Revelation 1

1 Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to shew to his bondmen what must shortly take place; [a] and he signified [b] [it], sending by his angel, to his bondman John,
2 who testified the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, all things that he saw.
3 Blessed [is] he that reads, and they that hear the words [c] of the prophecy, and keep the things written in it; for the time [is] near.
4 John to the seven assemblies which [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 which [are] before his throne;
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from [d] the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood,
6 and made [e] us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father: to him [be] the glory and the might to the ages of ages. Amen.
7 Behold, he comes with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they which [f] have pierced him, and all the tribes of the land [g] shall wail because of him. Yea. Amen.
8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, [h] saith [the] Lord God, [i] he who is, and who was, and who is to come, [j] the Almighty. [k]
9 I John, your brother and fellow-partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and patience, [l] in Jesus, was [m] in the island called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus.
10 I became in [the] Spirit [n] on the Lord's day, [o] and I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet,
11 saying, What thou seest write in a book, and send [p] to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
12 And I turned back to see the voice which spoke with me; and having turned, I saw seven golden lamps, [q]
13 and in the midst of the [seven] lamps [one] like [the] [r] Son of man, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle:
14 his head and hair white like white wool, as snow; and his eyes as a flame of fire;
15 and his feet like fine [s] brass, as burning in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters;
16 and having in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth a sharp two-edged sword going forth; and his countenance as the sun shines in its power.
17 And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead; and he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; *I* am the first and the last,
18 and the living one: and I became [t] dead, and behold, I am living to the ages of ages, and have the keys of death and of hades. [u]
19 Write therefore what thou hast seen, and the things that are, and the things that are [v] about to be after these.
20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou hast seen on my right hand, and the seven golden lamps. -- The seven stars are angels [w] of the seven assemblies; and the seven lamps are seven assemblies.

Images for Revelation 1

Footnotes 23

  • [a]. Aorist, lit. 'have taken place,' perhaps 'be accomplished.'
  • [b]. * Lit. 'made known by signs.'
  • [c]. Logos, as throughout this book, save ch. 17.17, rhema. See Note at John 17.14.
  • [d]. Lit. 'of the dead.'
  • [e]. Lit. 'he has made.' 'Loves' and 'has washed' are participles.
  • [f]. Hostis: as Matt. 7.24.
  • [g]. Or 'earth.' See Note at Matt. 5.5.
  • [h]. It is not 'about to come,' for the act of the Lord's coming is not immediately before the mind. I will not say there is no allusion to the future awaited exercise of divine power; for in Daniel, not only is the Son of man brought before the Ancient of days, but the Ancient of days comes. In the words 'who is, and was, and is to come,' there is surely reference to the abiding nature of his being. 'Who is to come' seems to me thus to render more truly the sense than any other form of words. The Greek has the future sense. See Mark 10.30, Luke 18.30; and Mark 11.10 partly runs into this sense. 'The coming one' became a name of the expected Messiah, as in Matt. 11.3, and in Heb. 10.37. But note, 'essential being' is put first, 'who is;' and then 'time past, and to come.' 'Who is' asserts the essential nature of his being.
  • [i]. Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.
  • [j]. 'Jehovah Elohim,' as Luke 1.32; see chs. 4.8; 15.3; 18.8; 21.22; 22.5,6.
  • [k]. 'The Almighty' always has the article in Greek in the Revelation.
  • [l]. Hupomone, 'endurance:' see Jas. 5.7; so chs. 2.2,3,19; 13.10; 14.12. The words 'tribulation,' 'kingdom,' 'patience' are intimately connected, being brought together under one head by one article in the Greek.
  • [m]. Ginomai: see John 1.17. His being there was an event which happened on account of the word of God. So 'became,' ver. 10.
  • [n]. 'In [the] Spirit' is a state into which he entered. See Note c, Matt. 3.11.
  • [o]. The 'dominical' or 'lordly' day -- characterized by belonging to the Lord, as 'Lord's,' 1Cor. 11.20.
  • [p]. Aorist, 'have it written and sent:' it is to be a complete thing done.
  • [q]. Or 'lampstands' (luchnia) but simply here, I think, 'lamps' as compared with Heb. 9.2, where it is clearly the 'candlestick' or 'lampstand.' If luchnos and luchnia are distinguished, luchnia is the stand. The words are so distinguished in Matt. 5.15, Luke 8.16; 11.33.
  • [r]. Or 'a Son of man.' See Dan. 7.13, also without the article. It is not likeness to a person John knew, but to the character known by this title in scripture. To have seen angels in heaven would have been no wonder, but to see one as 'Son of man' was. This chapter corresponds to Dan. 7: only now he was seen on earth. It was the title the Lord habitually took. This made it personal; but in Daniel, though surely the same person, it was characteristic. Here, too, it is characteristic. Still the person designated is now known, and it is difficult to say 'a Son of man,' because of excluding this. 'Son-of-man-like' is feeble, it might only mean a manner: see ch. 14.14.
  • [s]. Or 'shining.'
  • [t]. Ginomai: see John 1.17. Became what he was not before.
  • [u]. Hades: see Note, Matt. 11.23.
  • [v]. The first 'are' is plural; 'are about to' is singular.
  • [w]. The word has also the sense of 'messengers:' see Note e, ch. 2.20.

Revelation 1 Commentaries

The Darby Translation is in the public domain.