The book begins with an incomplete sentence; the opening phrase The revelation of Jesus Christ is the subject, but it has no finite verb following it. The word revelation (or “apocalypse”) occurs only here in the book, and the related verb “to reveal” is not used. The verb means “to uncover,” “to disclose,” “to make known.” The verb and the noun are used in several senses: (1) to reveal, “uncover,” what has previously been hidden or unknown (Luke 12.2; John 12.38); (2) in particular, of a message from God, without a human bearer of the message, which reveals something hitherto unknown (Matt 11.25; 16.17; Gal 1.16; 2.2); (3) in a specialized sense, the making known of important events and persons related to the end of this age and the beginning of the new age (2 Thes 2.3, 6, 8; 1 Peter 1.7, 13; 4.13). In this passage the word refers to the visions recorded in the book. As 1.10 makes clear, it was through God’s Spirit that John was enabled to see those visions of things present and things future (1.19).

The revelation of Jesus Christ means that Jesus Christ disclosed, made known, the visions recorded in the book. It was God who chose Jesus Christ to make this disclosure, which God gave to him to show to his servants; and the visions that John sees portray events that will happen in the near future.

The complete name Jesus Christ appears in two other passages (1.2, 5); elsewhere “Jesus” is used without “Christ” (eleven times).

To show to his servants: the verb to show, in connection with the noun revelation, means “to reveal,” “to make known,” “to disclose,” or “cause to see.” The noun servants here is used in the general sense of all believers, all followers of Jesus Christ, those who will hear this account being read (verse 3). In 2.20 they are servants of Christ; here and in 7.3; 19.2, 5; 22.3, 6 they are servants of God. In a more restricted sense God’s servants in 10.7 and 11.18 are Christian prophets.

The verb form translated must points to God as the cause, the motivating force that determines what has to happen (see the verb used in 4.1; 10.11; 11.5 [“he is doomed”]; 13.10; 17.10; 20.3; 22.6). If necessary this may be made explicit by making God the subject of the verb: “to show his servants what he (God) has decided will happen soon.”

Soon: this indicates that the events portrayed in the visions will take place within the lifetime of John, a relatively short period of time (see 2.16; 3.11; 22.6). The final events (20.7–22.5) are to take place after the period of one thousand years (20.1-6). And the book closes with the Lord’s promise “I am coming soon” (22.12, 20).

And he made it known: the subject, he, is Jesus Christ; it is the revelation that God gave him. The verb made … known translates a verb that is related to the noun “sign, symbol” and means, in a strict sense, “to reveal (or, make known) by means of signs.” In ancient Greek stories it is often used of messages from the gods to humankind. This includes figurative or symbolic language, as well as symbols of people and events. In John 12.33 the same verb, translated “to show,” is used when Jesus indicates, by means of figurative language, what kind of death he will soon experience, as he refers back to “be lifted up” in verse 32. In John 18.32 the verb refers back to the Jews’ statement in verse 31 that they could not execute a criminal, thereby indicating that Jesus would be crucified—which was the Roman method of execution. In Acts 11.28 the verb is used of a prediction of future events, “foretold”; and the general sense “to make known,” “to make explicit,” is found in Acts 25.27, where it is rendered “indicate.” It is possible that here in 1.1 the verb means “to make known by means of signs or symbols,” but the majority of translations have simply “to make known,” “to reveal.” However, in certain languages it will be necessary to express this phrase as “cause to see.”

By sending his angel: the word “angel” in Hebrew and Greek means “messenger” and is used both of earthly and heavenly messengers. Here his angel is a heavenly messenger, but there is no clear indication as to what particular angel it is. Many different angels appear in the visions, which begin at chapter 4. They appear singly, or in groups of three (14.6-12), four (7.1-8), and seven (two groups: 14.6-20 and chapters 15-16). In 10.1-11 “another mighty angel” tells John that he must prophesy again. In chapter 17 one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls of God’s wrath comes to John and explains to him the vision of the notorious prostitute and the red beast. In 19.9-10 “the angel” is probably the one of chapter 17. And in 21.9 one of that same group of seven angels comes to John and shows him the new Jerusalem. The angel stays with John until his concluding statement in 22.6-11, with his commission to John to write the book and send it out. The final endorsement is given by Jesus, in 22.16: “I Jesus have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches” (see also 22.6). Here in 1.1, then, the phrase must be translated “his (that is, of Jesus Christ) angel,” even though his identity is not known. His angel may be rendered in many languages as “his heavenly messenger.”

The clauses he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John may be translated as New Jerusalem Bible has done: “he sent his angel to make it known to his servant John”; Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje “Christ sent his angel so that his servant John would know these things”; An American Translation “He sent and communicated it by his angel to his slave John.” One may also translate this sentence as “He had (caused) his messenger to go to his servant John and make this message known to him.”

The Greek noun translated servant often has the meaning “slave”; but in keeping with the Old Testament use of the word, “servant” is the best translation of it into English. Such terms as “employee” or “aide” are not appropriate in English, and most European languages use the equivalent of “servant” (as distinguished from “slave”). The noun “servants” may be adequate in many languages, but where it is not, a verbal phrase may be used; for example, “those who serve (or, those who worship) him (Jesus Christ).” Certain languages must maintain a clear distinction between a person who works for a fixed salary and one who is a personal attendant supported by his master, but who does not have a fixed salary. It is this latter term that should be used in this context if it is necessary to make a distinction. In some languages one may say “those who serve him,” “those who are his people,” or “those who follow him.” John is here identified as the servant of Jesus Christ; in this context it indicates that John is a prophet (see “your brethren the prophets” in 22.8-9). The phrase “his servants the prophets” appears in 10.7, and “thy servants the prophets” in 11.18. “In the Spirit” in 1.10 is a technical term for prophetic inspiration; and in 10.8-11 John is told “You must prophesy again….” So John, as a prophet, is God’s chosen messenger to proclaim God’s message to the churches (1.11, 19; 22.10, 16).

In verse 2 the subject of who bore witness is John. The Greek verb “to bear witness” is used also in 22.16, 18, 20 (translated “testimony,” “warn,” and “testifies”; for the noun “witness” or “testimony,” see below). The verb normally means to testify, or to report something orally; here, however, John’s witness is the book of Revelation itself. In 1.11 he is told “Write what you see in a book and send it to…,” and in 22.7, 9, 10, 18a reference is made to “the words of the prophecy of this book” (see also 22.18a, 19a,b). So a translation such as “told all that he has seen” (Good News Translation) or “wrote down all that he saw” is appropriate here.

The compound object of the verb is “the word of God and the witness of Jesus Christ, the things he [John] saw.” Considering the last phrase first: “the things he saw” is in apposition to “the word of God and the witness of Jesus Christ,” referring to the visions that John saw. See 1.12 “I turned to see,” and 1.19 “write what you see.” The first person form “I saw” appears forty-five times in the narrative section of the book.

The visions John had, all that he saw, had to do with (1) the word of God and (2) the testimony of Jesus Christ.

In this context the word of God means the message or messages God sends to John by means of the visions and the warnings and instructions given by various angels. In a broad sense it is the truth or truths that God, by means of Jesus Christ, made known to the prophet John. Alternative translation models are “the message that comes from God” or “the message sent by God.”

The precise meaning of the testimony of Jesus Christ is debated. It may mean “the witness, or testimony, about Jesus Christ” or “the witness, or testimony, given by Jesus Christ.” A similar phrase “the testimony of Jesus” appears in the Greek of 1.9; 12.17; 19.10 (twice); 20.4. In other contexts the noun “testimony” refers to the testimony given by the subject of the phrase (6.9; 11.7; 12.11). And in 20.4, “those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God,” the meaning is clear: it is the witness or testimony those martyrs had given about Jesus. Here, then, the meaning is most likely the same: “the testimony about Jesus Christ” or “the things that had been revealed (or, shown) concerning Jesus Christ.” In Greek the phrase “who testified about … the testimony of Jesus Christ” is not natural, but such unnatural usage occurs frequently in this book.

The translation of the single Greek (incomplete) sentence 1.1-2 must bring out clearly and naturally the relations between the various words, phrases, and clauses, so as to make sense for the readers.

(1) In English the use of an incomplete sentence is most unnatural, but some translations have it (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt, An American Translation; so also Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). It is easy enough to have a complete sentence, such as Good News Translation “This book is the record of the events that…”; Bible en français courant “In this book are presented the events that…”; the German common language translation (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), more simply, “This is the revelation that…”; Revised English Bible “This is the revelation of Jesus Christ…”; and Phillips “This is a Revelation from Jesus Christ….” Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje has “In this book are written the things that….” Phillips and Revised English Bible are the simplest. In certain languages it will be necessary to use an active verb and say, for example, “In this book John has written the things that….”
(2) The meaning of the abstract noun revelation must often be expressed by a verbal phrase, “the events that Jesus Christ revealed” (so Bible en français courant, Good News Translation), or even “the truth that Jesus Christ revealed.” In languages that require an object for the verb “revealed,” one may translate “the events that Jesus Christ caused me to see.”
(3) The verb gave has as its object The revelation, and it may not be natural to use the verb with the object “the events” or “the truth.” Therefore it may be helpful to restructure, using two sentences, in which gave appears in the second sentence, as in Good News Translation “God gave him this revelation…”; Bible en français courant is similar, “God gave him the task of revealing them” (that is, “the events” of the first sentence). In certain languages it will be impossible to speak about “giving revelation.” In such cases one may render this clause as “God caused Jesus Christ to make known these events” or “God let Jesus Christ see these things in order to make them known to….”
(4) The ultimate recipients of the revelation are the servants of Jesus Christ. The noun servants may be adequate in many languages, but where it is not, a verbal phrase may be used, “those who serve (or, worship) God” (see the comment above on the translation of servants).
(5) By means of his angel, which he sent to his servant John, Jesus Christ made this revelation known to John. It may be well to have a complete sentence for the second part of verse 1, as follows: “Jesus Christ made this revelation known to his servant John by sending his angel to him,” or “Jesus Christ let his servant John know about these events through his messenger (or, angel) which he sent to him,” or “Jesus Christ sent his messenger to his servant John to tell him (or, make known to him) the message….” In languages that use modal verbs such as “come” or “go” to show the direction of the action and who or what is the center of focus of the action, one may say “… sent his messenger (to come) to his servant…” or “sent his messenger (to go) to his servant….” The choice depends upon who the translator feels is in focus here, Jesus or John. John appears to be the focus of attention here, because from this sentence on John is the one telling about all that he has seen. A translation should not try to anticipate here the means used to reveal to John the message from God, that is, the visions John saw. An alternative translation may be “Jesus Christ sent his angel to his servant John to make known to him the message from God.”
(6) John reported all that he saw, that is, the visions that are recorded in his book. By doing this John gave his testimony about God’s word, that is, the truth God made known, and about the message, or the events, that Jesus Christ revealed. This verse (2) may be rendered as Bible en français courant has done: “John has told all that he saw. He reports here the message that came from God and the truths (or, the events) revealed by Jesus Christ” (so also Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). Revised English Bible has “… John, who in telling all that he saw has borne witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy is a bit different: “… John, who has told the truth of all that he saw, and is witness of God’s message confirmed by Jesus Christ.” And Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has “… his servant John, who has attested as Word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ all that he has seen.”

An alternative translation model for these two verses is the following:

• In this book John records the events that Jesus Christ made known. God caused Jesus to see these things in order to let his followers (or, servants) know the things that would happen very soon (or, in the near future). Jesus sent his messenger (or, angel) to his servant John to tell him (or, make known to him) this message. John has told all that he saw. He records the message that came from God and the events that Jesus Christ made known.

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 .