Revelation 2:25

When in Doubt, Leave it Out!

The phrase "ἄχρις οὗ ἂν ἥξω" is an interesting construction and is a mysterious blend of standard and non-standard elements in Ancient Greek. It has stumped scholars who thought it must refer somehow to an unknown (indefinite) date or time of coming, rather than a conditionality of the coming.

"The Greek for "till I come" is remarkable - ἄχρις οῦ ἂν ἥξω; where the ἂν conveys a touch of indefiniteness as to the date specified - until the time whensoever I shall come. We have a similar construction in 1 Corinthians 15:25. Revelation 2:25"

Pulpit Commentary (1889)

However, there is no "time" indicated in this text, only "until." Until what? Here's a breakdown of the components and their typical uses:

1. "ἄχρις": This means "until" or "up to the point when..." It introduces a temporal clause that indicates a limit or endpoint in time.

2.  "οὗ": This means "who/which/what." It is a genitive masculine singular of ὅς, the relative pronoun. 

3. "ἂν": This particle is used with the subjunctive mood to express conditions, potentiality, or hypothetical situations. It is not typically combined with the future indicative.

4. "ἥξω": This is the future indicative form of the verb "ἥκω," meaning "I will come."

In standard Ancient Greek, a more conventional way to express "until I come" (which would indicate that there is a time) would be:

• "ἄχρις ἥξω" (correct in classical usage), meaning "until I come" or "up to the point when I will come."

However the use of "οὗ" and "ἂν" in this context throws this meaning off. It might be unconventional but since it was intentional, it should be interpreted/exposed and not put out of view. 

whosoever might. The scholars themselves teach the proper use of ὅς when combined with the particle ἂν. Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) the widely respected Hebrew-English lexicon for biblical studies and a standard reference work for students and scholars of Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic makes it plain:

Whenever or Whoever?

If someone were unfamiliar with the word ὅταν, meaning "when," they might not realize that Classical Greek already has a clear and proper way to express "when/whenever." The standard and conventional method to convey "whenever" or a conditional temporal relationship is the construction ὅτε + ἄν, which contracts to form ὅταν—not ὅς ἄν. While ὅς ἄν is used for general or conditional relative clauses ("whoever," "whichever"), ὅταν is specifically designed to indicate temporal generality.

A conditionality of who, with a definite "I will come." The writer is attempting to convey a conditional aspect of "who." Though it's non-standard, the writer is using "ἂν" to introduce a hypothetical or uncertain condition, perhaps to emphasize the uncertainty or conditionality of who will arrive...

"When in doubt, leave it out!"

A rendering of "when" in this respect would be false, and basically assume that the writer mixed up his Greek. Thus, most translations disregard completely the "ὅς ἄν" and leave it out. The KJV added the word already in italics. The Berean Literal Bible, in effort to give the literal, came close and rendered "until which." But in order to keep the reader from wondering "which what?" they apparently couldn't resist adding the word in italics "until which time" which is no different than rendering as though it were ὅταν, which it is not.