ant. 6.68-71) attest to a longer form of text at this point. The addition explains Nahash’s practice of enemy mutilation, and by so doing provides a smoother transition to the following paragraph than is found in the MT. The NRSV adopts this reading, with the following English translation: “Now Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites. He would gouge out the right eye of each of them and would not grant Israel a deliverer. No one was left of the Israelites across the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had not gouged out. But there were 7,000 men who had escaped from the Ammonites and had entered Jabesh Gilead. About a month later, Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead.” The variations may be explained as scribal errors due to homoioteleuton, in which case the scribe jumps from one word to another word with a similar ending later in the text. If the reading in 4QSama is correct, then perhaps the scribe of the MT skipped from the phrase ויהי כמחרישׁ (vayehi kemakharish) at the end of 1 Sam 10:27, which should possibly be ויהי כמו חרשׁ (vayehi kemo kheresh), and picked up after the phrase ויהי כמו חדשׁ (vayehi kemo khodesh, “it happened about a month later…”). Interestingly 4QSama itself involves a case of homoioteleuton in this passage. The scribe first skipped from one case of גלעד (Gilʿad, “Gilead”) to another, then inserted the missing 10 words between the lines of the 4QSama text. The fact that the scribe made a mistake of this sort and then corrected it supports the idea that he was copying from a source that had these verses in it. Also the 4QSama text first introduces Nahash with his full title, which is a better match to normal style See the discussions in E. Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 2nd rev. ed. [Fortress Press, 2001] 342-344, P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 199, and R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 103. Though the external evidence for the additional material is limited, the internal evidence is strong.
  2. 1 Samuel 11:1 sn The name “Nahash” means “serpent” in Hebrew.
  3. 1 Samuel 11:1 tn Heb “went up and camped”; NIV, NRSV “went up and besieged.”
  4. 1 Samuel 11:4 tn Heb “to Gibeah of Saul.”
  5. 1 Samuel 11:4 tn Heb “lifted their voice and wept.”
  6. 1 Samuel 11:5 tn Or perhaps, “his oxen.” On this use of the definite article see Joüon 2:506-7 §137.f.
  7. 1 Samuel 11:5 tn Heb “the matters of.”
  8. 1 Samuel 11:7 tn Heb “yoke.”
  9. 1 Samuel 11:7 tn Heb “like one man.”
  10. 1 Samuel 11:8 tc The LXX and two Old Latin mss read 600,000 here, rather than the MT’s 300,000.
  11. 1 Samuel 11:10 tn The second masculine plural forms in this quotation indicate that Nahash and his army are addressed.
  12. 1 Samuel 11:10 tn Heb “according to all that is good in your eyes.”
  13. 1 Samuel 11:11 tn Heb “Ammon.” By metonymy the name “Ammon” is used collectively for the soldiers in the Ammonite army.
  14. 1 Samuel 11:15 tn Heb “and there in Gilgal.”
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Job 28
New English Translation

III. Job’s Search for Wisdom (28:1-28)

No Known Road to Wisdom[a]

28 “Surely[b] there is a mine[c] for silver,
and a place where gold is refined.[d]
2 Iron is taken from the ground,[e]
and rock is poured out[f] as copper.
3 Man puts an end to the darkness;[g]
he searches the farthest recesses
for the ore in the deepest darkness.[h]
4 Far from where people live[i] he sinks a shaft,
in places travelers have long forgotten,[j]
far from other people he dangles and sways.[k]
5 The earth, from which food comes,
is overturned below as though by fire;[l]
6 a place whose stones are sapphires[m]
that contain dust of gold;[n]
7 a hidden path[o] no bird of prey knows—
no falcon’s[p] eye has spotted it.
8 Proud beasts[q] have not set foot on it,
and no lion has passed along it.
9 On the flinty rock man has set to work[r] with his hand;
he has overturned mountains at their bases.[s]
10 He has cut out channels[t] through the rocks;
his eyes have spotted[u] every precious thing.
11 He has searched[v] the sources[w] of the rivers
and what was hidden he has brought into the light.

No Price Can Buy Wisdom

12 “But wisdom—where can it be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
13 Mankind does not know its place;[x]
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep[y] says, ‘It is not with[z] me.’
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
16 It cannot be measured out for purchase[aa] with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx[ab] or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor crystal[ac] can be compared with it,
nor can a vase[ad] of gold match its worth.
18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;
the price[ae] of wisdom is more than pearls.[af]
19 The topaz of Cush[ag] cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be purchased with pure gold.

God Alone Has Wisdom

20 “But wisdom—where does it come from?[ah]
Where is the place of understanding?
21 For[ai] it has been hidden
from the eyes of every living creature,
and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.
22 Destruction[aj] and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’[ak]
23 God understands the way to it,
and he alone knows its place.
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
and observes everything under the heavens.
25 When he made[al] the force of the wind
and measured[am] the waters with a gauge,
26 when he imposed a limit[an] for the rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,[ao]
27 then he looked at wisdom[ap] and assessed its value;[aq]
he established[ar] it and examined it closely.[as]
28 And he said to mankind,
‘The fear of the Lord[at]—that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”[au]

Footnotes

  1. Job 28:1 sn As the book is now arranged, this chapter forms an additional speech by Job, although some argue that it comes from the writer of the book. The mood of the chapter is not despair, but wisdom; it anticipates the divine speeches in the end of the book. This poem, like many psalms in the Bible, has a refrain (vv. 12 and 20). These refrains outline the chapter, giving three sections: there is no known road to wisdom (1-11); no price can buy it (12-19); and only God has it, and only by revelation can man posses it (20-28).
  2. Job 28:1 tn The poem opens with כִּי (ki). Some commentators think this should have been “for,” and that the poem once stood in another setting. But there are places in the Bible where this word occurs with the sense of “surely” and no other meaning (cf. Gen 18:20).
  3. Job 28:1 tn The word מוֹצָא (motsaʾ, from יָצָא [yatsaʾ, “go out”]) is the word for “mine,” or more simply, “source.” Mining was not an enormous industry in the land of Canaan or Israel; mined products were imported. Some editors have suggested alternative readings: Dahood found in the word the root for “shine” and translated the MT as “smelter.” But that is going too far. P. Joüon suggested “place of finding,” reading מִמְצָא (mimtsaʾ) for מוֹצָא (motsaʾ; see Bib 11 [1930]: 323).
  4. Job 28:1 tn The verb יָזֹקּוּ (yazoqqu) translated “refined,” comes from זָקַק (zaqaq), a word that basically means “to blow.” From the meaning “to blow; to distend; to inflate” derives the meaning for refining.
  5. Job 28:2 tn Heb “from dust.”
  6. Job 28:2 tn The verb יָצוּק (yatsuq) is usually translated as a passive participle “is smelted” (from יָצַק [yatsaq, “to melt”]): “copper is smelted from the ore” (ESV) or “from the stone, copper is poured out” (as an imperfect from צוּק [tsuq]). But the rock becomes the metal in the process. So according to R. Gordis (Job, 304) the translation should be: “the rock is poured out as copper.” E. Dhorme (Job, 400), however, defines the form in the text as “hard,” and simply has it “hard stone becomes copper.”
  7. Job 28:3 sn The text appears at first to be saying that by opening up a mine shaft, or by taking lights down below, the miner dispels the darkness. But the clause might be more general, meaning that man goes deep into the earth as if it were day.
  8. Job 28:3 tn The verse ends with “the stone of darkness and deep darkness.” The genitive would be location, describing the place where the stones are found.
  9. Job 28:4 tc The first part of this verse, “He cuts a shaft far from the place where people live,” has received a lot of attention. The word for “live” is גָּר (gar). Some of the proposals are: “limestone,” on the basis of the LXX; “far from the light,” reading נֵר (ner); “by a foreign people,” taking the word to means “foreign people”; “a foreign people opening shafts”; or taking gar as “crater” based on Arabic. Driver puts this and the next together: “a strange people who have been forgotten cut shafts” (see his “Problems in Job,” AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163). L. Waterman had “the people of the lamp” (“Note on Job 28:4, ” JBL 71 [1952]: 167ff). And there are others. Since there is really no compelling argument in favor of one of these alternative interpretations, the MT should be preserved until shown to be wrong.
  10. Job 28:4 tn Heb “forgotten by the foot.” This means that there are people walking above on the ground, and the places below, these mines, are not noticed by the pedestrians above.
  11. Job 28:4 sn This is a description of the mining procedures. Dangling suspended from a rope would be a necessary part of the job of going up and down the shafts.
  12. Job 28:5 sn The verse has been properly understood, on the whole, as comparing the earth above and all its produce with the upheaval down below.
  13. Job 28:6 tn It is probably best to take “place” in construct to the rest of the colon, with an understood relative clause: “a place, the rocks of which are sapphires.”sn The modern stone known as sapphire is thought not to have been used until Roman times, and so some other stone is probably meant here, perhaps lapis lazuli.
  14. Job 28:6 sn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 181) suggests that if it is lapis lazuli, then the dust of gold would refer to the particles of iron pyrite found in lapis lazuli which glitter like gold.
  15. Job 28:7 tn The “path” could refer to the mine shaft or it could refer to wisdom. The former seems more likely in the present context; the word “hidden is supplied in the translation to indicate the mines are “hidden” from sharp-eyed birds of prey above.
  16. Job 28:7 sn The kind of bird mentioned here is debated. The LXX has “vulture,” and so some commentaries follow that. The emphasis on the sight favors the view that it is the falcon.
  17. Job 28:8 tn Heb “the sons of pride.” In Job 41:26 the expression refers to carnivorous wild beasts.
  18. Job 28:9 tn The Hebrew verb is simply “to stretch out; to send” (שָׁלח, shalakh). With יָדוֹ (yado, “his hand”) the idea is that of laying one’s hand on the rock, i.e., getting to work on the hardest of rocks.
  19. Job 28:9 tn The Hebrew מִשֹּׁרֶשׁ (mishoresh) means “from/at [their] root [or base].” In mining, people have gone below ground, under the mountains, and overturned rock and dirt. It is also interesting that here in a small way humans do what God does—overturn mountains (cf. 9:5).
  20. Job 28:10 tn Or “tunnels.” The word is יְאֹרִים (yeʾorim), the word for “rivers” and in the singular, the Nile River. Here it refers to tunnels or channels through the rocks.
  21. Job 28:10 tn Heb “his eye sees.”
  22. Job 28:11 tc The translation “searched” follows the LXX and Vulgate; the MT reads “binds up” or “dams up.” This latter translation might refer to the damming of water that might seep into a mine (HALOT 289 s.v. חבשׁ; cf. ESV, NJPS, NASB, REB, NLT).
  23. Job 28:11 tc The older translations had “he binds the streams from weeping,” i.e., from trickling (מִבְּכִי, mibbekhi). But the Ugaritic parallel has changed the understanding, reading “toward the spring of the rivers” (ʿm mbk nhrm). Earlier than that discovery, the versions had taken the word as a noun as well. Some commentators had suggested repointing the Hebrew. Some chose מַבְּכֵי (mabbekhe, “sources”). Now there is much Ugaritic support for the reading (see G. M. Landes, BASOR 144 [1956]: 32f.; and H. L. Ginsberg, “The Ugaritic texts and textual criticism,” JBL 62 [1943]: 111).
  24. Job 28:13 tc The LXX has “its way,” apparently reading דַּרְכָּה (darkah) in place of עֶרְכָּהּ (ʿerkah, “place”). This is adopted by most modern commentators. But R. Gordis (Job, 308) shows that this change is not necessary, for עֶרֶךְ (ʿerekh) in the Bible means “order; row; disposition,” and here “place.” An alternate meaning would be “worth” (NIV, ESV).
  25. Job 28:14 sn The תְּהוֹם (tehom) is the “deep” of Gen 1:2, the abyss or primordial sea. It was always understood to be a place of darkness and danger. As remote as it is, it asserts that wisdom is not found there (personification). So here we have the abyss and the sea, then death and destruction—but they are not the places that wisdom resides.
  26. Job 28:14 tn The ב (bet) preposition is taken here to mean “with” in the light of the parallel preposition.
  27. Job 28:16 tn The word actually means “weighed,” that is, lifted up on the scale and weighed, in order to purchase.
  28. Job 28:16 tn The exact identification of these stones is uncertain. Many recent English translations, however, have “onyx” and “sapphires.”
  29. Job 28:17 tn The word is from זָכַךְ (zakhakh, “clear”). It describes a transparent substance, and so “glass” is an appropriate translation. In the ancient world it was precious and so expensive.
  30. Job 28:17 tc The MT has “vase,” but the versions have a plural here, suggesting jewels of gold.
  31. Job 28:18 tn The word מֶשֶׁךְ (meshekh) comes from a root meaning “to grasp; to seize; to hold,” and so the derived noun means “grasping; acquiring; taking possession,” and therefore, “price” (see the discussion in R. Gordis, Job, 309). Gray renders it “acquisition” (so A. Cohen, AJSL 40 [1923/24]: 175).
  32. Job 28:18 tn In Lam 4:7 these are described as red, and so have been identified as rubies (so NIV) or corals.
  33. Job 28:19 tn Or “Ethiopia.” In ancient times this referred to the region of the upper Nile, rather than modern Ethiopia (formerly known as Abyssinia).
  34. Job 28:20 tn The refrain is repeated, except now the verb is תָּבוֹא (tavoʾ, “come”).
  35. Job 28:21 tn The vav on the verb is unexpressed in the LXX. It should not be overlooked, for it introduces a subordinate clause of condition (R. Gordis, Job, 310).
  36. Job 28:22 tn Heb “Abaddon.”
  37. Job 28:22 tn Heb “heard a report of it,” which means a report of its location, thus “where it can be found.”
  38. Job 28:25 tn Heb “he gave weight to the wind.” The form is the infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition. Some have emended it to change the preposition to the temporal ב (bet) on the basis of some of the versions (e.g., Latin and Syriac) that have “who made.” This is workable, for the infinitive would then take on the finite tense of the previous verbs. An infinitive of purpose does not work well, for that would be saying God looked everywhere in order to give wind its proper weight (see R. Gordis, Job, 310).
  39. Job 28:25 tn The verb is the Piel perfect, meaning “to estimate the measure” of something. In the verse, the perfect verb continues the function of the infinitive preceding it, as if it had a ו (vav) prefixed to it. Whatever usage that infinitive had, this verb is to continue it (see GKC 352 §114.r).
  40. Job 28:26 tn Or “decree.”
  41. Job 28:26 tn Or “thunderbolt,” i.e., lightning. Heb “the roaring of voices/sounds,” which describes the nature of the storm.
  42. Job 28:27 tn Heb “it”; the referent (wisdom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  43. Job 28:27 tn The verb סָפַר (safar) in the Piel basically means “to tell; to declare; to show” or “to count; to number.” Many commentators offer different suggestions for the translation. “Declared” (as in the RSV, NASB, and NRSV) would be the simplest—but to whom did God declare it? Besides “appraised” which is the view of Pope, Dhorme and others (cf. NAB, NIV), J. Reider has suggested “probed” (“Etymological studies in biblical Hebrew,” VT 2 [1952]: 127), Strahan has “studied,” and Kissane has “reckoned.” The difficulty is that the line has a series of verbs, which seem to build to a climax, but without more details it is hard to know how to translate them when they have such a range of meaning.
  44. Job 28:27 tc The verb כּוּן (kun) means “to establish; to prepare” in this stem. There are several mss that have the form from בִּין (bin, “discern”), giving “he discerned it,” making more of a parallel with the first colon. But the weight of the evidence supports the traditional MT reading.
  45. Job 28:27 tn The verb חָקַר (khaqar) means “to examine; to search out.” Some of the language used here is anthropomorphic, for the sovereign Lord did not have to research or investigate wisdom. The point is that it is as if he did this human activity, meaning that as in the results of such a search God knows everything about wisdom.
  46. Job 28:28 tc A number of medieval Hebrew manuscripts have YHWH (“Lord”); BHS has אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay, “Lord”). As J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 383) points out, this is the only occurrence of אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay, “Lord”) in the book of Job, creating doubt for retaining it. Normally, YHWH is avoided in the book. “Fear of” (יִרְאַת, yirʾat) is followed by שַׁדַּי (shadday, “Almighty”) in 6:14—the only other occurrence of this term for “fear” in construct with a divine title.
  47. Job 28:28 tc Many commentators delete this verse because (1) many read the divine name Yahweh (translated “Lord”) here, and (2) it is not consistent with the argument that precedes it. But as H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 185) points out, there is inconsistency in this reasoning, for many of the critics have already said that this chapter is an interpolation. Following that line of thought, then, one would not expect it to conform to the rest of the book in this matter of the divine name. And concerning the second difficulty, the point of this chapter is that wisdom is beyond human comprehension and control. It belongs to God alone. So the conclusion that the fear of the Lord is wisdom is the necessary conclusion. Rowley concludes: “It is a pity to rob the poem of its climax and turn it into the expression of unrelieved agnosticism.”
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Revelation 5
New English Translation

The Opening of the Scroll

5 Then[a] I saw in the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne a scroll written on the front and back[b] and sealed with seven seals.[c] 2 And I saw a powerful angel proclaiming in a loud voice: “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?” 3 But[d] no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it. 4 So[e] I began weeping bitterly[f] because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 Then[g] one of the elders said[h] to me, “Stop weeping![i] Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered;[j] thus he can open[k] the scroll and its seven seals.”

6 Then[l] I saw standing in the middle of the throne[m] and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb that appeared to have been killed.[n] He had[o] seven horns and seven eyes, which[p] are the seven[q] spirits of God[r] sent out into all the earth. 7 Then[s] he came and took the scroll[t] from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne, 8 and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground[u] before the Lamb. Each[v] of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the saints).[w] 9 They were singing a new song:[x]

“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals
because you were killed,[y]
and at the cost of your own blood[z] you have purchased[aa] for God
persons[ab] from every tribe, language,[ac] people, and nation.
10 You have appointed[ad] them[ae] as a kingdom and priests[af] to serve[ag] our God, and they will reign[ah] on the earth.”

11 Then[ai] I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their[aj] number was ten thousand times ten thousand[ak]—thousands times thousands— 12 all of whom[al] were singing[am] in a loud voice:

“Worthy is the lamb who was killed[an]
to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and praise!”

13 Then[ao] I heard every creature—in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them—singing:[ap]

“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power[aq] forever and ever!”

14 And the four living creatures were saying “Amen,” and the elders threw themselves to the ground[ar] and worshiped.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 5:1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
  2. Revelation 5:1 tn Grk “written on the inside and the outside” (an idiom for having writing on both sides).
  3. Revelation 5:1 tn L&N 6.55 states, “From the immediate context of Re 5:1 it is not possible to determine whether the scroll in question had seven seals on the outside or whether the scroll was sealed at seven different points. However, since according to chapter six of Revelation the seals were broken one after another, it would appear as though the scroll had been sealed at seven different places as it had been rolled up.”
  4. Revelation 5:3 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
  5. Revelation 5:4 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of no one being found worthy to open the scroll.
  6. Revelation 5:4 tn Grk “much.”
  7. Revelation 5:5 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
  8. Revelation 5:5 tn Grk “says” (a historical present).
  9. Revelation 5:5 tn The present imperative with μή (mē) is used here to command cessation of an action in progress (ExSyn 724 lists this verse as an example).
  10. Revelation 5:5 tn Or “has been victorious”; traditionally, “has overcome.”
  11. Revelation 5:5 tn The infinitive has been translated as an infinitive of result here.
  12. Revelation 5:6 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
  13. Revelation 5:6 tn Perhaps, “in the middle of the throne area” (see L&N 83.10).
  14. Revelation 5:6 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.” The phrase behind this translation is ὡς ἐσφαγμένον (hōs esphagmenon). The particle ὡς is used in Greek generally for comparison, and in Revelation it is used often to describe the appearance of what the author saw. This phrase does not imply that the Lamb “appeared to have been killed” but in reality was not, because the wider context of the NT shows that in fact the Lamb, i.e., Jesus, was killed. See 13:3 for the only other occurrence of this phrase in the NT.
  15. Revelation 5:6 tn Grk “killed, having.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “he.”
  16. Revelation 5:6 sn The relative pronoun which is masculine, referring back to the eyes rather than to the horns.
  17. Revelation 5:6 tc There is good ms evidence for the inclusion of “seven” (ἑπτά, hepta; P24 א 2053 2351 MK). There is equally good ms support for the omission of the term (A 1006 1611 MA). It may have been accidentally added due to its repeated presence in the immediately preceding phrases, or it may have been intentionally added to maintain the symmetry of the phrases or more likely to harmonize the phrase with 1:4; 3:1; 4:5. Or it may have been accidentally deleted by way of homoioteleuton (τὰ ἑπτά, ta hepta). A decision is difficult in this instance. NA28 also does not find the problem easy to solve, placing the word in brackets to indicate doubts as to its authenticity.
  18. Revelation 5:6 sn See the note on the phrase the seven spirits of God in Rev 4:5.
  19. Revelation 5:7 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
  20. Revelation 5:7 tn The words “the scroll” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
  21. Revelation 5:8 tn Grk “fell down.” 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.”
  22. Revelation 5:8 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  23. Revelation 5:8 sn This interpretive comment by the author forms a parenthesis in the narrative.
  24. Revelation 5:9 tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.
  25. Revelation 5:9 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”
  26. Revelation 5:9 tn The preposition ἐν (en) is taken to indicate price here, like the Hebrew preposition ב (bet) does at times. BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 5.b states, “The ἐν which takes the place of the gen. of price is also instrumental ἠγόρασας ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου Rv 5:9 (cp. 1 Ch 21:24 ἀγοράζω ἐν ἀργυρίῳ).”
  27. Revelation 5:9 tc The Greek text as it stands above (i.e., the reading τῷ θεῷ [tō theō] alone) is found in codex A. א 2050 2344 M sy add the term “us” (ἡμᾶς, hēmas), either before or after τῷ θεῷ, as an attempt to clarify the object of “purchased” (ἠγόρασας, ēgorasas). A few mss (1 vgms) delete the reference to God altogether and simply replace it with “us” (ἡμᾶς). This too is an attempt to remove ambiguity in the phrase and provide an object for “purchased.” The shorter reading, supported by the best witness for Revelation, best accounts for the other readings.
  28. Revelation 5:9 tn The word “persons” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
  29. Revelation 5:9 tn Grk “and language,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
  30. Revelation 5:10 tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoiēsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.
  31. Revelation 5:10 tc The vast majority of witnesses have αὐτούς (autous, “them”) here, while the Textus Receptus reads ἡμᾶς (hēmas, “us”) with insignificant support (pc gig vgcl sa Prim Bea). There is no question that the original text read αὐτούς here.
  32. Revelation 5:10 tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”
  33. Revelation 5:10 tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”
  34. Revelation 5:10 tc The textual problem here between the present tense βασιλεύουσιν (basileuousin, “they are reigning”; so A 1006 1611 MK) and the future βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, “they will reign”; so א 1854 2053 MA lat co) is a difficult one. Both readings have excellent support. On the one hand, the present tense seems to be the harder reading in this context. On the other hand, codex A elsewhere mistakes the future for the present (20:6). Further, the lunate sigma in majuscule script could have been overlooked by some scribes, resulting in the present tense. All things considered, there is a slight preference for the future.
  35. Revelation 5:11 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
  36. Revelation 5:11 tn Grk “elders, and the number of them was.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  37. Revelation 5:11 tn Or “myriads of myriads.” Although μυριάς (murias) literally means “10,000,” the point of the combination here may simply be to indicate an incalculably huge number. See L&N 60.9.
  38. Revelation 5:12 tn The words “all of whom” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to indicate the resumption of the phrase “the voice of many angels” at the beginning of the verse.
  39. Revelation 5:12 tn Grk “saying.”
  40. Revelation 5:12 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”
  41. Revelation 5:13 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
  42. Revelation 5:13 tn Grk “saying.”
  43. Revelation 5:13 tn Or “dominion.”
  44. Revelation 5:14 tn Grk “fell down.” 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.”
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