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Revelation 3:8

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3:8‘I know your deeds. (Look! I have put30 in front of you an open door that no one can shut.)31 I know32 that you have little strength,33 but34 you have obeyed35 my word and have not denied my name.

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Footnotes

  1. 30 Grk “I have given.”
  2. 31 Grk “to shut it,” but English would leave the direct object understood in this case. The entire statement is parenthetical, interrupting the construction found in other letters to the churches in 3:1 and 3:15, “I know your deeds, that …” where an enumeration of the deeds follows.
  3. 32 This translation is based on connecting the ὅτι (hoti) clause with the οἶδα (oida) at the beginning of the verse, giving the content of what is known (see also 3:1, 3:15 for parallels). Because of the intervening clause that is virtually parenthetical (see the note on the word “shut” earlier in this verse), the words “I know that” from the beginning of the verse had to be repeated to make this connection clear for the English reader. However, the ὅτι could be understood as introducing a causal subordinate clause instead and thus translated, “because you have.”
  4. 33 Or “little power.”
  5. 34 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
  6. 35 Grk “and having kept.” The participle ἐτήρησας (etērēsas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. For the translation of τηρέω (tēreō) as “obey” see L&N 36.19. This is the same word that is used in 3:10 (there translated “kept”) where there is a play on words.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“ ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

I know your works. Look, I have placed before you an open door that no one can close because you have but little power; yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

NLTNew Living Translation

“I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

‘I know your works (behold, I have put before you an opened door that no one is able to shut) that you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and did not deny my name.

KJV 1900King James Version

I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.