Have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste: the literal meaning of this statement is that these 144,000 are men who have never had sexual intercourse; as the RSV footnote shows, the Greek word translated chaste means “virgins” (Good News Translation). The meaning can be: (1) male virgins, in the normal sense of the word; (2) men who had committed neither fornication nor adultery, that is, who were “pure” sexually; (3) men who had kept themselves spiritually pure and undefiled by their complete devotion to God and their refusal to worship idols. Often in the Old Testament idolatry is compared to sexual immorality (and see Jezebel and her followers, in 2.20-22). Most commentators favor this spiritual understanding of the language; but a translation should faithfully reproduce the literal meaning of the Greek text. In some translations it may be helpful to present in a footnote the various interpretations of the figure. For the verb “to defile” see comment on “soiled” in 3.4; see the related noun “defilement” in 2 Cor 7.1. Defiled themselves with women: translators need to find the most natural and acceptable phrase in the receptor language. In certain languages this is expressed as “sleep with,” “be with,” “stay and eat with,” “lie on one mat and pillow with,” and so on. Chaste will be translated in some languages as “unmarried man” or “has not been with women.” However, saying this will repeat the information in the first clause and be unnecessarily redundant in many languages. In such a case one may simply say “They are the men who have never been with (or, slept with) women, and so are pure.”
Follow the Lamb wherever he goes: this shows their complete devotion to Jesus Christ; they are his faithful followers, ready to follow him to death. Another way of expressing this is “Go with (or, Accompany) the Lamb….”
These have been redeemed may be expressed as “God has redeemed (or, saved) them from the rest of the people on earth” or “They are the people whom God has saved.” See also the previous verse.
As first fruits for God and the Lamb: in Hebrew agricultural society the first part of the harvest of grain or of fruit was dedicated to God, as a symbol that the whole harvest belonged to him (see Exo 23.19). Rarely will the literal translation “as first fruits for God” make any more sense in other languages than it does in English. For the use of the word elsewhere in the New Testament, see Rom 11.16; James 1.18. If an attempt is made to preserve the figure, something like the following may be said: “these men belong to God and to the Lamb; they are like the first part of the harvest, which is offered (or, given) to God.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .