A common misinterpretation views this verse literally as requiring physical virginity or celibacy exclusively for men, excluding women or married believers from this group of redeemed; others see it as promoting asceticism or a superior class of sinless Christians, ignoring the symbolic language where 'not defiled with women' represents spiritual purity from Babylon's harlotry and false worship, applicable to all faithful followers regardless of gender or marital status, not a mandate for literal abstinence.
Revelation of John 14:4
King James Version (1769)
4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
Revelation 14:4 portrays the 144,000 sealed servants as spiritually pure believers undefiled by the idolatrous influences of the world, symbolized by not being defiled with women, indicating total devotion to Christ as virgins in fidelity; they faithfully follow the Lamb wherever He leads, having been redeemed as firstfruits, a special offering presented to God and the Lamb, emphasizing their exemplary role in unwavering loyalty and separation from evil amid end-times tribulation.