And I will strike her children dead: here it seems quite clear that her children is not meant literally but refers to those who were following her teachings, while her lovers were her associates and colleagues. A translator may choose to say her children or “her followers,” as Good News Translation does. The Greek compound phrase translated I will strike … dead is very strong, implying swift and ruthless action: “I will slay” (thus Moffatt “I will exterminate”). In 6.8 the phrase means “to kill by means of a pestilence.” “Kill” is expressed idiomatically in many languages; for example, “snuff a person’s breath out,” or even “wipe (a person) from the ground.”

Churches: see the comments on 1.4.

I am he who searches mind and heart: because of the punishment he is going to bring upon Jezebel, her lovers, and her children (or, followers), all the believers will know that the glorified Christ is judge of all, who knows the hearts and minds of all. The Hebrew biblical phrase “to search kidneys and hearts” (see Psa 7.9) means to probe the most secret thoughts and desires. Jer 17.10 is a close parallel to the last half of the verse (see also Rom 8.27). He can be rendered as “the one who” (Good News Translation). The phrase searches mind and heart may also be expressed as “sees into the thoughts (or, minds) and knows what people want (the desires).”

I will give to each of you as your works deserve: it is obvious that in this statement you and your are plural. No one in Thyatira will escape Christ’s punishment, and each one’s punishment will be in accordance with the sin that person has committed (see also Psa 62.12). Although the language can be taken to apply both to punishment and to reward, the context seems to make it clear that here punishment is meant. So it will be possible in some languages to say “I will punish each one of you according to the sin that you [singular] have done.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• I will kill those who follow her teachings, and all the groups of God’s people will know that I am the one who looks into the thoughts of people and knows what they really want. I will punish each one of them according to the sin that he has done.

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 .