OET interlinear REV 22:17

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἡ νύμφη

the bride

In keeping with the symbolism of his vision, John is speaking of the church as if it were literally the Bride of Jesus. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [the church]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular

λέγουσιν, ἔρχου & ὁ ἀκούων εἰπάτω, ἔρχου

˓are˒_saying (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί τό Πνεῦμα καί ἡ νύμφη λέγουσιν Ἔρχου Καί ὁ ἀκούων εἰπάτω Ἔρχου Καί ὁ διψῶν ἐρχέσθω ὁ θέλων λαβέτω ὕδωρ ζωῆς δωρεάν)

In both cases, the implied “you” in the imperative Come is singular, so use a singular form if your language marks that distinction. If it does not, you could indicate the addressee in another way. The addressee could be: (1) Jesus, who says in [verses 12](../22/12.md) and [20](../22/20.md), “I am coming quickly,” and to whom John says explicitly in v. 20, “Come, Lord Jesus!” Alternate translation: [say to Jesus, “Come!” … let the one hearing say to Jesus, “Come!”]; (2) the one thirsting, whom John mentions in the next sentence. Alternate translation: [say to the one thirsting, “Come!” … let the one hearing say to the one thirsting, “Come!”]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / imperative

ἔρχου & ἔρχου

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί τό Πνεῦμα καί ἡ νύμφη λέγουσιν Ἔρχου Καί ὁ ἀκούων εἰπάτω Ἔρχου Καί ὁ διψῶν ἐρχέσθω ὁ θέλων λαβέτω ὕδωρ ζωῆς δωρεάν)

These are imperatives, but they communicate polite requests rather than commands. For each instance, use a form in your language that communicates a polite request. It may be helpful to add an expression such as “please.” Alternate translation: [Please come … Please come]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / imperative3p

ὁ ἀκούων εἰπάτω & ὁ διψῶν ἐρχέσθω; ὁ θέλων λαβέτω

the_‹one› hearing ˱him˲_˓let˒_say & the_‹one› thirsting ˓let_be˒_coming the_‹one› wanting ˱him˲_˓let˒_take

If your language does not use the third-person imperative in this way, you could state this in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [may the one hearing say … may the one thirsting come … may the one desiring take] or [the one hearing should say … the one thirsting should come … the one desiring should take]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

ὁ ἀκούων & ὁ διψῶν & ὁ θέλων

the_‹one› hearing & the_‹one› thirsting & the_‹one› wanting

These phrases do not refer to specific people. They refer to anyone who has the quality that they name. Express this in the way that would be most natural in your language. Alternate translation: [anyone who hears … anyone who thirsts … anyone who desires]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

καὶ ὁ διψῶν ἐρχέσθω; ὁ θέλων λαβέτω ὕδωρ ζωῆς δωρεάν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί τό Πνεῦμα καί ἡ νύμφη λέγουσιν Ἔρχου Καί ὁ ἀκούων εἰπάτω Ἔρχου Καί ὁ διψῶν ἐρχέσθω ὁ θέλων λαβέτω ὕδωρ ζωῆς δωρεάν)

In [21:6](../21/06.md), God spoke as if he would literally give “water” to someone who was “thirsting.” He was using thirst to represent a person’s desire for everlasting life and he was using drinking life-giving water to represent that person receiving everlasting life. John is echoing the same image here. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [Let the one who wants to have everlasting life come. Let the one who desires everlasting life receive it freely]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

καὶ ὁ διψῶν ἐρχέσθω; ὁ θέλων λαβέτω ὕδωρ ζωῆς δωρεάν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί τό Πνεῦμα καί ἡ νύμφη λέγουσιν Ἔρχου Καί ὁ ἀκούων εἰπάτω Ἔρχου Καί ὁ διψῶν ἐρχέσθω ὁ θέλων λαβέτω ὕδωρ ζωῆς δωρεάν)

These two sentences mean basically the same thing. John is speaking in something like Hebrew poetry, which was based on this kind of repetition. It would be good to show this to your readers by including both phrases in your translation rather than combining them. However, if such repetition would not be natural in your language, you could connect the clauses with a word other than and in order to show that the second clause is repeating the first one, not saying something additional. Alternate translation: [Let the one who is thirsting come, yes, let the one desiring take the water of life freely] or [Let the one who wants to have everlasting life come, yes, let the one who desires everlasting life receive it freely]