Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Revelation 1:16

ἔχων. The present participle of this verb here and in Revelation 6:2; Revelation 6:5; Revelation 10:2; Revelation 19:12; Revelation 21:12 is used as fully equivalent to a present indicative: and here the construction of ἔχων must determine that of ἐκπορευομένη, which by itself would not be difficult. If present participles of all verbs were used in this way, it would be probable that the writer was “following the Hebrew usage, according to which what we call the participle is the nearest approach there is to a distinctive present tense.” Language of New Testament, Part II., p. 83.

ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ. The general style of the writer is ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ τῇ δεξιᾷ as B2 reads here; in ordinary Greek the form in the text is if anything commoner.

ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ. The image is perhaps suggested by Isaiah 49:2; but the application made of it in Revelation 2:10; Revelation 19:15; Revelation 19:21 is more like in sense to Isaiah 11:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:8. It is relevant to compare Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12; but the use of similar images by different Apostles must not be allowed to lead us into a sort of Christian mythology, as though the imagery were as absolutely and unalterably fixed as the doctrine symbolized by it. In ch. 19 we see plainly that not the sword but the Owner of it is “the Word of God”: in Revelation 2:23 we have the same sense as in Heb. l. c., but the image of the sword is not there used to illustrate it.

ἡ ὄψις. The same word is used in John 11:44 in the sense of “face,” and so it is best to take it here, though it might mean “appearance” generally. In Ezekiel 1:27, the LXX. use the word for “colour,” not for “appearance.”

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Revelation 1:16

Old Testament

New Testament