This refers to the events immediately preceding the events in this chapter. It will be helpful in many languages to provide that information by saying “After seeing the woman who was seated on the red beast, I saw another….”

Another angel coming down from heaven: this is a different angel from the one in chapter 17.

Having great authority: this describes him as a very powerful angel without saying or implying that his authority had been given him by God.

The earth was made bright with his splendor: this is better said by using the active form of the verb: “his splendor brightened the whole earth” (Good News Translation). The verb is formed from the noun for “light” and means “to enlighten” or “to brighten”; it appears also in 21.23, “is (its) light,” and in 22.5, “will be (their) light.” And here the Greek word for splendor, usually translated “glory” (see 1.6), has the physical sense of the brilliant light that marks the angel as God’s messenger. One may also translate “the bright light coming from him made the whole world bright” or “… lit up the whole world.”

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 .