Revelation 15:5
 
Revelation 15:5
(KJV) And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
(1611 KJV) And after that I looked, and behold, the Temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heauen was opened:
(1587 Geneva Bible) And after that, I looked, and beholde, the Temple of the tabernacle of testimonie was open in heauen.
(1526 Tyndale) And after that I loked and beholde ye temple of the tabernacle of testimony was opyn in heven
(1384 Tyndale) And aftir these thingis Y say, and lo! the temple of the tabernacle of witnessyng was opened in heuene;
 
Counterfeit Versions
(1881 RV) And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
(1901 ASV) And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
(AMP) After this I looked and the sanctuary of the tent of the testimony in heaven was thrown open,
(CEB) After this I looked, and the temple in heaven—that is, the tent of witness—was opened
(CEV) After this, I noticed something else in heaven. The sacred tent used for a temple was open.
(CSB) After this I looked, and the heavenly temple ​— ​the tabernacle of testimony ​— ​was opened.
(ERV) After this I saw the temple, the holy place of God’s presence, in heaven. It was opened,
(ESV) After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened,
(GNB) After this I saw the temple in heaven open, with the Sacred Tent in it.
(HCSB) After this I looked, and the heavenly sanctuary—the tabernacle of testimony —was opened.
(THE MESSAGE) Then I saw the doors of the Temple, the Tent of Witness in Heaven, open wide.
(NASV) After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened,
(NIRV) After this I looked, and the temple was opened in heaven. The temple is the holy tent where the tablets of the covenant were kept.
(2011 NIV) After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple —that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law —and it was opened.
(NKJV) After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.
(NLV) After this I looked and saw that the Holiest Place of All in the house of God was opened.
(NLT) Then I looked and saw that the Temple in heaven, God’s Tabernacle, was thrown wide open.
(RSV) After this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened,
(NAB-Roman catholic) After this I had another vision. The temple that is the heavenly tent of testimony opened,
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) And after these things I saw, and the sanctuary of the tent of the witness was opened in heaven,
 
Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
και μετα ταυτα ειδον και ιδου ηνοιγη ο ναος της σκηνης του μαρτυριου εν τω ουρανω
 
Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
και μετα ταυτα ειδον και ηνοιγη ο ναος της σκηνης του μαρτυριου εν τω ουρανω
 
Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century
P 025 - Ninth century
1 (Minuscule) - Seventh century
 
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse
Stephanus 1550 A.D.
 
Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omit “behold” after “and”
Greisbach, Johann - 1805
Lachmann, Karl - 1842
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
Wordsworth, Christopher - 1856 revised in 1870
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941
Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition
Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition
United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition
Von Soden, Freiherr - 1902
Hodges and Farstad - Majority Text 1982 as corrected in 1985
 
Affected Teaching
The word “behold,” which is missing in the modern versions, is the word in the Greek for “see, perceive, or look.” In this usage of the word, it is in the Imperative mood which means the Lord Jesus Christ is giving a command to John to behold the temple of the tabernacle being opened in Heaven. The word “behold” in the Greek is in the Imperative Mood which is a command and not an option. Now it may seem trite concerning the omission of this one word, but it is an important word. (Rev 1:11 KJV) Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. John was given the command to write what he sees. If he does not behold something based on the definitions above and below, then how could he write what he has not seen, plus he is being directed as to what is seen, so what is written is exactly what God wants to be written in the book of Revelation. The word “behold” is important. For example, I see a 1932 Duesenberg parked across the street, so I go up close and look at it and see that it is in beautiful condition. I saw it from a distance but I beheld it when I got close to it and I was able to gain information about it, something I could not do from a distance. The word “behold” in English means “to fix eyes upon, see with attention, or observe with care.” This is why the word is very important because it tells us John was carefully watching the unfolding events so he could write them with all divine accuracy.
 
There is also another interesting fact about the Greek word “idou” being omitted in the modern versions. It is found in the 1550 Stephanus text but we see that the word was also in the 1382 Wycliffe New Testament. This means that the word was in the text 168 years before Stephanus made his Greek text. Wycliffe had used the Latin Vulgate of Jerome from the fourth century, translated from Latin to Middle English. This means that the Greek word “idou” was in that translation as far back as the fourth century. Another evidence that Receptus readings are old and not recent.

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