The key words and core concepts of this commentary — alphabetical
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In-depth:
This glossary gathers the root-words (Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic) and the technical terms that recur throughout the commentary. Per entry: the term, the pronunciation where needed, a short description, and the place(s) where it is treated. The nineteen entries marked with ★ are the concepts the layperson needs first; without those nineteen the model stays hard to follow, with those nineteen it falls into place.
A
★earth-dwellers (-thread)κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς
The fixed, God-hostile counter-party of the book: the line of Cain, who chose the earth as his only home and hardens instead of repenting; the antipole of the witness-thread (of Abel).
"Destroyer, Ruin"; the angel-king of the abyss — a distinct fallen power, not Satan. For Greek ears the name carried the sound of Apollo.
Rev 8-9 (9:11), Excurs F·3; Rev 12, Excurs H·3
eighth king, the
Not a new empire but the beast that returns, twofold: the empire that since 9 December 1917 is not and returns, and the antichrist who receives the deadly wound and rises.
Rev 17-18 (17:11), Excurs J·2
eighth day, the
The eternal new creation after the seventh day (the millennium); Shemini Atzeret, the closing day without an evening.
Rev 21-22, Excurs M·1
★abyssἄβυσσος — abyssos
The prison of fallen spirits; in the whole book it opens at one single place (the fifth trumpet); source of Apollyon and of the beast. Distinguished from the lake of fire.
The sealed scroll in the right hand of the Father: the title-deed of the world lost in Eden, the deed of redemption.
Rev 4-5 (5:1, Excurs C·1)
Bride / Bride-Cityνύμφη
The complete company of all true believers (Jew and Gentile, the one olive tree); the city IS the Bride, the antipole of the harlot.
Rev 19; Rev 21-22 (M·2)
C
chronos / delayχρόνος — chronos
Here "delay," not "time": "there shall be no more delay" (10:6) answers the "a little while longer" of 6:11.
Rev 10-11 (10:6)
★corporate Child, the
The caught-up male Child (12:5) read as Head and Body (Christ-and-His-own); the most vulnerable link, and marked as such.
Rev 12-14 (12:5, Excurs H·1)
D
Lord's Dayκυριακή — kyriakē
"Of the Lord": the day on which John receives the vision, Sunday or the sabbath; the text does not decide; at the same time a window onto the great Day of the LORD.
Rev 1 (1:10, Excurs A·3)
Daniel's seventieth week
The last of the seventy weeks (Dan 9): seven years still outstanding, ushered in by the covenant made strong by overwhelming power; the framework of seals, trumpets, and bowls.
Rev 6; Rev 10-11
deipnon / supperδεῖπνον — deipnon
Falls in the climax exactly twice: the wedding supper of the Lamb (19:9) over against the supper of God for the birds (19:17).
Rev 19
Dhu al-Suwayqatayn
"The man with the thin shanks": a figure from a tradition who tears down the Kaaba stone by stone — Islam itself foretells the destruction (cf. 17:16).
Rev 17-18 (Excurs J·6)
Doppelurkunde / double deed
The legal form in which the binding text is sealed inside and the open summary stands on the back (Jer 32); the scroll "written within and on the back."
Rev 4-5 (5:1, Excurs C·2)
E
★ek / "out of"ἐκ — ek
Movement out of the interior, at a point of emerging: "kept out of the hour" (3:10) and "coming out of the tribulation" (7:14).
Rev 2-3 (3:10); Rev 7 (7:14)
ekklēsia / churchἐκκλησία — ekklēsia
Falls 19× in Rev 1-3 and then not a single time more until 22:16: the word falls silent at the hinge 4:1.
Rev 2-3 (Dossier); Rev 1
eikōn / imageεἰκών — eikōn
The speaking, breathing image of the beast; it reverses the prophets' mockery — now it is the idol that does speak and kill.
Rev 12-14 (13:14-15)
etelesthē / "completed"ἐτελέσθη
"With them the wrath is completed" (15:1); akin to tetelestai, "it is finished," at the cross.
Rev 15-16 (15:1, Excurs I·4)
★ezēsan / "they lived"ἔζησαν — ezēsan
Twice the same verb (20:4-5): both times a bodily resurrection — the heart of the premillennial argument.
Rev 20 (20:4-5)
G
gegonen / gegona / "it is done"γέγονεν / γέγονα
The perfect tense from the throne at two moments: the end of the wrath (16:17) and the beginning of the new (21:6).
Rev 15-16 (16:17); Rev 21-22 (21:6)
mystery / mystērionμυστήριον — mystērion
God's long-hidden plan, "completed" at the seventh trumpet; also the inscription of the seven stars (1:20) and of Babylon (17:5).
Rev 10-11 (10:7); Rev 1; Rev 17-18
Gog and Magogגּוֹג וּמָגוֹג
A collective name for the worldwide final revolt after the thousand years; the name is borrowed from Ezekiel 38-39, but it is a different event.
Rev 20 (20:8)
great city, the
Jerusalem, "where their Lord was crucified" (11:8); the occupied city bears the name of its occupier for as long as the occupation lasts.
Rev 10-11 (11:8); Rev 15-16 (16:19)
★great week, the
History as a week of seven times a thousand years: six days of labor, the seventh the sabbath (the millennium), the eighth the eternity.
Rev 1 (A·3); Rev 19 (K·2); Rev 20
★Abomination of desolation, theשִׁקּוּץ מְשֹׁמֵם / βδέλυγμα
The usurper who stops the sacrifice and sets himself as God in the temple (Dan 9:27; Mt 24:15; 2 Thess 2:4); marks the midpoint of the week.
Rev 10-11 (11:1-2); Rev 6; Rev 7 (E·3)
H
★harpazō / to catch awayἁρπάζω — harpazō
To catch away, to seize with force: the rapture-word (1 Thess 4:17); the Child is caught away to the throne (12:5).
Rev 12-14 (12:5); Rev 4-5 (4:1)
★higbirהִגְבִּיר — higbir
"To make strong with overwhelming power": the covenant of Dan 9:27 is made strong, not cut (karat) — advantage for the many, overwhelming power for him (cf. Psalm 12:4, the only other hifil); a key word that betrays the antichrist.
Rev 6 (Excurs D·1)
harlot, the greatπόρνη / Βαβυλών
The Babel-system of false worship that rides the beast and is drunk on the blood of martyrs; her form up to now is read as Mecca, her final form as Shinar (disputed).
Rev 17-18 (17:1-6, Excurs J·1); Rev 15-16
"how long?"ἕως πότε — heōs pote
The legal plea of the martyrs under the altar (6:10), answered in 16:6 and executed in 19:2.
Rev 6 (6:10); Rev 15-16; Rev 19
I
Jezebelאִיזֶבֶל
A symbolic name for the influential current that condones the cultic compromise (after the Baal-queen); also a model for Babylon's fall.
Rev 2-3 (2:20); Rev 17-18 (J·4)
K
kainos / new (in kind)καινός — kainos
New in essence, not neos (new in time): the new heaven and earth as a new substrate, not a repair.
Rev 21-22 (21:1, Excurs M·1)
kairosκαιρός — kairos
The decisive moment, not clock-time: "the time is near" (1:3).
Rev 1 (1:3)
lampstand / menorahמְנוֹרָה
The church as light-bearer (1:20), burning on the oil of the Spirit; one menorah becomes seven lampstands and at last two witnesses.
Rev 1 (1:20); Rev 2-3; Rev 10-11 (11:4)
★katechon / the Restrainerτὸ κατέχον / ὁ κατέχων
Neuter the heavenly order, masculine the border-guard (Michael); he withdraws in three phases — the skeleton of the week.
Rev 12-14 (Excurs H·2); Rev 6
kiswah
The covering of the Kaaba, which over the centuries changed color — including a period of red scarlet brocade (cf. the scarlet of the harlot).
Rev 17-18 (Excurs J·6)
kokkinos / scarletκόκκινος — kokkinos
The worm-red of the kermes-louse: the color of both the beast and the harlot.
Rev 17-18 (17:3-4)
kings and priests
What the redeemed are made (1:6), sung as a fact (5:10), completed in the reigning (22:5).
Rev 1 (1:6); Rev 4-5; Rev 20
cube, the
The city-Bride as a perfect cube (length = breadth = height) is the holy of holies (1 Kings 6:20) magnified: no separate temple anymore.
Rev 21-22 (21:16, Excurs M·2)
L
Lamb, theἀρνίον — arnion
The slain-and-standing Lamb that takes the scroll; the center of heaven (30× in the book). The Lion IS the Lamb.
Rev 4-5 (5:6); and onward
Lion of Judah / Root of David
The credentials that close the chain of ownership; "root" means origin, not merely descendant.
Rev 4-5 (5:5)
lēnos / winepress-troughληνός — lēnos
Occurs exactly twice (14:19-20 and 19:15) and so dates the wine-harvest of the wrath at the second coming.
Rev 12-14 (14:19-20); Rev 19
lex talionis / measure-for-measure
"Blood for blood" (Gen 9:6): whoever shed blood is given blood to drink (16:6); Babylon is poured a double measure (18:6).
Rev 15-16 (16:6); Rev 17-18
M
makarios / blessedμακάριος — makarios
The first of exactly seven beatitudes through the book (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7,14).
Rev 1; and onward
Maranathaמָרַנָא תָא
"Come, Lord Jesus": the Aramaic watchword of the earliest church (1 Cor 16:22), the closing answer of the Bride.
Rev 21-22 (22:20)
★martys / witnessμάρτυς / μαρτυρία
The witness-thread from Abel onward: 1:2 → Antipas (2:13) → the souls under the altar (6:9) → the two witnesses (11:3) → 20:4.
Rev 1 (1:2); Rev 6; Rev 10-11
★Master Clock, the
The overarching time-model of this commentary: history as the spelling-out of the one word "coming."
Rev 1 (1:7); Rev 6; and onward
★mark of the beastχάραγμα
The license to buy and sell, on hand or forehead: the antipole of the seal of God, the name of the beast.
Rev 12-14 (13:16-17); Rev 15-16 (16:2)
metōpon / foreheadμέτωπον — metōpon
The mark of ownership: the seal of God (7:3), the mark (13:16), the name of the harlot (17:5), the Name in the city (22:4).
Rev 7; Rev 12-14; Rev 17-18; Rev 21-22
Michaelמִיכָאֵל
"Who is like God?": the border-guard prince who casts the dragon down; "Who is like the beast?" (13:4) is the mocking echo.
Rev 12-14 (12:7, Excurs H·2)
★millennium / the seventh day
The actual, future earthly kingdom of peace of Christ (premillennial); "a thousand years" falls six times — and it is at the same time the great test.
Rev 20 (Excursen L·1/L·2/L·3)
morning star, the bright
Christ Himself (22:16); the promise to the one who overcomes (2:28).
Rev 2-3 (2:28); Rev 21-22 (22:16)
N
★counterfeit trinity
Dragon (counterfeit-Father), beast (counterfeit-Son), false prophet (counterfeit-Spirit): three over against Three.
Rev 12-14 (Excurs H·5); Rev 19; Rev 20
naos / holy placeναός — naos
The holy place itself, not a whole complex; does not necessarily require a full third temple, but does require a consecrated place with a sacrifice that can be stopped.
Rev 10-11 (11:1)
NicolaitansΝικολαΐται
An uncertain libertine-syncretistic current (compromise with the pagan cult); possibly a wordplay, "conquerors of the people."
Rev 2-3 (2:6,15)
nikaō / to overcomeνικάω — nikaō
The overcomer on whom every promise hangs (8× in Rev 2-3); he overcomes by the blood of the Lamb and the word of the testimony.
Rev 2-3; Rev 12-14 (12:11)
O
Ancient of Daysעַתִּיק יוֹמִין
The white hair of Daniel 7 — of God Himself — laid on the Son of Man: a confession of His deity.
Rev 1 (1:14)
orgē / wrathὀργή — orgē
The judgment of God upon the world; not for the Bride, for the cup was emptied at the cross. Distinguished from thlipsis.
Rev 6 (Excurs D·3); Rev 7 (6:17)
P
panels / chiasm
The mirror-structure of the book: the scenes answer one another inward (A↔A′ through D↔D′), with panel E (12-14) as the eye of the storm.
The connecting threads; Rev 1; Rev 21-22
pelekizō / to beheadπελεκίζω — pelekizō
"To behead with the axe": a hapax in the New Testament (20:4); John chooses the particular word, not the general "killed."
Rev 12-14 (Excurs H·8); Rev 20 (20:4)
pharmakeia / sorceryφαρμακεία — pharmakeia
Sorcery interwoven with the mixing of poisons and drugs (the source of "pharmacy"): "by your pharmakeia all the nations were deceived" (18:23).
Rev 8-9; Rev 17-18 (18:23)
lake of fire, the
The final destination, the second death; distinguished from the abyss. Beast and false prophet are the first inhabitants, the dragon a thousand years later.
Rev 19 (19:20); Rev 20 (20:10,14-15)
★Pre-Abomination
The position that the Bride is taken away before the abomination is set up (on the seam of the sixth seal); not pre-trib, not pre-wrath.
Rev 7 (Excurs E·3); Rev 6; Rev 8-9
R
Dome of the Rock, the
The golden dome (Abd al-Malik, 691/692) on the rock of Moriah, with the oldest Quran-inscriptions denying the Son; a foreshadowing, not the abomination itself.
Rev 10-11 (Excurs G·3); Rev 17-18
horsemen, the four
Four ordered steps of one legal case (white, red, black, pale): Ezekiel's four judgments (14:21), Zechariah's horses, Jesus' "beginning of birth-pangs."
Rev 6 (6:1-8)
S
shekinahשְׁכִינָה
The rabbinic term for God's indwelling glory-presence; the root behind skēnoō — He "tabernacles" among men (21:3).
Rev 7 (7:15); Rev 21-22 (21:3)
★sēmainō / esēmanenσημαίνω — esēmanen
"To make known in signs" (from sēma, sign): the whole book stands under this one verb (1:1) — the reading-key of the Revelation.
Rev 1 (1:1)
skēnē / skēnoō / tentσκηνή / σκηνόω
The tabernacle; the thread runs from blasphemed (13:6) through opened (15:5) to descended (21:3): Immanuel completed.
Rev 15-16 (15:5); Rev 21-22 (21:3)
keys of death and Hades
Christ holds the access over life and death (1:18); the thread 1:18 → 3:7 → 9:1 → 20:1.
Rev 1 (1:18)
sphazō / to slaughterσφάζω — sphazō
The word of the sacrificial knife: the "slaughtered" martyrs (6:9) bear the same word as the "slaughtered" Lamb (5:6).
Rev 6 (6:9); Rev 4-5
T
Tartarus / tartaroōταρταρόω
"Cast into Tartarus" (2 Peter 2:4): the deepest dungeon where the sinning angels of Noah's time lie bound — the abyss as prison, distinguished from Hades.
Rev 8-9, Excurs F·3
tavnit / the patternתַּבְנִית — tavnit
The "model" that Moses was shown on the mountain (Exodus 25:40): tabernacle and temple are the copy of the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 8:5; 9:24).
Rev 4-5, Excurs C·5
tehom / the deepתְּהוֹם — tehom
The primeval flood over which the Spirit hovered (Genesis 1:2); in Scripture the image beneath the abyss, the underworld flood of waters.
Rev 4-5, Excurs C·5; Rev 8-9, Excurs F·3
telescopic
The nested cascade: the seventh seal unfolds the trumpets, the seventh trumpet the bowls — not recapitulation. Proof in the ascent: a fourth → a third → the whole.
Rev 8-9; Rev 15-16 (Excurs I·1)
tetelestai / "it is finished"τετέλεσται
The cross-word (John 19:30), echoing in etelesthē and gegonen at the bowls (a weighed, disputed echo).
Rev 15-16 (Excurs I·4)
thlipsis / tribulationθλῖψις — thlipsis
Pressure, persecution, the cruciform life — yes for the Bride, and thereby distinguished from orgē (wrath).
Rev 7 (7:14)
throne, the true and the falseθρόνος — thronos
"Throne" peaks 19× in the throne-room (4-5): the true throne (the rainbow of the covenant) over against the false (the harlot on the beast).
Rev 4-5; Rev 17-18
in-between time, the
The undated church-age between the 69th and the 70th week, opened by the word "after" (Dan 9:26).
Rev 6 (Dossier timeline)
two witnesses, the
Moses and Elijah (or in their spirit), untouchable until their work is done: the last accusers before the verdict.
Rev 10-11 (11:3-14, Excurs G·4)
U
Umm al-Qura
"Mother of cities": the Quranic title of honor for Mecca (Sura 6:92), a chilling mirror of "mother of harlots" (17:5).
Rev 17-18 (Excursen J·1/J·6)
V
four angels at the Euphrates, the
Four bound powers, loosed at the sixth trumpet (9:14): fallen spirits who unleash the final invasion, distinguished from Daniel's free-roaming princes.
Rev 8-9 (9:14, F·5)
twenty-four elders, the
Redeemed humans, or a heavenly council-jury around the throne (crowns, white garments, thrones); the 24 priestly orders as their earthly shadow.
Rev 4-5 (4:4, Excurs C·4)
kingdom of peace in the prophets, the
The interim kingdom that the whole Old Testament promises (Isa 11; 65; Zech 14; Ezek 40-48; Dan 7:27); never fulfilled, and not the eternal state.
Rev 20 (Excurs L·1)
W
white horseman, the
The first horseman, with a bow without an arrow and a borrowed crown: the false peace of the higbir-covenant, unmasked by the true Rider of 19:11.
Rev 6 (6:2, Excurs D·2); Rev 19
Z
seven Spirits, theτὰ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα
The Holy Spirit in sevenfold fullness (Isaiah 11:2): the seven torches before the throne (4:5) and the seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb (5:6; Zechariah 4:10).
Rev 4-5, Excurs C·3
seal of God, theσφραγίς — sphragis
The proof of ownership and the protection on the forehead of the 144,000; it works against the locusts (9:4); the antipole of the mark.
Rev 7 (7:3); Rev 8-9 (9:4)
seals, the seven
The eviction-orders on the title-deed: making the case visible (the phase of the avenger of blood); they strike a fourth.
Rev 6
souls under the altar, the
The stored-up blood of all the ages (from Abel onward): the formal accusation, which receives white robes and must rest until the number is full.
This glossary gathers the root-words (Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic) and the technical terms that recur throughout the commentary. Per entry: the term, the pronunciation where needed, a short description, and the place(s) where it is treated. The nineteen entries marked with ★ are the concepts the layperson needs first; without those nineteen the model stays hard to follow, with those nineteen it falls into place.
A
★earth-dwellers (-thread)κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς
The fixed, God-hostile counter-party of the book: the line of Cain, who chose the earth as his only home and hardens instead of repenting; the antipole of the witness-thread (of Abel).
The connecting threads; Rev 1 (3:10); Rev 6; Rev 8-9; Rev 15-16
Abaddon / ApollyonἈβαδδών / Ἀπολλύων
"Destroyer, Ruin"; the angel-king of the abyss — a distinct fallen power, not Satan. For Greek ears the name carried the sound of Apollo.
Rev 8-9 (9:11), Excurs F·3; Rev 12, Excurs H·3
eighth king, the
Not a new empire but the beast that returns, twofold: the empire that since 9 December 1917 is not and returns, and the antichrist who receives the deadly wound and rises.
Rev 17-18 (17:11), Excurs J·2
eighth day, the
The eternal new creation after the seventh day (the millennium); Shemini Atzeret, the closing day without an evening.
Rev 21-22, Excurs M·1
★abyssἄβυσσος — abyssos
The prison of fallen spirits; in the whole book it opens at one single place (the fifth trumpet); source of Apollyon and of the beast. Distinguished from the lake of fire.
Rev 8-9 (9:1-2); Rev 10-11 (11:7); Rev 12 (H·3); Rev 17-18 (17:8); Rev 20 (20:1-3)
Alpha and the OmegaἌλφα / Ὦ
The first and last letter: God's signature beneath the book; only the Father speaks this, at the beginning and the end.
Rev 1 (1:8); Rev 15-16 (16:17, mirror); Rev 21-22 (21:6; 22:13)
Almightyπαντοκράτωρ — pantokratōr
Almost always the Greek rendering of "LORD of hosts": the God of the Revelation is the LORD of Israel.
Rev 1 (1:8); Rev 4-5; Rev 15-16; Rev 19
aparchē / firstfruitsἀπαρχή — aparchē
The first, consecrated handful of a harvest still standing in the field, offered to God; said of the 144,000.
Rev 7 (E·2); Rev 12-14 (14:4)
Armageddon / Har-MegiddoἉρμαγεδών
"Mountain or hill-country of Megiddo": the mustering- and staging-ground of a land-wide final battle, decided by the sword from the mouth.
Rev 15-16 (16:16, Excurs I·3); Rev 19
axios / worthyἄξιος — axios
Not a moral qualification but a legal term: competent, holding the right to act in order to open the deed.
Rev 4-5 (5:2,9)
B
bdelygma / abominationβδέλυγμα — bdelygma
"Abomination" — the same word as in "abomination of desolation"; in the cup of the harlot it stands for the denial of the Son.
Rev 17-18 (17:4, J·6); Rev 10-11
beast from the sea, the
The political-military final power: Daniel's four beasts in one, the slain-and-risen counterfeit-Son, ridden by the harlot.
Rev 12-14 (13:1-10); Rev 17-18 (17:8-11)
beast from the earth, the / false prophet
Two lamb's horns, dragon's voice: the religious-propagandist power that makes the image speak and enforces the mark.
Rev 12-14 (13:11-18, H·4); Rev 19 (19:20)
cup, the
A fixed image for God's wrath (Ps 75; Jer 25): emptied at Golgotha for the Bride, poured out undiluted on whoever bears the mark.
Rev 12-14 (14:10); Rev 15-16 (15:7; 16:19); Rev 17-18 (17:4; 18:6)
★avenger of blood / goëlגֹּאֵל הַדָּם — goël ha-dam
The kinsman who executes the right of one who has been murdered (Num 35); one of the three offices of the Redeemer, alongside ransomer and bridegroom.
Rev 1 (1:5-6); Rev 6; Rev 15-16 (I·2); Rev 17-18 (J·4); Rev 19 (K·3)
book of life
The register that decides who enters; the works are the evidence, the book is the verdict.
Rev 2-3 (3:5); Rev 12-14 (13:8); Rev 20 (20:12,15); Rev 21-22 (21:27)
★scroll / title-deed
The sealed scroll in the right hand of the Father: the title-deed of the world lost in Eden, the deed of redemption.
Rev 4-5 (5:1, Excurs C·1)
Bride / Bride-Cityνύμφη
The complete company of all true believers (Jew and Gentile, the one olive tree); the city IS the Bride, the antipole of the harlot.
Rev 19; Rev 21-22 (M·2)
C
chronos / delayχρόνος — chronos
Here "delay," not "time": "there shall be no more delay" (10:6) answers the "a little while longer" of 6:11.
Rev 10-11 (10:6)
★corporate Child, the
The caught-up male Child (12:5) read as Head and Body (Christ-and-His-own); the most vulnerable link, and marked as such.
Rev 12-14 (12:5, Excurs H·1)
D
Lord's Dayκυριακή — kyriakē
"Of the Lord": the day on which John receives the vision, Sunday or the sabbath; the text does not decide; at the same time a window onto the great Day of the LORD.
Rev 1 (1:10, Excurs A·3)
Daniel's seventieth week
The last of the seventy weeks (Dan 9): seven years still outstanding, ushered in by the covenant made strong by overwhelming power; the framework of seals, trumpets, and bowls.
Rev 6; Rev 10-11
deipnon / supperδεῖπνον — deipnon
Falls in the climax exactly twice: the wedding supper of the Lamb (19:9) over against the supper of God for the birds (19:17).
Rev 19
Dhu al-Suwayqatayn
"The man with the thin shanks": a figure from a tradition who tears down the Kaaba stone by stone — Islam itself foretells the destruction (cf. 17:16).
Rev 17-18 (Excurs J·6)
Doppelurkunde / double deed
The legal form in which the binding text is sealed inside and the open summary stands on the back (Jer 32); the scroll "written within and on the back."
Rev 4-5 (5:1, Excurs C·2)
E
★ek / "out of"ἐκ — ek
Movement out of the interior, at a point of emerging: "kept out of the hour" (3:10) and "coming out of the tribulation" (7:14).
Rev 2-3 (3:10); Rev 7 (7:14)
ekklēsia / churchἐκκλησία — ekklēsia
Falls 19× in Rev 1-3 and then not a single time more until 22:16: the word falls silent at the hinge 4:1.
Rev 2-3 (Dossier); Rev 1
eikōn / imageεἰκών — eikōn
The speaking, breathing image of the beast; it reverses the prophets' mockery — now it is the idol that does speak and kill.
Rev 12-14 (13:14-15)
etelesthē / "completed"ἐτελέσθη
"With them the wrath is completed" (15:1); akin to tetelestai, "it is finished," at the cross.
Rev 15-16 (15:1, Excurs I·4)
★ezēsan / "they lived"ἔζησαν — ezēsan
Twice the same verb (20:4-5): both times a bodily resurrection — the heart of the premillennial argument.
Rev 20 (20:4-5)
G
gegonen / gegona / "it is done"γέγονεν / γέγονα
The perfect tense from the throne at two moments: the end of the wrath (16:17) and the beginning of the new (21:6).
Rev 15-16 (16:17); Rev 21-22 (21:6)
mystery / mystērionμυστήριον — mystērion
God's long-hidden plan, "completed" at the seventh trumpet; also the inscription of the seven stars (1:20) and of Babylon (17:5).
Rev 10-11 (10:7); Rev 1; Rev 17-18
Gog and Magogגּוֹג וּמָגוֹג
A collective name for the worldwide final revolt after the thousand years; the name is borrowed from Ezekiel 38-39, but it is a different event.
Rev 20 (20:8)
great city, the
Jerusalem, "where their Lord was crucified" (11:8); the occupied city bears the name of its occupier for as long as the occupation lasts.
Rev 10-11 (11:8); Rev 15-16 (16:19)
★great week, the
History as a week of seven times a thousand years: six days of labor, the seventh the sabbath (the millennium), the eighth the eternity.
Rev 1 (A·3); Rev 19 (K·2); Rev 20
★Abomination of desolation, theשִׁקּוּץ מְשֹׁמֵם / βδέλυγμα
The usurper who stops the sacrifice and sets himself as God in the temple (Dan 9:27; Mt 24:15; 2 Thess 2:4); marks the midpoint of the week.
Rev 10-11 (11:1-2); Rev 6; Rev 7 (E·3)
H
★harpazō / to catch awayἁρπάζω — harpazō
To catch away, to seize with force: the rapture-word (1 Thess 4:17); the Child is caught away to the throne (12:5).
Rev 12-14 (12:5); Rev 4-5 (4:1)
★higbirהִגְבִּיר — higbir
"To make strong with overwhelming power": the covenant of Dan 9:27 is made strong, not cut (karat) — advantage for the many, overwhelming power for him (cf. Psalm 12:4, the only other hifil); a key word that betrays the antichrist.
Rev 6 (Excurs D·1)
harlot, the greatπόρνη / Βαβυλών
The Babel-system of false worship that rides the beast and is drunk on the blood of martyrs; her form up to now is read as Mecca, her final form as Shinar (disputed).
Rev 17-18 (17:1-6, Excurs J·1); Rev 15-16
"how long?"ἕως πότε — heōs pote
The legal plea of the martyrs under the altar (6:10), answered in 16:6 and executed in 19:2.
Rev 6 (6:10); Rev 15-16; Rev 19
I
Jezebelאִיזֶבֶל
A symbolic name for the influential current that condones the cultic compromise (after the Baal-queen); also a model for Babylon's fall.
Rev 2-3 (2:20); Rev 17-18 (J·4)
K
kainos / new (in kind)καινός — kainos
New in essence, not neos (new in time): the new heaven and earth as a new substrate, not a repair.
Rev 21-22 (21:1, Excurs M·1)
kairosκαιρός — kairos
The decisive moment, not clock-time: "the time is near" (1:3).
Rev 1 (1:3)
lampstand / menorahמְנוֹרָה
The church as light-bearer (1:20), burning on the oil of the Spirit; one menorah becomes seven lampstands and at last two witnesses.
Rev 1 (1:20); Rev 2-3; Rev 10-11 (11:4)
★katechon / the Restrainerτὸ κατέχον / ὁ κατέχων
Neuter the heavenly order, masculine the border-guard (Michael); he withdraws in three phases — the skeleton of the week.
Rev 12-14 (Excurs H·2); Rev 6
kiswah
The covering of the Kaaba, which over the centuries changed color — including a period of red scarlet brocade (cf. the scarlet of the harlot).
Rev 17-18 (Excurs J·6)
kokkinos / scarletκόκκινος — kokkinos
The worm-red of the kermes-louse: the color of both the beast and the harlot.
Rev 17-18 (17:3-4)
kings and priests
What the redeemed are made (1:6), sung as a fact (5:10), completed in the reigning (22:5).
Rev 1 (1:6); Rev 4-5; Rev 20
cube, the
The city-Bride as a perfect cube (length = breadth = height) is the holy of holies (1 Kings 6:20) magnified: no separate temple anymore.
Rev 21-22 (21:16, Excurs M·2)
L
Lamb, theἀρνίον — arnion
The slain-and-standing Lamb that takes the scroll; the center of heaven (30× in the book). The Lion IS the Lamb.
Rev 4-5 (5:6); and onward
Lion of Judah / Root of David
The credentials that close the chain of ownership; "root" means origin, not merely descendant.
Rev 4-5 (5:5)
lēnos / winepress-troughληνός — lēnos
Occurs exactly twice (14:19-20 and 19:15) and so dates the wine-harvest of the wrath at the second coming.
Rev 12-14 (14:19-20); Rev 19
lex talionis / measure-for-measure
"Blood for blood" (Gen 9:6): whoever shed blood is given blood to drink (16:6); Babylon is poured a double measure (18:6).
Rev 15-16 (16:6); Rev 17-18
M
makarios / blessedμακάριος — makarios
The first of exactly seven beatitudes through the book (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7,14).
Rev 1; and onward
Maranathaמָרַנָא תָא
"Come, Lord Jesus": the Aramaic watchword of the earliest church (1 Cor 16:22), the closing answer of the Bride.
Rev 21-22 (22:20)
★martys / witnessμάρτυς / μαρτυρία
The witness-thread from Abel onward: 1:2 → Antipas (2:13) → the souls under the altar (6:9) → the two witnesses (11:3) → 20:4.
Rev 1 (1:2); Rev 6; Rev 10-11
★Master Clock, the
The overarching time-model of this commentary: history as the spelling-out of the one word "coming."
Rev 1 (1:7); Rev 6; and onward
★mark of the beastχάραγμα
The license to buy and sell, on hand or forehead: the antipole of the seal of God, the name of the beast.
Rev 12-14 (13:16-17); Rev 15-16 (16:2)
metōpon / foreheadμέτωπον — metōpon
The mark of ownership: the seal of God (7:3), the mark (13:16), the name of the harlot (17:5), the Name in the city (22:4).
Rev 7; Rev 12-14; Rev 17-18; Rev 21-22
Michaelמִיכָאֵל
"Who is like God?": the border-guard prince who casts the dragon down; "Who is like the beast?" (13:4) is the mocking echo.
Rev 12-14 (12:7, Excurs H·2)
★millennium / the seventh day
The actual, future earthly kingdom of peace of Christ (premillennial); "a thousand years" falls six times — and it is at the same time the great test.
Rev 20 (Excursen L·1/L·2/L·3)
morning star, the bright
Christ Himself (22:16); the promise to the one who overcomes (2:28).
Rev 2-3 (2:28); Rev 21-22 (22:16)
N
★counterfeit trinity
Dragon (counterfeit-Father), beast (counterfeit-Son), false prophet (counterfeit-Spirit): three over against Three.
Rev 12-14 (Excurs H·5); Rev 19; Rev 20
naos / holy placeναός — naos
The holy place itself, not a whole complex; does not necessarily require a full third temple, but does require a consecrated place with a sacrifice that can be stopped.
Rev 10-11 (11:1)
NicolaitansΝικολαΐται
An uncertain libertine-syncretistic current (compromise with the pagan cult); possibly a wordplay, "conquerors of the people."
Rev 2-3 (2:6,15)
nikaō / to overcomeνικάω — nikaō
The overcomer on whom every promise hangs (8× in Rev 2-3); he overcomes by the blood of the Lamb and the word of the testimony.
Rev 2-3; Rev 12-14 (12:11)
O
Ancient of Daysעַתִּיק יוֹמִין
The white hair of Daniel 7 — of God Himself — laid on the Son of Man: a confession of His deity.
Rev 1 (1:14)
orgē / wrathὀργή — orgē
The judgment of God upon the world; not for the Bride, for the cup was emptied at the cross. Distinguished from thlipsis.
Rev 6 (Excurs D·3); Rev 7 (6:17)
P
panels / chiasm
The mirror-structure of the book: the scenes answer one another inward (A↔A′ through D↔D′), with panel E (12-14) as the eye of the storm.
The connecting threads; Rev 1; Rev 21-22
pelekizō / to beheadπελεκίζω — pelekizō
"To behead with the axe": a hapax in the New Testament (20:4); John chooses the particular word, not the general "killed."
Rev 12-14 (Excurs H·8); Rev 20 (20:4)
pharmakeia / sorceryφαρμακεία — pharmakeia
Sorcery interwoven with the mixing of poisons and drugs (the source of "pharmacy"): "by your pharmakeia all the nations were deceived" (18:23).
Rev 8-9; Rev 17-18 (18:23)
lake of fire, the
The final destination, the second death; distinguished from the abyss. Beast and false prophet are the first inhabitants, the dragon a thousand years later.
Rev 19 (19:20); Rev 20 (20:10,14-15)
★Pre-Abomination
The position that the Bride is taken away before the abomination is set up (on the seam of the sixth seal); not pre-trib, not pre-wrath.
Rev 7 (Excurs E·3); Rev 6; Rev 8-9
R
Dome of the Rock, the
The golden dome (Abd al-Malik, 691/692) on the rock of Moriah, with the oldest Quran-inscriptions denying the Son; a foreshadowing, not the abomination itself.
Rev 10-11 (Excurs G·3); Rev 17-18
horsemen, the four
Four ordered steps of one legal case (white, red, black, pale): Ezekiel's four judgments (14:21), Zechariah's horses, Jesus' "beginning of birth-pangs."
Rev 6 (6:1-8)
S
shekinahשְׁכִינָה
The rabbinic term for God's indwelling glory-presence; the root behind skēnoō — He "tabernacles" among men (21:3).
Rev 7 (7:15); Rev 21-22 (21:3)
★sēmainō / esēmanenσημαίνω — esēmanen
"To make known in signs" (from sēma, sign): the whole book stands under this one verb (1:1) — the reading-key of the Revelation.
Rev 1 (1:1)
skēnē / skēnoō / tentσκηνή / σκηνόω
The tabernacle; the thread runs from blasphemed (13:6) through opened (15:5) to descended (21:3): Immanuel completed.
Rev 15-16 (15:5); Rev 21-22 (21:3)
keys of death and Hades
Christ holds the access over life and death (1:18); the thread 1:18 → 3:7 → 9:1 → 20:1.
Rev 1 (1:18)
sphazō / to slaughterσφάζω — sphazō
The word of the sacrificial knife: the "slaughtered" martyrs (6:9) bear the same word as the "slaughtered" Lamb (5:6).
Rev 6 (6:9); Rev 4-5
T
Tartarus / tartaroōταρταρόω
"Cast into Tartarus" (2 Peter 2:4): the deepest dungeon where the sinning angels of Noah's time lie bound — the abyss as prison, distinguished from Hades.
Rev 8-9, Excurs F·3
tavnit / the patternתַּבְנִית — tavnit
The "model" that Moses was shown on the mountain (Exodus 25:40): tabernacle and temple are the copy of the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 8:5; 9:24).
Rev 4-5, Excurs C·5
tehom / the deepתְּהוֹם — tehom
The primeval flood over which the Spirit hovered (Genesis 1:2); in Scripture the image beneath the abyss, the underworld flood of waters.
Rev 4-5, Excurs C·5; Rev 8-9, Excurs F·3
telescopic
The nested cascade: the seventh seal unfolds the trumpets, the seventh trumpet the bowls — not recapitulation. Proof in the ascent: a fourth → a third → the whole.
Rev 8-9; Rev 15-16 (Excurs I·1)
tetelestai / "it is finished"τετέλεσται
The cross-word (John 19:30), echoing in etelesthē and gegonen at the bowls (a weighed, disputed echo).
Rev 15-16 (Excurs I·4)
thlipsis / tribulationθλῖψις — thlipsis
Pressure, persecution, the cruciform life — yes for the Bride, and thereby distinguished from orgē (wrath).
Rev 7 (7:14)
throne, the true and the falseθρόνος — thronos
"Throne" peaks 19× in the throne-room (4-5): the true throne (the rainbow of the covenant) over against the false (the harlot on the beast).
Rev 4-5; Rev 17-18
in-between time, the
The undated church-age between the 69th and the 70th week, opened by the word "after" (Dan 9:26).
Rev 6 (Dossier timeline)
two witnesses, the
Moses and Elijah (or in their spirit), untouchable until their work is done: the last accusers before the verdict.
Rev 10-11 (11:3-14, Excurs G·4)
U
Umm al-Qura
"Mother of cities": the Quranic title of honor for Mecca (Sura 6:92), a chilling mirror of "mother of harlots" (17:5).
Rev 17-18 (Excursen J·1/J·6)
V
four angels at the Euphrates, the
Four bound powers, loosed at the sixth trumpet (9:14): fallen spirits who unleash the final invasion, distinguished from Daniel's free-roaming princes.
Rev 8-9 (9:14, F·5)
twenty-four elders, the
Redeemed humans, or a heavenly council-jury around the throne (crowns, white garments, thrones); the 24 priestly orders as their earthly shadow.
Rev 4-5 (4:4, Excurs C·4)
kingdom of peace in the prophets, the
The interim kingdom that the whole Old Testament promises (Isa 11; 65; Zech 14; Ezek 40-48; Dan 7:27); never fulfilled, and not the eternal state.
Rev 20 (Excurs L·1)
W
white horseman, the
The first horseman, with a bow without an arrow and a borrowed crown: the false peace of the higbir-covenant, unmasked by the true Rider of 19:11.
Rev 6 (6:2, Excurs D·2); Rev 19
Z
seven Spirits, theτὰ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα
The Holy Spirit in sevenfold fullness (Isaiah 11:2): the seven torches before the throne (4:5) and the seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb (5:6; Zechariah 4:10).
Rev 4-5, Excurs C·3
seal of God, theσφραγίς — sphragis
The proof of ownership and the protection on the forehead of the 144,000; it works against the locusts (9:4); the antipole of the mark.
Rev 7 (7:3); Rev 8-9 (9:4)
seals, the seven
The eviction-orders on the title-deed: making the case visible (the phase of the avenger of blood); they strike a fourth.
Rev 6
souls under the altar, the
The stored-up blood of all the ages (from Abel onward): the formal accusation, which receives white robes and must rest until the number is full.
Rev 6 (6:9-11)