[B-Greek] Rev 7:14 hOUTOI EISIN hOI *ERCOMENOI* EK THS QLIYEWS THSMEGALHS

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Mon May 17 00:16:25 EDT 2004


> Rev 7:14 hOUTOI EISIN hOI *ERCOMENOI* EK THS QLIYEWS THS MEGALHS
>
> That's a present middle participle. Robertson comments:
>
> > They which come out of the great tribulation (hoi erchomenoi ek te?s
> > thlipseo?s te?s megale?s). Present middle participle with the idea of
> > continued repetition. "The martyrs are still arriving from the scene
> > of the great tribulation" (Charles). Apparently some great crisis is
> > contemplated (Mat_13:19.; Mat_24:21; Mar_13:10), though the whole
> > series may be in mind and so may anticipate final judgment.
>
> Does the force of this verb require a sense of continual repetition, of
> martyrs continuing to arrive? I ask this because most translations and
> many commentaries do not seem to see it this way.

Not necessarily repetition, since a particular person only comes out from
the tribulation once. But the event is described from an inside, ongoing
perspective, and from the speaker's point of view the tribulation seems to
be still ongoing, but the group referred to have all come out of the
tribulation. According to v. 9 the whole group is now standing before the
throne and they are KRAZOUSIN LEGONTES - present tense.
You can translate this by the English "they have come out" to indicate that
all within the referenced group have come out, but without implying that the
tribulation is over. Others might still be coming.

Iver Larsen




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