To eat the flesh of: it should be quite clear that these are dead bodies. The angel reads the menu:

Of kings … of captains … of mighty men: the captains are army officers; see in 6.15 “military chiefs” (Good News Bible); mighty men are soldiers, or warriors. It is not necessary, as Revised Standard Version does, to repeat the flesh of before each item.

The flesh of horses and their riders: this can be said “of horses and the soldiers who ride them.”

The flesh of all men, both free and slave: this includes everybody, slave or free. In English the order “slave and free” (Good News Translation) is more natural. For free and slave see 6.15.

Both small and great: see 11.18. Again, the order “great and small” (Good News Translation) is more natural in English.

For verses 17-18 see Ezek 39.17-20.

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 .

Jasper: see verse 11 and 4.3.

The city was pure gold: this includes the streets and the buildings. One may also say “everything in the city was made out of pure gold.”

Clear as glass: this seems to indicate very pure gold, of the highest quality. The light of the city seems to shine through the gold (clear as glass). An alternative model for this final sentence is “Everything in the city was made out of gold, so pure that light seemed to shine through it just like glass.”

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 .