OET interlinear REV 1:4

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

Ἰωάννης

John

In this culture, letter writers would give their own names first, and they would refer to themselves in the third person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use the first person. If your language has a particular way of introducing the author of a letter, you could also use that. Alternate translation: “From John” or (with no comma following) “I, John, am writing this letter”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

ταῖς ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαις ταῖς ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ

˱to˲_the seven assemblies ¬which in ¬the Asia

In this culture, after giving their own names, letter writers would then say to whom they were writing, naming those people in the third person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use the second person. Alternate translation: “to you who are members of the seven churches in Asia”

Note 3 topic: translate-blessing

χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη, ἀπὸ ὁ ὢν, καὶ ὁ ἦν, καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἑπτὰ πνευμάτων, ἃ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ

grace ˱to˲_you_all and peace from the_‹one› being and who was and who coming and from the seven spirits who_‹are› before the throne ˱of˲_him

In this culture, letter writers would offer a good wish for the recipient before introducing the main business of the letter. Use a form in your language that makes it clear that this is a greeting and blessing. Alternate translation: “May the one who is and who was and who is coming and the seven spirits who are before his throne give you grace and peace”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη, ἀπὸ ὁ ὢν, καὶ ὁ ἦν, καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἑπτὰ πνευμάτων, ἃ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ

grace ˱to˲_you_all and peace from the_‹one› being and who was and who coming and from the seven spirits who_‹are› before the throne ˱of˲_him

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the ideas of grace and peace, you could express the same ideas in another way. Alternate translation: “May the one who is and who was and who is coming and the seven spirits who are before his throne treat you kindly and make you peaceful”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular

ὑμῖν

˱to˲_you_all

The word you is plural here because it refers to all of the believers to whom John is writing. So use the plural form here in your translation if your language marks that distinction, and use the singular or plural form in the rest of the book as the context indicates. (As the General Introduction to Revelation explains, these notes will generally only identify forms as singular or plural if that might not be clear from the context.)

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ὁ ὢν, καὶ ὁ ἦν, καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος

the_‹one› being and who was and who coming

These three phrases do not describe three different people. They all refer to God. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate this explicitly. Alternate translation: “God, who is and who was and who is coming”

Note 7 topic: writing-symlanguage

τῶν ἑπτὰ πνευμάτων

the seven spirits

Here, the seven spirits could refer to: (1) the Spirit of God, that is, the Holy Spirit. The Bible can use the number seven as a symbol for completeness and perfection, for example, it describes the Holy Spirit with seven attributes in Isaiah 11:2. If this phrase refers to the Holy Spirit, then John is giving a Trinitarian benediction by mentioning God the Father and the Holy Spirit in this verse and Jesus Christ in the next verse. Alternate translation: “the Holy Spirit” (2) seven individual spirits who serve God. Alternate translation: “the seven spirit beings” or “the seven angelic spirits”

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

ἃ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ

who_‹are› before the throne ˱of˲_him

If these are individual spirits, is not entirely clear who they are, but they would be seven individual spiritual beings who had important responsibilities serving God. John indicates this by association by noting that they are before his throne, that is, in God's presence and ready to serve him whenever needed. Some interpreters believe that they may be the “seven angels” whom John describes in 8:2. Alternate translation: “who are always ready to serve him in important ways”