UTN uW Translation Notes:

Revelation 2 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

- The Letter to Ephesus (2:1-7)- The Letter to Smyrna (2:8-11)- The Letter to Pergamum (2:12-17)- The Letter to Thyatira (2:18-29)You may wish to set each letter apart so that your readers can easily see that these are separate letters. You could, for example, put a blank line between these letters in your translation.Some translations set quotations from the Old Testament farther to the right on the page than the rest of the text. The ULT does this with the words in verse 27.

Special concepts in this chapter

“the angel of the church”

Jesus addresses each of his letters to the “angel” of the church he is writing to. As a note to 1:20 discusses, the word “angel” could have a literal sense, or it could mean “leader” or “messenger.” You should translate “angel” in the introduction to these letters in the same way you decided to translate it in 1:20.

Balaam, Balak, and Jezebel

In two of the letters in this chapter, Jesus refers to people whose stories are told in the Old Testament. In the letter to Pergamum, in 2:14, he refers to Balaam and Balak, and in the letter to Thyatira, in 2:20, he refers to Jezebel. These were all people who tried to harm the Israelites by cursing them or by making them want to stop obeying God. Notes to these verses suggest ways of indicating that Jesus is referring to people whose stories are told in the Bible.

Nicolaitans

In the letter to Ephesus, in 2:6, and in the letter to Pergamum, in 2:15, Jesus refers to the “Nicolaitans.” This name describes people who followed the teachings or practices of a man named Nicolaus. It is no longer known who he was or what he taught. It is possible that he encouraged believers in Jesus, based on a misunderstanding of what it meant to be spiritual or to have Christian freedom, to take part in feasts at the temples of idols and in the immorality that happened during these feasts. In 2:14–15, Jesus seems to associate the teaching of Nicolaus with the teaching of Balaam, who got the Israelites “to eat food sacrificed to idols and to be sexually immoral.” The Hebrew name Balaam has the same meaning as the Greek name Nicolas, “one who conquers the people,” so when Jesus says in 2:14 that some in Pergamum follow the teaching of Nicolaus “in the same way” that they follow the teaching of Balaam, he may be saying that the contemporary teaching of Nicolaus is the same as the ancient teaching of Balaam. However, none of this is certain, so it would be best in your translation simply to refer to “the works of the Nicolaitans” in 2:6 and to “the teaching of the Nicolaitans” in 2:15 without trying to explain those things any further.

Translation issues in this chapter

Levels of quotation

The opening of each of the letters to the seven churches is a quotation within a quotation, and the main body of each letter is a quotation within a quotation within a quotation. If your language would not put one direct quotation inside another, you can translate the opening of each letter so that its main body is a simple direct quotation. You could end the quotation that begins at 1:17 at the end of 1:20, and you could then have John resume his narrative of his encounter with Jesus at the beginning of each letter. For example, for the first letter, to Ephesus, you could translate 2:1 this way: “Jesus then told me to write to the angel of the church in Ephesus that the one holding the seven stars in his right hand, the one walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, said the following things.” (See: figs-quotesinquotes)

The use of the second-person singular in letters to groups

Since each of the letters to the seven churches is addressed to an individual “angel,” the words “you” and “your” are singular and the verb forms are second-person singular. However, since the angel represents the church—Jesus is addressing the angel as if the angel were the church—“you” and “your” and the singular verbs are plural in their implied references to the believers in the churches. If singular forms would not be natural in your language in such a context, you could use plural forms in your translation. (See: figs-yousingular)In several places, Jesus switches to the second-person plural to speak more directly to the believers themselves. Notes indicate where this happens and suggest using the second-person plural in your translation if that would be natural in your language.

“The one … says these things”

Jesus begins each of the letters to the seven churches by identifying himself with some of the symbols from the vision that John relates in chapter 1. As he does this, he speaks of himself in the third person. If this would not be natural in your language, you could use the first person in your translation. For example, you could say in2:1, “I, Jesus, the one holding the seven stars in my right hand and walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, say these things.”

“I know”

At the beginning of each of the letters to the seven churches, Jesus uses the phrase “I know” to express his personal familiarity with what is happening in the churches. This phrase communicates an assurance that Jesus understands the current religious, social, and moral circumstances in which the Christians are living. While the phrase is usually positive, sometimes it expresses a critical assessment. Thus the phrase indicates more than just a knowledge of circumstances on the part of Jesus. It also implicitly asserts a claim to be in a position to make an authoritative judgment, critical if necessary, about how the believers are responding to these circumstances. To show this, you might consider translating “I know” at the start of each letter as “I am well aware of” or with some similar phrase. (See: figs-explicit)

“I have against you”

In several of the letters, Jesus tells the believers in a given church, “I have” something “against you.” This phrase makes a negative, critical statement, even though it is typically found among other, positive statements. It means “there is something about you of which I disapprove.” You could translate this expression with a phrase such as “I disapprove of you because” or “I have a criticism to make of you, that.”

“you have this”

Conversely, in several of the letters Jesus makes a positive statement by telling the believers “you have this” and then naming something about them of which he approves. You could translate this expression with a phrase such as “this is to your credit” or “here is a good thing that you are doing.”

“Let the one who has an ear hear”

Toward the end of each letter, Jesus says, “Let the one having an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” Jesus says this to emphasize that what he has just said is important and that it may take some effort to understand and put into practice. This expression presents four translation issues that could be addressed in various ways.- The expression uses a third-person imperative. If your language does not use that form, you could express the meaning in another way that is natural in your language. For example, you could say, “May the one having an ear hear” or “The one who has an ear should hear.” (See: figs-imperative3p)- The expression might seem to be speaking of a specific person, but it really means any person who fits its description. In your translation, express this in the way that would be most natural in your language. For example, you might say, “Anyone who has an ear should hear” (See: figs-genericnoun)- Through this expression, Jesus is addressing his audience in the third person, even though he is speaking directly to them. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate the expression in the second person. You could say, for example, “If you have an ear, then hear” (See: figs-123person)- The phrase “having an ear” represents the willingness to understand and obey, by association with the part of the body by which people would have received the spoken teaching of Jesus. In your translation, you might say something such as, “Anyone who is willing should understand and obey” (See: figs-metonymy)

“to the one conquering”

At the end of each letter, Jesus makes a promise “to the one conquering.” This expression describes someone who wins a victory, such as on the battlefield or in a sports contest. In the context of the book of Revelation, it refers to a person who refuses to worship idols even at the risk of persecution and death. The expression is therefore paradoxical: The person is said to conquer or win a victory, even though it appears that his enemies have defeated him, since they have put him in prison or even killed him. In your translation, you may wish to express the meaning plainly by saying something such as “to the one who refuses to worship idols even at the risk of persecution and death.” (See: figs-metaphor)The expression “to the one conquering” might seem to be speaking of a specific person, but it really means any person who fits its description. In your translation, express this in the way that would be most natural in your language. For example, you might say “to anyone who conquers” or “to anyone who refuses to worship idols even at the risk of persecution and death.” (See: figs-genericnoun)

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