Revelation 11:1-19

The Fate of the Two Witnesses

11:1 Then ¹  a measuring rod ²  like a staff was given to me, and I was told, ³  “Get up and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and the ones who worship there. 11:2 But ⁴  do not measure the outer courtyard ⁵  of the temple; leave it out, ⁶  because it has been given to the Gentiles, ⁷  and they will trample on the holy city ⁸  for forty-two months. 11:3 And I will grant my two witnesses authority ⁹  to prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth. 11:4 (These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.) ¹⁰  11:5 If ¹¹  anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths ¹²  and completely consumes ¹³  their enemies. If ¹⁴  anyone wants to harm them, they must be killed this way. 11:6 These two have the power ¹⁵  to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the time ¹⁶  they are prophesying. They ¹⁷  have power ¹⁸  to turn the waters to blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague whenever they want. 11:7 When ¹⁹  they have completed their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will make war on them and conquer ²⁰  them and kill them. 11:8 Their ²¹  corpses will lie in the street ²²  of the great city that is symbolically ²³  called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was also crucified. 11:9 For three and a half days those from every ²⁴  people, tribe, ²⁵  nation, and language will look at their corpses, because they will not permit them to be placed in a tomb. ²⁶  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 ²⁷  after three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and tremendous fear seized ²⁸  those who were watching them. 11:12 Then ²⁹  they ³⁰  heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them: “Come up here!” So the two prophets ³¹  went up to heaven in a cloud while ³²  their enemies stared at them. 11:13 Just then ³³  a major earthquake took place and a tenth of the city collapsed; seven thousand people ³⁴  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; ³⁵  the third is coming quickly.

The Seventh Trumpet

11:15 Then ³⁶  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, ³⁷ 

and he will reign for ever and ever.”

11:16 Then ³⁸  the twenty-four elders who are seated on their thrones before God threw themselves down with their faces to the ground ³⁹  and worshiped God 11:17 with these words: ⁴⁰ 

“We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, ⁴¹ 

the one who is and who was,

because you have taken your great power

and begun to reign. ⁴² 

11:18 The ⁴³  nations ⁴⁴  were enraged,

but ⁴⁵  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, ⁴⁶ 

the prophets, their reward,

as well as to the saints

and to those who revere ⁴⁷  your name, both small and great,

and the time has come ⁴⁸  to destroy those who destroy ⁴⁹  the earth.”

11:19 Then ⁵⁰  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, ⁵¹  crashes of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm. ⁵² 

[11:1]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[11:1]  ² tn Grk “a reed” (but these were used for measuring). Cf. Ezek 40:3ff.

[11:1]  ³ tn Grk “saying.”

[11:2]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[11:2]  ⁵ tn On the term αὐλήν (aulhn) BDAG 150 s.v. αὐλή 1 states, “(outer) court of the temple…Rv 11:2.”

[11:2]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of the phrase ἔκβαλε ἔξωθεν (ekbale exwqen) is difficult to determine.

[11:2]  ⁷ tn Or “to the nations” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[11:2]  ⁸ sn The holy city appears to be a reference to Jerusalem. See also Luke 21:24.

[11:3]  ⁹ tn The word “authority” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. “Power” would be another alternative that could be supplied here.

[11:4]  ¹⁰ sn This description is parenthetical in nature.

[11:5]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:5]  ¹² tn This is a collective singular in Greek.

[11:5]  ¹³ tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesqiw) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”

[11:5]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:6]  ¹⁵ tn Or “authority.”

[11:6]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the days.”

[11:6]  ¹⁷ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:6]  ¹⁸ tn Or “authority.”

[11:7]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “be victorious over”; traditionally, “overcome.”

[11:8]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  ²² tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).

[11:8]  ²³ tn Grk “spiritually.”

[11:9]  ²⁴ tn The word “every” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the following list.

[11:9]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn Or “to be buried.”

[11:11]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[11:11]  ²⁸ tn Grk “fell upon.”

[11:12]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[11:12]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the two prophets) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:12]  ³² tn The conjunction καί (kai) seems to be introducing a temporal clause contemporaneous in time with the preceding clause.

[11:13]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:13]  ³⁴ tn Grk “seven thousand names of men.”

[11:14]  ³⁵ tn Grk “has passed.”

[11:15]  ³⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[11:15]  ³⁷ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[11:16]  ³⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[11:16]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “saying.”

[11:17]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² tn The aorist verb ἐβασίλευσας (ebasileusa") has been translated ingressively.

[11:18]  ⁴³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:18]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “The Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[11:18]  ⁴⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[11:18]  ⁴⁶ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[11:18]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “who fear.”

[11:18]  ⁴⁸ 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]  ⁴⁹ 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]  ⁵⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence on events within the vision.

[11:19]  ⁵¹ 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]  ⁵² 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.