Revelation 12:5-10

12:5 So ¹  the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, ²  who is going to rule ³  over all the nations ⁴  with an iron rod. ⁵  Her ⁶  child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne, 12:6 and she ⁷  fled into the wilderness ⁸  where a place had been prepared for her ⁹  by God, so she could be taken care of ¹⁰  for 1,260 days.

War in Heaven

12:7 Then ¹¹  war broke out in heaven: Michael ¹²  and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 12:8 But ¹³  the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, ¹⁴  so there was no longer any place left ¹⁵  in heaven for him and his angels. ¹⁶  12:9 So ¹⁷  that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. 12:10 Then ¹⁸  I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,

“The salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God,

and the ruling authority ¹⁹  of his Christ, ²⁰  have now come,

because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, ²¹ 

the one who accuses them day and night ²²  before our God,

has been thrown down.

[12:5]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion of the anticipated birth.

[12:5]  ² 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]  ³ tn Grk “shepherd.”

[12:5]  ⁴ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

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

[12:5]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[12:6]  ⁷ tn Grk “and the woman,” which would be somewhat redundant in English.

[12:6]  ⁸ tn Or “desert.”

[12:6]  ⁹ tn Grk “where she has there a place prepared by God.”

[12:6]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “so they can take care of her.”

[12:7]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[12:7]  ¹⁴ sn The archangel Michael had a special role in protecting the nation of Israel in the OT (Dan 10:13, 21; 12:1; see also Jude 9).

[12:8]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the implied contrast.

[12:8]  ²⁰ tn The words “to prevail” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:8]  ²¹ tn Grk “found.”

[12:8]  ²² tn Grk “for them”; the referent (the dragon and his angels, v. 7) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:9]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.

[12:10]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:10]  ³² tn Or “the right of his Messiah to rule.” See L&N 37.35.

[12:10]  ³³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[12:10]  ³⁴ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). The translation “fellow believer” would normally apply (L&N 11.23), but since the speaker(s) are not specified in this context, it is not clear if such a translation would be appropriate here. The more generic “brothers and sisters” was chosen to emphasize the fact of a relationship without specifying its type.

[12:10]  ³⁵ tn Or “who accuses them continually.”