Revelation 3:7-9

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Revelation 3:7 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated due to differences between Greek and English style.
2. Revelation 3:7 tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.
3. Revelation 3:7 tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” See the note on the phrase “this is the solemn pronouncement of” in 2:1.sn The expression This is the solemn pronouncement of reflects an OT idiom. See the note on this phrase in 2:1.
4. Revelation 3:7 tn The word “door” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied in the translation. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context. Since the following verse does contain the word “door” (θύραν, thuran), that word has been supplied as the direct object here.
5. Revelation 3:7 tn See the note on the word “door” earlier in this verse.
6. Revelation 3:8 tn Grk “I have given.”
7. Revelation 3:8 tn Grk “to shut it,” but English would leave the direct object understood in this case. sn The entire statement is parenthetical, interrupting the construction found in other letters to the churches in 3:1 and 3:15, “I know your deeds, that…” where an enumeration of the deeds follows.
8. Revelation 3:8 tn This translation is based on connecting the ὅτι (hoti) clause with the οἶδα (oida) at the beginning of the verse, giving the content of what is known (see also 3:1, 15 for parallels). Because of the intervening clause that is virtually parenthetical (see the note on the word “shut” earlier in this verse), the words “I know that” from the beginning of the verse had to be repeated to make this connection clear for the English reader. However, the ὅτι could be understood as introducing a causal subordinate clause instead and thus translated, “because you have.”
9. Revelation 3:8 tn Or “little power.”
10. Revelation 3:8 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
11. Revelation 3:8 tn Grk “and having kept.” The participle ἐτήρησας (etērēsas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. For the translation of τηρέω (tēreō) as “obey” see L&N 36.19. This is the same word that is used in 3:10 (there translated “kept”) where there is a play on words.
12. Revelation 3:9 tn Grk “behold” (L&N 91.13).
13. Revelation 3:9 sn See the note on synagogue in 2:9.
14. Revelation 3:9 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast between what these people claimed and what they were.
15. Revelation 3:9 tn The verb here is ποιέω (poieō), but in this context it has virtually the same meaning as δίδωμι (didōmi) used at the beginning of the verse. Stylistic variation like this is typical of Johannine literature.
16. Revelation 3:9 tn The verb here is προσκυνήσουσιν (proskunēsousin), normally used to refer to worship.
17. Revelation 3:9 tn Or “and know,” “and recognize.”