ἔμπροσθεν τῶν. A has πρό.

8. κἀγὼ Ἰωάννης ὁ�. Most modern commentators understand εἰμὶ after κἀγὼ or after Ἰωάννης: “I am that John who …,” or “I John am he who.…” It would be also possible to compare Daniel 10:17, Theodotion, καὶ ἐγὼ�, where A. V[897] translates it, “As for me,” &c.; though καὶ before ὅτε is against this. The context is against the sense which is grammatically easiest, “Blessed is he that keepeth … and[blessed am] I John …,” as though the first clause were not the continuation of the angel’s speech, but the beginning of St John’s reflection. This was the way in which St Dionysius of Alexandria in the third century understood the passage.

[897] Authorised Version.

ἔπεσα προσκυνῆσαι. As at Revelation 19:10. Some suppose that St John is here repeating his statement of what he did then, but it is far more natural to understand that he did the same again. The words “I come quickly” would even more naturally lead him to think that this angel was “He that is to come,” than the words of that angel (who may or may not have been the same as this) led him to think that he was the God Whose “true sayings” he communicated.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising

Old Testament