Revelation 12:2-6

12:2 She ¹  was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling ²  to give birth. 12:3 Then ³  another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns. ⁴  12:4 Now ⁵  the dragon’s ⁶  tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then ⁷  the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 12:5 So ⁸  the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, ⁹  who is going to rule ¹⁰  over all the nations ¹¹  with an iron rod. ¹²  Her ¹³  child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne, 12:6 and she ¹⁴  fled into the wilderness ¹⁵  where a place had been prepared for her ¹⁶  by God, so she could be taken care of ¹⁷  for 1,260 days.

Revelation 12:13--13:4

12:13 Now ¹⁸  when the dragon realized ¹⁹  that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 12:14 But ²⁰  the woman was given the two wings of a giant eagle so that she could fly out into the wilderness, ²¹  to the place God ²²  prepared for her, where she is taken care of – away from the presence of the serpent – for a time, times, and half a time. ²³  12:15 Then ²⁴  the serpent spouted water like a river out of his mouth after the woman in an attempt to ²⁵  sweep her away by a flood, 12:16 but ²⁶  the earth came to her rescue; ²⁷  the ground opened up ²⁸  and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. 12:17 So ²⁹  the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, ³⁰  those who keep ³¹  God’s commandments and hold to ³²  the testimony about Jesus. ³³  (12:18) And the dragon ³⁴  stood ³⁵  on the sand ³⁶  of the seashore. ³⁷ 

The Two Beasts

13:1 Then ³⁸  I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It ³⁹  had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, ⁴⁰  and on its heads a blasphemous name. ⁴¹  13:2 Now ⁴²  the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The ⁴³  dragon gave the beast ⁴⁴  his power, his throne, and great authority to rule. ⁴⁵  13:3 One of the beast’s ⁴⁶  heads appeared to have been killed, ⁴⁷  but the lethal wound had been healed. ⁴⁸  And the whole world followed ⁴⁹  the beast in amazement; 13:4 they worshiped the dragon because he had given ruling authority ⁵⁰  to the beast, and they worshiped the beast too, saying: “Who is like the beast?” and “Who is able to make war against him?” ⁵¹ 

[12:2]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[12:2]  ² tn Grk “and being tortured,” though βασανίζω (basanizw) in this context refers to birth pangs. BDAG 168 s.v. 2.b states, “Of birth-pangs (Anth. Pal. 9, 311 βάσανος has this mng.) Rv 12:2.” The καί (kai) has not been translated.

[12:3]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:3]  ⁴ tn For the translation of διάδημα (diadhma) as “diadem crown” see L&N 6.196.

[12:4]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate that this remark is virtually parenthetical.

[12:4]  ⁶ tn Grk “its”; the referent (the dragon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:4]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:5]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion of the anticipated birth.

[12:5]  ⁹ tn On this term BDAG 135 s.v. ἄρσην states: “male…The neut. ἄρσεν Rv 12:5, difft. vs. 13, comes fr. Is 66:7 and is in apposition to υἱόν. On the juxtaposition s. FBoll, ZNW 15, 1914, 253; BOlsson, Glotta 23, ’34, 112.”

[12:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “shepherd.”

[12:5]  ¹¹ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[12:5]  ¹² tn Or “scepter.” The Greek term ῥάβδος (rJabdo") can mean either “rod” or “scepter.”

[12:5]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[12:6]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and the woman,” which would be somewhat redundant in English.

[12:6]  ¹⁵ tn Or “desert.”

[12:6]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “where she has there a place prepared by God.”

[12:6]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “so they can take care of her.”

[12:13]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” because the clause it introduces is clearly resumptive.

[12:13]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “saw.”

[12:14]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present here.

[12:14]  ²¹ tn Or “desert.”

[12:14]  ²² tn The word “God” is supplied based on the previous statements made concerning “the place prepared for the woman” in 12:6.

[12:14]  ²³ tc The reading “and half a time” (καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ, kai {hmisu kairou) is lacking in the important uncial C. Its inclusion, however, is supported by {Ì⁴⁷ א A and the rest of the ms tradition}. There is apparently no reason for the scribe of C to intentionally omit the phrase, and the fact that the word “time” (καιρὸν καὶ καιρούς, kairon kai kairou") appears twice before may indicate a scribal oversight.

[12:15]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:15]  ²⁵ tn Grk “so that he might make her swept away.”

[12:16]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present here.

[12:16]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the earth helped the woman.”

[12:16]  ²⁸ tn Grk “the earth opened its mouth” (a metaphor for the ground splitting open).

[12:17]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the woman’s escape.

[12:17]  ³⁰ tn Grk “her seed” (an idiom for offspring, children, or descendants).

[12:17]  ³¹ tn Or “who obey.”

[12:17]  ³² tn Grk “and having.”

[12:17]  ³³ tn Grk “the testimony of Jesus,” which may involve a subjective genitive (“Jesus’ testimony”) or, more likely, an objective genitive (“testimony about Jesus”).

[12:17]  ³⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the dragon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:17]  ³⁵ tc Grk ἐστάθη (estaqh, “he stood”). The reading followed by the translation is attested by the better mss (Ì⁴⁷ א A C 1854 2344 2351 pc lat sy^h) while the majority of mss (051 Ï vg^mss sy^ph co) have the reading ἐστάθην (estaqhn, “I stood”). Thus, the majority of mss make the narrator, rather than the dragon of 12:17, the subject of the verb. The first person reading is most likely an assimilation to the following verb in 13:1, “I saw.” The reading “I stood” was introduced either by accident or to produce a smoother flow, giving the narrator a vantage point on the sea’s edge from which to observe the beast rising out of the sea in 13:1. But almost everywhere else in the book, the phrase καὶ εἶδον (kai eidon, “and I saw”) marks a transition to a new vision, without reference to the narrator’s activity. On both external and internal grounds, it is best to adopt the third person reading, “he stood.”

[12:17]  ³⁶ tn Or “sandy beach” (L&N 1.64).

[12:17]  ³⁷ sn The standard critical texts of the Greek NT, NA²⁷ and UBS⁴, both include this sentence as 12:18, as do the RSV and NRSV. Other modern translations like the NASB and NIV include the sentence at the beginning of 13:1; in these versions chap. 12 has only 17 verses.

[13:1]  ³⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[13:1]  ³⁹ tn Grk “having” (a continuation of the previous sentence). All of the pronouns referring to this beast (along with the second beast appearing in 13:11) could be translated as “it” because the word for beast (θηρίον, qhrion) is neuter gender in Greek and all the pronouns related to it are parsed as neuter in the Gramcord/Accordance database. Nevertheless, most interpreters would agree that the beast ultimately represents a human ruler, so beginning at the end of v. 4 the masculine pronouns (“he,” “him,” etc.) are used to refer to the first beast as well as the second beast appearing in 13:11.

[13:1]  ⁴⁰ tn For the translation of διάδημα (diadhma) as “diadem crown” see L&N 6.196.

[13:1]  ⁴¹ tc ‡ Several mss (A 051 1611 1854 2053 2344 2351 Ï^K) read the plural ὀνόματα (onomata, “[blasphemous] names”), while the singular ὄνομα (onoma, “name”) has somewhat better support (Ì⁴⁷ א C 1006 1841 2329 Ï^A). The plural reading seems motivated by the fact that what is written is written “on its heads.” In the least, it is a clarifying reading. NA²⁷ puts the plural in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[13:2]  ⁴² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the parenthetical nature of the following description of the beast.

[13:2]  ⁴³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “gave it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:2]  ⁴⁵ tn For the translation “authority to rule” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “one of its heads”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:3]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “killed to death,” an expression emphatic in its redundancy. The phrase behind this translation is ὡς ἐσφαγμένον (Jw" ejsfagmenon). The particle ὡς is used in Greek generally for comparison, and in Revelation it is used often to describe the appearance of what the author saw. In this instance, the appearance of the beast’s head did not match reality, because the next phrase shows that in fact it did not die. This text does not affirm that the beast died and was resurrected, but some draw this conclusion because of the only other use of the phrase, which refers to Jesus in 5:6.

[13:3]  ⁴⁸ tn The phrase τοῦ θανάτου (tou qanatou) can be translated as an attributive genitive (“deathly wound”) or an objective genitive (the wound which caused death) and the final αὐτοῦ (autou) is either possessive or reference/respect.

[13:3]  ⁴⁹ tn On the phrase “the whole world followed the beast in amazement,” BDAG 445 s.v. θαυμάζω 2 states, “wonder, be amazed…Rv 17:8. In pregnant constr. ἐθαυμάσθη ὅλη ἡ γῆ ὀπίσω τ. θηρίου the whole world followed the beast, full of wonder 13:3 (here wonder becomes worship: cp. Ael. Aristid. 13 p. 290 D.; 39 p. 747 of Dionysus and Heracles, οἳ ὑφ᾿ ἡμῶν ἐθαυμάσθησαν. Sir 7:29; Jos., Ant. 3, 65. – The act. is also found in this sense: Cebes 2, 3 θ. τινά = ‘admire’ or ‘venerate’ someone; Epict. 1, 17, 19 θ. τὸν θεόν).”

[13:4]  ⁵⁰ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:4]  ⁵¹ tn On the use of the masculine pronoun to refer to the beast, see the note on the word “It” in 13:1.