ΑΠΟΚΑΛΥΨΙΣ
Introduction
1
1 Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἣν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς δεῖξαι τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ—ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐν τάχει. Καὶ ἐσήμανεν, ἀποστείλας διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου αὐτοῦ τῷ δούλῳ αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννῃ, 2 ὃς ἐμαρτύρησεν τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ—ὅσα* εἶδεν, καὶ ἅτινά εἰσιν καὶ ἃ χρὴ γενέσθαι μετὰ ταῦτα.† 3 Μακάριος ὁ ἀναγινώσκων καὶ οἱ ἀκούοντες τοὺς λόγους τῆς προφητείας, καὶ τηροῦντες τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ γεγραμμένα· ὁ γὰρ καιρὸς ἐγγύς.
4 Ἰωάννης, ταῖς ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαις ταῖς ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ· Χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ‡ ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἑπτὰ Πνευμάτων ἃ ἐστιν§ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ, 5 καὶ ἀπὸ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστός, ὁ πρωτότοκος ἐκ* τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ ὁ ἄρχων τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς.
Τῷ ἀγαπήσαντι† ἡμᾶς καὶ λούσαντι‡ ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ§ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτοῦ— 6 καὶ ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς βασιλείαν,* ἱερεῖς τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ αὐτοῦ—αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
7 Ἰδού, ἔρχεται μετὰ τῶν νεφελῶν, καὶ ὄψεται αὐτὸν πᾶς ὀφθαλμός, καὶ οἵτινες αὐτὸν ἐξεκέντησαν. Καὶ κόψονται ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς. Ναί, ἀμήν.
8 «Ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ Ἄλφα† καὶ τὸ Ὦ,»‡ λέγει Κύριος ὁ Θεός,§ «Ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ὁ Παντοκράτωρ.»
John is commissioned
9 Ἐγὼ Ἰωάννης, ὁ * ἀδελφὸς ὑμῶν καὶ κοινωνὸς† ἐν τῇ θλίψει καὶ‡ βασιλείᾳ καὶ ὑπομονῇ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ,§ ἐγενόμην ἐν τῇ νήσῳ τῇ καλουμένῃ Πάτμῳ διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ διὰ* τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.† 10 Ἐγενόμην ἐν πνεύματι ἐν τῇ Κυριακῇ ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἤκουσα φωνὴν ὀπίσω μου, μεγάλην‡ ὡς σάλπιγγος, 11 λεγούσης,§ «Ὃ βλέπεις γράψον εἰς βιβλίον καὶ πέμψον ταῖς ἑπτὰ* ἐκκλησίαις·† εἰς Ἔφεσον καὶ εἰς Σμύρναν καὶ εἰς Πέργαμον καὶ εἰς Θυάτειρα‡ καὶ εἰς Σάρδεις καὶ εἰς Φιλαδέλφειαν§ καὶ εἰς Λαοδίκειαν.» 12 Καὶ ἐκεῖ* ἐπέστρεψα βλέπειν τὴν φωνὴν ἥτις ἐλάλει† μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ. Καὶ ἐπιστρέψας εἶδον ἑπτὰ λυχνίας χρυσᾶς, 13 καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἑπτὰ‡ λυχνιῶν ὅμοιον υἱῷ§ ἀνθρώπου, ἐνδεδυμένον ποδήρη καὶ περιεζωσμένον πρὸς τοῖς μαζοῖς* ζώνην χρυσῆν.† 14 Ἡ δὲ κεφαλὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ αἱ τρίχες, λευκαὶ ὡσεὶ‡ ἔριον, λευκὸν ὡς χιών· καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ὡς φλὸξ πυρός· 15 καὶ οἱ πόδες αὐτοῦ ὅμοιοι χαλκολιβάνῳ, ὡς ἐν καμίνῳ πεπυρωμένοι·§ καὶ ἡ φωνὴ αὐτοῦ ὡς φωνὴ ὑδάτων πολλῶν· 16 καὶ ἔχων ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ* ἀστέρας ἑπτά, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ῥομφαία δίστομος ὀξεῖα ἐκπορευομένη· καὶ ἡ ὄψις αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ † ἥλιος φαίνει ἐν τῇ δυνάμει αὐτοῦ.
17 Καὶ ὅτε εἶδον αὐτὸν ἔπεσα‡ πρὸς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ὡς νεκρός. Καὶ ἐπέθηκεν§ τὴν δεξιὰν αὐτοῦ χεῖρα* ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ λέγων·† «Μὴ φοβοῦ. Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Πρῶτος καὶ ὁ Ἔσχατος, 18 καὶ ὁ ζῶν—καὶ ἐγενόμην νεκρός, καὶ ἰδού, ζῶν εἰμι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ἀμήν·‡ καὶ ἔχω τὰς κλεῖς§ τοῦ Θανάτου καὶ τοῦ ᾍδου.* 19 Γράψον οὖν† ἃ εἶδες, καὶ ἅ εἰσιν, καὶ ἃ μέλλει γενέσθαι‡ μετὰ ταῦτα. 20 Τὸ μυστήριον τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀστέρων ὧν§ εἶδες ἐπὶ τῆς δεξιᾶς μου, καὶ τὰς ἑπτὰ λυχνίας τὰς χρυσᾶς· οἱ ἑπτὰ ἀστέρες ἄγγελοι τῶν ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησιῶν εἰσιν, καὶ αἱ ἑπτὰ λυχνίαι* ἃς εἶδες ἑπτὰ† ἐκκλησίαι εἰσίν.
* 1:2 οσα rell ¦ 1 τε Mept TR † 1:2 ειδεν και ατινα εισιν και α (ατινα Md,e, −α Mg) χρη γενεσθαι μετα ταυτα (−μ. τ. Mept) f35 Ma⅙,d,e,g CP ¦ 1 Ma,b,e⅙,f,h,i ℵA,C,RP,HF,OC,NU,TR (The long form has attestation from all three main lines of transmission—f35 is solid, as are d-e and g; h goes with the bulk of the third line for the short form. ειδεν would be ‘He saw’, referring to Christ—compare 22:20—He is the one passing on the ‘revelation’; the whole book is what Jesus Christ is testifying, as an eye witness; I assume that early copyists missed the point, applying ειδεν to John, but then they couldn’t make sense of the full text and so proceeded to omit the awkward parts.) [Since modern critics often reason like early copyists, I suspect that this variant at the outset of the book pre-disposed them against f35 (=Mc/Kr).] ‡ 1:4 απο f35 Md,e⅔,g,hpt 𝕻18ℵA,C,CP,NU ¦ 1 θεου Ma,b,e⅓,fpt,hpt,i RP,HF,OC ¦ 1 του Mfpt TR (OC is in small print.) (I would say that θεου was added to help the reader make the correct association; see the next note.) § 1:4 α εστιν f35 Md¼,e,g,hpt,ipt CP,TR ¦ 1 Ma,b,f,hpt,ipt 𝕻18C,RP,HF,OC,NU ¦ των Md ℵA (Render ‘the seven-fold Spirit that is’; απο ο ων … και απο των επτα … και απο ιησου … presumably refers to the Trinity, so ‘the seven-fold Spirit’ refers to the Holy Spirit—if the Godhead can be three in one, why may not the Holy Spirit be seven in one? The grammatical anomaly of a plural subject with a singular verb may have given rise to the other variants.) * 1:5 εκ f35 Md¼,e CP,TR ¦ — Ma,b,d,e¼,f,g,h,i 𝕻18ℵA,C,RP,HF,OC,NU (The figure of death as a huge womb was too strong; by omitting the preposition the interpretation becomes ambiguous; ‘firstborn’ can receive the derived meaning of ‘boss’, or whatever. However, the point is precisely that Jesus Christ was the first one to be ‘born’ from that particular ‘womb’—but only the first!) † 1:5 τω αγαπησαντι f35 Md,e CP,TR ¦ 1 αγαπωντι Ma,f,gpt(pt),h,ipt(pt) 𝕻18(ℵ)A,C,RP,HF,OC,NU ¦ ος ηγαπησεν Mb ‡ 1:5 λουσαντι f35 Ma,d¼,ept,f,g,hpt,ipt CP,RP,HF,OC,TR ¦ λυσαντι Md,ept,g¼,hpt,ipt 𝕻18ℵA,C,NU ¦ ελουσεν Mb § 1:5 απο f35 Ma,b,e¼,f,g,i CP,RP,HF,OC,TR ¦ εκ Md,e,h 𝕻18ℵA,C,NU * 1:6 βασιλειαν f35 Ma,b,e⅙,f,g,h,i 𝕻18ℵA,C,CP,RP,HF,OC,NU ¦ βασιλεις και Ma⅙,d,e TR † 1:8 αλφα f35 Ma,b,d⅔,e⅓,f,h¼,i ℵA,C,CP,RP,HF,NU ¦ Α Md⅓,e⅔,g,h OC,TR ‡ 1:8 Ω f35 Ma,f,g,h,ipt A,C,CP,RP,HF,OC,NU ¦ 1 αρχη και τελος Mb,e,i¼ ℵ,TR ¦ 1 η αρχη και το τελος Md § 1:8 κυριος ο θεος rell ¦ ~ 21 TR * 1:9 ο rell ¦ 1 και TR † 1:9 κοινωνος f35 Ma,f,g,h¼,i CP,RP,HF ¦ συγκοινωνος Ma⅙,b,d,e,h,i¼ A(ℵC)OC,NU,TR ‡ 1:9 και f35 Ma,b,d,f,h,i ℵA,C,CP,RP,HF,OC,NU ¦ 1 εν τη Me,g,i⅕ TR ¦ 1 εν Mh⅕ § 1:9 εν χριστω ιησου f35 Ma,b,f,g,h¼,i CP,RP,HF ¦ ~ 132 OC ¦ 12 A ¦ ~ 3 χριστου Md,e,h¼ TR ¦ 13 Mhpt ℵC,NU * 1:9 δια f35 Ma,e,fpt,g,h¼,i ℵ,CP,RP,HF,OC,TR ¦ — Mb,d,fpt,h A,C,NU † 1:9 χριστου f35 Ma,b,dpt,e⅔,f,g,i CP,RP,HF,OC,TR ¦ — Mdpt,e⅓,h ℵA,C,NU ‡ 1:10 φωνην οπισω μου μεγαλην f35 Ma,b,f,g,h¼,i CP,RP,HF,OC ¦ ~ 2314 Md,e,h ℵC,NU,TR ¦ ~ 1423 (A)[7 other mss] § 1:11 λεγουσης f35 Ma,b,d,e⅙,f,h,i ℵA,C,CP,RP,HF,OC,NU ¦ 1 εγω το Α και το Ω ο πρωτος και ο εσχατος και Me,(g) TR * 1:11 επτα rell ¦ — TR † 1:11 εκκλησιαις rell ¦ 1 ταις εν ασια TR ‡ 1:11 εις θυατειρα rell ¦ 1 θυατηρα [16 assorted mss] ¦ 1 θυατειραν Mb⅗,hpt ¦ 1 θυατιραν A,C ¦ εν θυατειροις Mept § 1:11 φιλαδελφειαν f35 Ma⅔,b,dpt,ept,f,gpt,h⅔,i CP,RP,HF,OC,NU,TR ¦ φιλαδελφιαν Ma⅓,dpt,ept,gpt,h⅓,i¼ ℵA,C * 1:12 εκει f35 Ma,f,g,h¼,i CP,RP,HF,OC ¦ — Mb,d,e,h ℵA,C,NU,TR (It was at that point that he turned.) (OC is in small print.) † 1:12 ελαλει rell ¦ ελαλησεν Me⅔,g,h⅕ TR ¦ λαλει A ¦ ελαλη [13 assorted mss] ‡ 1:13 επτα f35 Ma,b,e¼,f,g,hpt,i ℵ,CP,RP,HF,OC,TR ¦ — Md,e,hpt A,C,NU § 1:13 υιω f35 Mapt,d,e,h,ipt A,C,CP,RP,OC,TR ¦ υιον Mapt,b,f,g,ipt ℵ,HF,NU * 1:13 μαζοις f35 Md A,CP [Mept in comm] ¦ μαστοις Ma,b,e,f,h,i C,RP,HF,OC,NU,TR ¦ μασθοις Md⅕,e¼,g ℵ (It is possible that μαζοις was more commonly used of males, and μαστοις of females; since the figure was clothed, the nipples would not be visible, so the point is presumably to give the position of the belt—across the middle of the chest [see 15:6].) † 1:13 χρυσην rell ¦ χρυσαν ℵA,C,NU ¦ three other spellings [6 mss] ‡ 1:14 ωσει f35 Md,e⅔(⅓),hpt,ipt C,CP,TR ¦ ως Mapt,f,g,hpt,iptℵA,RP,OC,NU ¦ και ως Mapt,b HF (Since ως occurs twice immediately following, and twice more in the next verse, there may have been an assimilating influence.) § 1:15 πεπυρωμενοι rell ¦ πεπυρωμενης A,C,NU ¦ πεπυρωμενω ℵ[+12 assorted mss] ¦ six further spellings [11 mss] * 1:16 χειρι αυτου f35 Mb,d,e⅓,f,hpt,i¼ ℵA,C,CP,OC,NU ¦ ~ 21 Ma,g,h¼,i RP,HF,TR ¦ 2 Me⅓(¼)h⅓ † 1:16 ο rell ¦ — Ma⅙,d¼,e⅓,g¼,h⅓ ‡ 1:17 επεσα f35 Ma⅗,b,e⅔,g,hpt,ipt ℵA,C,CP,RP,HF,OC,NU,TR ¦ επεσον Ma⅖,d,e⅓,f,hpt,ipt § 1:17 επεθηκεν f35 Md,e,h¼ ℵ,CP,TR ¦ εθηκεν Ma,b,f,g,h,i A,C,RP,HF,OC,NU * 1:17 χειρα f35 Md,e CP,OC,TR ¦ — Ma,b,f,g,h,i ℵA,C,RP,HF,NU (OC is in small print.) † 1:17 λεγων rell ¦ 1 μοι Me⅖ TR ‡ 1:18 αμην f35 Ma,b,d,e⅓,f,g,hpt,i CP,RP,HF,TR ¦ — Me⅔,hpt ℵA,C,OC,NU § 1:18 κλεις f35 Ma⅕,b,d,e,g,h⅔,ipt (A,C),RP,OC,NU,TR ¦ κλειδας Ma,e⅙,f,h⅓,ipt ℵ,CP,HF * 1:18 θανατου και του αδου f35 Ma,b,d⅓,ept,f,g,h,i ℵA,C,CP,RP(HF)OC,NU ¦ ~ 4231 Md⅔,ept,h¼ TR † 1:19 ουν rell ¦ — Me⅖ TR ‡ 1:19 γενεσθαι f35 Md,ept,fpt,ipt 𝕻98vℵC,CP,NU ¦ γινεσθαι Ma,b,ept,fpt,g,h,ipt RP,HF,OC,TR ¦ γεινεσθαι A § 1:20 ων f35 Ma,b,d,f,g,h⅓,i CP,RP,HF,OC,TR ¦ ους Md¼,e,h⅔ ℵA,C,NU * 1:20 αι επτα λυχνιαι f35 Mb,d,e⅔(⅓),hpt (ℵ)CP,TR ¦ ~ 1312 Ma,f,g,hpt,i A(C)RP,HF,OC,NU † 1:20 ας ειδες επτα f35Ma⅙,d,e CP,TR ¦ 3 Ma,f,g,h,i ℵA,C,RP,HF,OC,NU ¦ αι 3 Mb,h¼