And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth: this is a way of talking about the universe as it was conceived of at that time. It was thought to have three parts: the world of heavenly beings, the world of earthly beings, and the world of the dead (Phil 2.10). The world of the dead (under the earth) was called Sheol (in Hebrew) or Hades (in Greek); see comments on “Hades” in 1.18. Good News Translation‘s rendering “the world below” will be misleading in some languages. It may suggest that there is an actual world or earth beneath this earth. To avoid this confusion one may say “in the space beneath the earth,” or even “in the area (or, region) under the ground.”

Was able to open the scroll or to look into it: the verb translated was able can have the weakened sense of “could.” In this context it really means that no one was “worthy” (see next verse); it does not mean that no one was strong or skilled enough to break the seals. The two verbs open (or “unroll”) and look describe two parts of one action and should not be presented as two separate actions (as or seems to imply). This applies to verses 3 and 4. And look means, in this context, to read the contents of the scroll.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• But no one in heaven or on the earth (or, in the world) or under the ground had the right to open the rolled-up document and read it.

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 .