Revelation 1

The Greek word is apokalypsis, from which we get the word “apocalypse.” The Greek word meant a revelation—a bit like breaking news, with secrets now made public. Scholars debate if the revelation is from Jesus or about Jesus. On the one hand, the message is about Jesus. On the other hand, it’s about his people too.

It’s unclear exactly what event John is talking about. The phrase he uses is a technical term that shows up in end-time literature known as eschatological or apocalyptic. It can refer to the beginning of suffering and punishment or to the return of Jesus, or to someone’s entrance into God’s kingdom. Whatever it meant in John’s day, it was a bulletin alerting people to get ready for something dramatic about to happen.

Asia was a Roman province in what is now central and western Turkey. The seven churches John addresses are some of the most influential and strategically located in the region. Why John singled out seven is up for debate. Some have said seven symbolized completion because God rested on the seventh day after creating the universe. And because of this, “seven” was a symbolic way of referring to churches everywhere. But the number was also linked to divine power and authority, and it could provide symbolic support for John’s claim that the message came from God, through Jesus.

The Greek word is charis, often translated as “grace.”

Students of the Bible often associate the spirits with seven angels—God’s top angels, often called archangels. Many other scholars, instead, link this to the “Spirit of the LORD” in Isaiah 11:2. This Spirit provides wisdom, understanding, guidance, strength, knowledge, and respect toward God. Scholars then make the jump to conclude that the Spirit John was talking about is the Holy Spirit. If scholars got this right, John’s greeting to his readers invokes the names and the authority of the entire Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

The phrase more literally says only that Jesus Christ is “the faithful witness.” “Witness” translates the Greek word martys, from which we get the English word “martyr.”

The Greek word for this is Amen.

Bible experts say this points back to a vision Daniel reported, starting in Daniel 7:13. He sees someone who looks like a human, which he calls the Son of Humans (or Son of Man). The person comes “with the clouds of heaven” (Revelation 1:7, New Living Translation), possibly a way of describing the glory of his arrival and not necessarily describing a cloudy day.

Possibly a reference to Zechariah 12:10, which talks about the people of Jerusalem looking on the one they pierced or somehow stabbed or nailed to a cross.

Possibly another reference to Zechariah 12:10, which says that people will weep bitterly over him with the intensity they would experience while crying over the death of their oldest son.

Literally, “Alpha” and “Omega,” the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet.

Roman historians Pliny and Tacitus said Romans often banished prisoners to islands. Patmos is a small island (13 square miles [34 square km]), located about 60 miles (95 km) west of Ephesus, a city along the western coast of Turkey.

Literally, “I was in the spirit.” It’s unclear what John meant by that phrase. He used it in three other places in Revelation: 4:2; 17:3; 21:10. He doesn’t seem to be describing a vivid dream, which some call “a vision of the night” (Job 33:15, New International Version). Some say John was probably describing a wakeful trance. Whatever it was, he had a spiritual connection going on. His spirit was linked to God’s Spirit, and God’s Spirit had taken over John’s senses. The Spirit was about to direct everything John was going to see and hear.

This is apparently an angel. Jesus seems to speak in Revelation 1:17-20.

Cities in what is now western Turkey.

“Seven lampstands” may be a way of describing the seven churches as shining lights that draw sinful people to God the way a lightbulb in the darkness draws bugs.

Usually translated “Son of Man.” This is a title Jesus used a lot to describe himself. In the Jewish Bible the phrase contains hints of divinity in some passages and humanity in others—perhaps a perfect phrase for describing someone Christians would say was fully God and fully human. Hint of the divine: the prophet Daniel saw “someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven” (Daniel 7:13, New Living Translation). Hint of the human: God often described Ezekiel as a mere mortal by using the phrase “son of man” (Ezekiel 2:1, New Living Translation).

Apparently, Jesus talking. “I Am” is God’s name. When God told Moses to go to Egypt and free the Jewish people, Moses said the Jews would want to know who gave him the assignment. God told him to tell the people that “I Am” (Exodus 3:14). It’s uncertain if John of Revelation intended to link this “I Am” to the name of God. But in John’s Gospel, Jesus seems to apply that name to himself in seven “I Am” phrases. I Am:

1. “life-giving bread” (6:35)
2. “the light of the world” (8:12)
3. “the gate for the sheep” (10:7)
4. “the good shepherd” (10:14)
5. “the resurrection” (11:25)
6. “the way,” “the truth,” and “the life” (14:6)
7. “the Genuine Grapevine” (15:1)

It’s unclear what kind of “angels” John is writing about. The debate could start an argument among Bible scholars. Theories: guardian angels, messengers John sends to deliver this letter to the seven churches, or local church leaders. The way he addresses each letter, to the church’s angel, could sound like he’s talking about the church’s pastor or the leading church member if the church doesn’t have a pastor.