That seems to me like a reasonable rendering of the Greek:“...all who dwell on earth, whose name has not been written in *the slain Lamb’s* book of life from the foundation of the world”
I’m having trouble seeing this from the perspective of the NIV translators; and other scholars who argue that what this verse is actually suggesting is that the lamb was somehow “slain from the foundation of the world,” suggesting that this merely implies that “redemption was determined” from that point in time (cf. 1 Peter 1:19-20).“οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς οὗ οὐ γέγραπται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τῆς ζωῆς *τοῦ ἀρνίου τοῦ ἐσφαγμένου* ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου”.
Can anyone here steel-man the argument for the “slain from the foundation of the world” interpretation (in terms of Greek), based on anything other than the proximity of the ostensible antecedent? This really seems to boil down to objectively correct Greek exegesis.
David Matthewson, in his Baylor Handbook of Revelation (p. 174) makes his case for the traditional English word order as follows:
I honestly cannot see (for the life of me) where Matthewson is getting “God’s plan of redemption being determined” from “ἐσφαγμένον”. It seems like “has been written from the foundation of the world” is a fundamentally different concept from “slain from the foundation of the world”. The interpretations must be mutually exclusive (and not intentionally ambiguous). I suspect that theological biases may be pushing people away from what I would consider a plain reading of the text.“ἀπὸ καταβολῆς. Temporal. Indicates the time from which an event occurred (Porter 1992, 147). There is some question as to what this phrase modifies. On the one hand, it could modify ἐσφαγμένου, which is its closest antecedent (Charles, 1.354; Mounce, 256; Osborne, 503). This would suggest that Christ’s death was ordained from the foundation of the world (Charles, 1.354). Scholars that hold this position point to 1 Pet 1:19, 20. However, Swete (167) has argued that it should modify γέγραπται based on the parallel with 17:8 (see also Smalley, 343; Aune, 2.746–47; Beale, 702). While either view is possible, it is preferrable to take ἀπὸ καταβολῆς as modifying ἐσφαγμένου, which is the closest antecedent (“it is unlikely that the concluding temporal clause goes with ‘written,’ since twelve words separate them”; Beale, 702), suggesting that the author is referring to God’s plan of redemption being determined “from the foundation of the world.”
The perfect “οὐ γέγραπται…” seems to connect rather seamlessly with the participial phrase “…ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου,” because those names “have been written” from the initial point in time, up until the time of the event described. However, I don't see a clear connection to the aorist participle ἐσφαγμένον (or clear rationale for using the aorist in this context).
Additionally, the participle is in predicate position (τὸ ἀρνίον τὸ ἐσφαγμένον) would be equivalent/interchangeable with the attributive position (τὸ ἐσφαγμένον ἀρνίον). So, the author could have substituted the attributive position and there would then be no possible alternate interpretation:
Revelation 5:12 also supports the reading of “the slain lamb” as a noun phrase, where the “slaying” is not tied to the “foundation of the world”:“οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς οὗ οὐ γέγραπται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τῆς ζωῆς *τοῦ ἐσφαγμένου ἀρνίου* ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου”.
Revelation 5:12
"Written from the foundation of the world" is further supported by a nearly identical reference in Revelation 17:8 that uses the same perfect of γέγραπται:“…Ἄξιόν ἐστιν *τὸ ἀρνίον τὸ ἐσφαγμένον* λαβεῖν τὴν δύναμιν καὶ πλοῦτον καὶ σοφίαν καὶ ἰσχὺν καὶ τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν καὶ εὐλογίαν.”
Revelation 17:8
Traditionally, this verse was always rendered in Middle-Modern English with the Greek (and Latin) syntax:“…οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὧν *οὐ γέγραπται τὸ ὄνομα ἐπὶ τὸ βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου*”
Wycliffe:
Tyndale:“…whos names ben not writun in the book of lijf of the lomb, that *was slayn fro the bigynnyng of the world*.”
Great Bible:“…whose names are not written in the boke of lyfe of the lambe which *was kylled from the begynnynge of the worlde*.”
Geneva Bible:“…whose names are not written in the boke of lyfe of the lambe, which *was kylled from the begynnynge of the worlde*.”
KJV:“…whose names are not written in the booke of life of that Lambe, which *was slaine from the beginning of the world*.”
The only leading modern translation that ardently sticks with the traditional word order is the NIV, which is so emphatic that it duplicates the term "Lamb":“…whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb *slain from the foundation of the world*.”
For what it’s worth, I checked 4 different Modern Greek translations. And aside from Vamvas (who simply maintains the AG word order), only Spyros Filos explicitly renders the the reading “who is slain from the creation of the world”:“…all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb *who was slain from the creation of the world*.”
Vamvas:
Spyros Filos:“…των οποίων τα ονόματα δεν εγράφησαν εν τω βιβλίω της ζωής *του Αρνίου του εσφαγμένου από καταβολής κόσμου*”
Today’s Greek Version:“…των οποίων τα ονόματα δεν γράφτηκαν στο βιβλίο τής ζωής τού Aρνίου, *που είναι σφαγμένο από τη δημιουργία τού κόσμου*.”
NTV:“…που το όνομά τους δε γράφτηκε στο βιβλίο της ζωής *του σφαγμένου Αρνίου* από τότε που δημιουργήθηκε ο κόσμος.”
“…τῶν ὁποίων τὸ ὄνομα δὲν ἔχει γραφῆ, ἀπὸ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς δημιουργίας τοῦ κόσμου, εἰς τὸ βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς *τοῦ Ἀρνίου ποὺ εἶχε σφαγῆ*.”