OET interlinear REV 4:1

4:1a

After this I looked: The Greek word that the BSB translates as this is plural: “these (things).” The word refers to the messages to the churches (chapters 2–3) and probably the first vision (1:10–20) as well. Other ways to translate this phrase here are:

After these things I looked (NASB)

Then as I looked (NLT)

When those messages were finished, I looked around/up

4:1a–b

I looked and saw a door standing open in heaven: The Greek words are literally “I saw, and look, a door in heaven, already opened already/earlier.” The phrase “and look” emphasizes or calls attention to the words that follow. The phrase “a door in heaven, already opened” describes what John saw. Other ways to translate this statement are:

I suddenly/unexpectedly saw something else! It was a door which was open into heaven

as I looked, wow, I saw an opening into heaven

Another vision appeared before/to me. I saw a doorway opened into heaven

I had another vision and saw an open door in heaven (GNT)

I had a vision: a door stood open in heaven (REB)

See how you translated “and behold” in 1:18 or “See” in 3:8.

4:1b

a door standing open in heaven: The open door allowed John to see into heaven and perhaps even to enter it. The voice said “Come up here.” This implies that the door was somewhere up in the sky, not down on the ground. For example:

a door that opened into heaven (CEV)

an entrance in the sky which was open

a door standing open: This phrase refers to an opening shaped like a door in the sky. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

open door (RSV)

entrance

doorway

heaven: Here the Greek word that the BSB translates as heaven refers to the place where God lives.

4:1c

the voice I had previously heard speak to me like a trumpet was saying: The clause the voice I had previously heard speak to me like a trumpet refers to what happened earlier. In some languages it is more natural to use a separate sentence. For example:

I heard the voice like a trumpet that spoke to me previously. This time it said…

Earlier I had heard a trumpet-like voice speaking to me. Now it spoke to me again and said…

the voice I had previously heard speak to me like a trumpet: This phrase refers to the voice that John heard in 1:10. See how you translated “a loud voice like a trumpet” there.

the voice…speak to me like a trumpet: This phrase describes what the voice sounded like to John. Other ways to translate the phrase are:

the person whose voice sounded like a trumpet

the person with the trumpet-like voice

4:1d

Come up here: This is a command. Jesus gave the command, and John was ready to obey it.

4:1e

what must happen: The Greek words are literally “the things necessary to happen.” The events in chapters 4–22 will certainly happen, because God requires them to happen. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

the things that will certainly happen

the things which will necessarily occur

has been determined to happen

See how you translated a similar phrase (“what must…come to pass”) in 1:1.

after these things: The Greek word that the BSB translates as these things is literally “these (things).” It refers to the things that John was shown in chapters 1–3. For example:

in the future (NJB)