SIL Translator’s Notes on Revelation 7:4

7:4a

And I heard the number of those who were sealed: This clause implies that the angels put the mark of the seal on the believers at this time. Your translation should imply or indicate that they did that. In some languages it is more natural to clearly indicate that they did so. For example:

And the angels did so.⌋ And I heard the number of those who were sealed:

who were sealed: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

whom ⌊the angels⌋ sealed

7:4b

144,000: The Greek phrase uses number words: “one hundred forty-four thousands.” There are several ways to translate this meaning:

Use number words. For example:

one hundred forty-four thousand
-or-
one hundred thousand and/plus forty thousand and/plus four thousand

Use numerals as the Berean Standard Bible does.

Use the number word or phrase for “thousand” from the major language. For example:

144 tausen
-or-
one hundred and forty-four tausens

The number refers to the number of men or people. John may have only seen men, or he may have seen both men and women. These verses do not say. Some languages must include a noun with the number. For example:

144,000 men/people

all the tribes of Israel: God gave to Jacob the name Israel. Jacob/Israel had twelve sons. Each of these sons became the head of a family group. Each group was called by the name of the son who founded that group. The people of Israel became a nation (in culture, language, and identity, not just politically). Use the word for that kind of group. For example:

all the clans of Israel

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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