Revelation 11:8-19

11:8 Their ¹  corpses will lie in the street ²  of the great city that is symbolically ³  called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was also crucified. 11:9 For three and a half days those from every ⁴  people, tribe, ⁵  nation, and language will look at their corpses, because they will not permit them to be placed in a tomb. ⁶  11:10 And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate, even sending gifts to each other, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. 11:11 But ⁷  after three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and tremendous fear seized ⁸  those who were watching them. 11:12 Then ⁹  they ¹⁰  heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them: “Come up here!” So the two prophets ¹¹  went up to heaven in a cloud while ¹²  their enemies stared at them. 11:13 Just then ¹³  a major earthquake took place and a tenth of the city collapsed; seven thousand people ¹⁴  were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

11:14 The second woe has come and gone; ¹⁵  the third is coming quickly.

The Seventh Trumpet

11:15 Then ¹⁶  the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:

“The kingdom of the world

has become the kingdom of our Lord

and of his Christ, ¹⁷ 

and he will reign for ever and ever.”

11:16 Then ¹⁸  the twenty-four elders who are seated on their thrones before God threw themselves down with their faces to the ground ¹⁹  and worshiped God 11:17 with these words: ²⁰ 

“We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, ²¹ 

the one who is and who was,

because you have taken your great power

and begun to reign. ²² 

11:18 The ²³  nations ²⁴  were enraged,

but ²⁵  your wrath has come,

and the time has come for the dead to be judged,

and the time has come to give to your servants, ²⁶ 

the prophets, their reward,

as well as to the saints

and to those who revere ²⁷  your name, both small and great,

and the time has come ²⁸  to destroy those who destroy ²⁹  the earth.”

11:19 Then ³⁰  the temple of God in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was visible within his temple. And there were flashes of lightning, roaring, ³¹  crashes of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm. ³² 

[11:8]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  ² tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).

[11:8]  ³ tn Grk “spiritually.”

[11:9]  ⁴ tn The word “every” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the following list.

[11:9]  ⁵ tn The Greek term καί (kai) has not been translated before this and the following items in the list, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[11:9]  ⁶ tn Or “to be buried.”

[11:11]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[11:11]  ⁸ tn Grk “fell upon.”

[11:12]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[11:12]  ¹⁰ tn Though the nearest antecedent to the subject of ἤκουσαν (hkousan) is the people (“those who were watching them”), it could also be (based on what immediately follows) that the two prophets are the ones who heard the voice.

[11:12]  ¹¹ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the two prophets) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:12]  ¹² tn The conjunction καί (kai) seems to be introducing a temporal clause contemporaneous in time with the preceding clause.

[11:13]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:13]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “seven thousand names of men.”

[11:14]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “has passed.”

[11:15]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[11:15]  ¹⁷ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[11:16]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[11:16]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

[11:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “saying.”

[11:17]  ²¹ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

[11:17]  ²² tn The aorist verb ἐβασίλευσας (ebasileusa") has been translated ingressively.

[11:18]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:18]  ²⁴ tn Or “The Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[11:18]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[11:18]  ²⁶ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[11:18]  ²⁷ tn Grk “who fear.”

[11:18]  ²⁸ tn The words “the time has come” do not occur except at the beginning of the verse; the phrase has been repeated for emphasis and contrast. The Greek has one finite verb (“has come”) with a compound subject (“your wrath,” “the time”), followed by three infinitive clauses (“to be judged,” “to give,” “to destroy”). The rhetorical power of the repetition of the finite verb in English thus emulates the rhetorical power of its lone instance in Greek.

[11:18]  ²⁹ tn Or “who deprave.” There is a possible wordplay here on two meanings for διαφθείρω (diafqeirw), with the first meaning “destroy” and the second meaning either “to ruin” or “to make morally corrupt.” See L&N 20.40.

[11:19]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence on events within the vision.

[11:19]  ³¹ tn Or “sounds,” “voices.” It is not entirely clear what this refers to. BDAG 1071 s.v. φωνή 1 states, “In Rv we have ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί (cp. Ex 19:16) 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18 (are certain other sounds in nature thought of here in addition to thunder, as e.g. the roar of the storm?…).”

[11:19]  ³² tn Although BDAG 1075 s.v. χάλαζα gives the meaning “hail” here, it is not clear whether the adjective μεγάλη (megalh) refers to the intensity of the storm or the size of the individual hailstones, or both.