Translation commentary on Revelation 4:11

The translator should try to present this verse as poetry (see Section F of the introduction, “Translating the Revelation to John,” pages 6 and following).

Worthy art thou, our Lord and God: New Revised Standard Version has “You are worthy.” The adjective Worthy means, in this context, “You deserve…,” “You have the right (to receive).” The phrase our Lord and God means “the Lord and God we worship (or, serve).”

To receive glory and honor and power: the implied actor and the receiver can be reversed, “for people to give you…,” or else the verb phrase can be made a simple passive, “to be given (by people).” For glory and honor see Rev. 4.9. To receive … power in this context means “to receive (or, be given) praise for your power”; it does not mean to be given power. An alternative translation model for this clause is “for people to tell you how great you are, honor you, and praise you for your power.”

Thou didst create all things: the verb translated create always has God or Christ as subject in the New Testament. The verb itself does not specify whether God created all things out of nothing (see Heb 11.3, where a different verb is used). Many languages will express this idea as “you caused all things to come into being,” while others will use the equivalent of “make” and will say “you made all things.”

By thy will they existed and were created: this is a compound sentence that repeats the thought of the previous line. The two verbs do not express two separate events but the one event expressed in two different ways. Translator’s New Testament translates “They owe their existence and their creation to your will”; Revised English Bible “by your will they were created and have their being,” and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “You willed that they exist, and they were created.” Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje reverses the two: “by your will they were created and exist.” In languages that do not use the passive, this sentence will need to be restructured; for example, “You willed that they exist and so created them.”

The final two lines of the poem may also be expressed as “you made all things, and you willed that they exist, and so they received life.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Revelation 4:11

4:11a

Worthy are You, our Lord and God: In some languages it is more natural to address God first. For example:

Our Lord and God, you are worthy

Worthy are You: The word Worthy indicates that God deserves to receive all glory, and honor, and power. It is right and proper that the elders should give him their respect, honor him, and acknowledge his power and glory. For example:

you deserve (God’s Word)

Worthy: In the Greek, the word Worthy is emphasized. If possible, emphasize it in your language. For example:

Worthy are You (Berean Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible)
-or-
You are indeed worthy

4:11b

to receive glory and honor and power: This phrase refers to anyone praising and honoring God. God accepts that praise and honor. The living creatures, the elders, and others praise God’s glory and power. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

for ⌊people/everyone⌋ to glorify you and honor you and praise your power
-or-
that we acknowledge your majesty and your power and we revere you
-or-
that ⌊all beings⌋ praise your greatness and show you respect and praise you as the powerful/mighty one

receive…power: Here this phrase refers to being praised for one’s power. People praise God for being the all powerful God.

glory and honor: See how you translated glory and honor in 4:9.

4:11c

for: This conjunction introduces the basis for saying that God is worthy of praise. Another way to translate this word is:

because (God’s Word)

You created all things: This clause indicates that God made all things in the universe. For example:

you made the whole universe (New Jerusalem Bible)

4:11d

In some languages it is more natural to begin a new sentence here. For example:

You chose to create them and they have their existence ⌊according to that choice⌋ .

by Your will: This phrase indicates that God chose to create all things. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

by your decision (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
as you willed/chose

they exist and came to be: God created all beings and helps them to continue to exist. Other ways to translate these words are:

they were created and continued to exist
-or-
they were created and live
-or-
you created them, and ⌊you cause them to⌋ remain/continue living
-or-
you made them and sustain them

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