Paragraph 5:11–12

5:11a

Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels: These words probably indicate that John saw the angels as well as heard them, because he indicates where they are in 5:11c. In some languages it is more natural to indicate that he saw the angels. For example:

Then I looked ⌊around and saw⌋ many angels and heard their voices

heard the voices of many angels: In 5:12a, John described how the angels spoke. They spoke loudly, and they probably spoke in unison.

In some languages it is more natural to describe how they spoke here. For example:

heard many angels speaking ⌊loudly⌋

5:11b–c

myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands: The Greek words are literally “ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands of thousands.” The two phrases refer to a very large number of angels. The phrases does not imply an exact number or that John counted them.

The two phrases together emphasize a very large number. Other ways to translate these phrases are:

⌊many⌋ thousands of thousands and ⌊many⌋ ten thousands of ten thousands
-or-
thousands and millions (Good News Translation)

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