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Revelation 1

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The Revelation of Jesus Christ 1–3

1
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John; ​
2
who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw.
3
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand. ​

Greeting to the Seven Churches 4–8

4
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits that are before his throne; ​
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and from Jesus Christ, who isthe faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood; ​
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and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
7
Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so, Amen. ​
8
I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. ​

John's Vision on Patmos 9–11

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I John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patiencewhich arein Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ​
10
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet ​
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saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Vision of the Glorified Son of Man 12–20

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And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And having turned I saw seven golden candlesticks; ​
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and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle. ​
14
And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; ​
15
and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters.
16
And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. ​
17
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last,
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and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. ​
19
Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter; ​
20
the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks are seven churches. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Revelation 1

Verse 1

The Revelation of Jesus Christ — Apokalupsis, an unveiling (Gal 1:12). The line of transmission is stated: God gave it to Christ, who 'sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John' for 'his servants', as the LORD 'revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets' (Amos 3:7). 'Shortly' (en tachei) is the word of 22:6.

Verse 3

Blessed is he that readeth — This is the first of seven beatitudes in the book (14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14). One reads aloud and many hear, as when an epistle 'is read among you' in the church (Col 4:16). The blessing is for hearing and keeping: 22:7 repeats it, 'blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book'.

Verse 4

which is, and which was, and which is to come — The name of Ex 3:14, 'I AM THAT I AM', echoes here in three tenses, as the church has long read it; v.8 repeats it. The 'seven Spirits' are the Spirit of God in his fullness: 'seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God' (4:5); Isa 11:2 describes the Spirit of the LORD in seven parts.

Verse 5

the first begotten of the dead — Prototokos, firstborn, as in Col 1:18, 'the firstborn from the dead'. The three titles answer Ps 89, where the covenant promise to David reaches 'my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth' (Ps 89:27). Christ is the ruler (archon) of those kings, and he 'washed us from our sins in his own blood'.

Verse 7

every eye shall see him — Two prophecies are joined: the Son of man who 'came with the clouds of heaven' (Dan 7:13) and 'they shall look upon me whom they have pierced' (Zech 12:10), which John quotes of the cross (John 19:37). 'Kindreds' is phyle, tribes, and 'wail' is kopto, to beat the breast. 'Even so, Amen' joins Greek and Hebrew.

Verse 8

Alpha and Omega — These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, spoken by 'the Lord'; the same words stand in 22:13, in the voice of the one who calls himself 'I Jesus' in 22:16. They restate Isa 44:6, 'I am the first, and I am the last'. 'Almighty' (pantokrator) occurs in nine verses of Revelation and elsewhere in the New Testament only in 2 Cor 6:18.

Verse 9

Patmos — The island is named only here in the New Testament. John is 'brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ'; synkoinonos is a joint-sharer. He is there 'for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ', the phrase of v.2 and the description of the martyrs in 6:9 and 20:4.

Verse 10

the Lord's day — Kyriake hemera, the day belonging to the Lord. The adjective kyriakos occurs only twice in the New Testament, here and in 'the Lord's supper' (1 Cor 11:20). 'In the Spirit' returns at 4:2, 17:3 and 21:10, and the 'voice, as of a trumpet' speaks again at 4:1.

Verse 12

seven golden candlesticks — The golden candlestick of the tabernacle had seven lamps on one stand (Ex 25:31, 37); Zechariah saw 'a candlestick all of gold' with seven lamps (Zech 4:2). Here there are seven separate stands, and v.20 gives the meaning. John 'turned to see the voice', and what he sees first is the lampstands, then the Speaker among them.

Verse 13

one like unto the Son of man — These are the words of Dan 7:13, 'one like the Son of man'. 'A garment down to the foot' translates podere, a single word found only here in the New Testament; the 'golden girdle' is worn 'about the paps', that is, the chest. He stands 'in the midst of the seven candlesticks', the churches of v.20.

Verse 14

white like wool, as white as snow — This is the description of the Ancient of days: 'whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool' (Dan 7:9), now given to the Son of man. 'His eyes were as a flame of fire' is repeated in the letter to Thyatira (2:18) and at his coming (19:12); Daniel's man in linen has eyes 'as lamps of fire' (Dan 10:6).

Verse 16

a sharp twoedged sword — Rhomphaia, the long sword, and distomos, 'two-mouthed', a word found elsewhere only in Heb 4:12 and Rev 2:12. It goes out of his mouth, so it is his word: 'the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God' (Eph 6:17); he will 'fight against them with the sword of my mouth' (2:16). His 'countenance' shines 'as the sun' (cf. Matt 17:2).

Verse 18

the keys of hell and of death — He 'liveth, and was dead', and is 'alive for evermore' (literally, to the ages of the ages). 'Hell' is hades, the place of the dead. The keys carry the authority of Isa 22:22, 'the key of the house of David… he shall open, and none shall shut', which he claims in 3:7. Death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire in 20:14.

Verse 19

the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter — Three parts are named. 'Hereafter' is meta tauta, 'after these things', the same words in 4:1, 'things which must be hereafter'. Readers differ on whether the three parts mark the book's outline (chapters 1, 2–3, 4–22) or are one commission covering all that John is shown.

Verse 20

The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches — The vision explains itself: stars are angels, lampstands are churches. Musterion, a mystery, is a thing hidden and now disclosed. 'Angel' is angelos, a messenger, and each of the letters in chapters 2–3 is addressed to 'the angel of the church', beginning with Ephesus (2:1).