Rev 7:2-4 | NETfull | STEP | Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He shouted out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given permission to damage the earth and the sea:

Revelation of John 7:2-4

2 Then ^{▼▼ Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.} I saw another angel ascending from the east, ^{▼▼ Grk “from the rising of the sun.” BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατολή 2.a takes this as a geographical direction: “ἀπὸ ἀ. ἡλίου…from the east Rv 7:2; 16:12…simply ἀπὸ ἀ. …21:13.”} who had ^{▼▼ Grk “having,” but v. 3 makes it clear that the angel’s purpose is to seal others with the seal he carries.} the seal ^{▼▼ Or “signet” (L&N 6.54).} of the living God. He ^{▼▼ Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.} shouted out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given permission ^{▼▼ The word “permission” is implied; Grk “to whom it was given to them to damage the earth.”} to damage the earth and the sea: ^{▼▼ Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.} 3 “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants ^{▼▼ See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.} of our God.” 4 Now ^{▼▼ Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of new but related material.} I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, ^{▼▼ Grk “who were sealed.”} one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all ^{▼▼ Normally, “every,” but since 144,000 is the total number, “all” is clearer here.} the tribes of the people of Israel: ^{▼▼ Grk “the sons of Israel,” normally an idiom for the Israelites as an ethnic entity (L&N 11.58). However, many scholars understand the expression in this context to refer to Christians rather than ethnic Israelites.}