Revelation 12:7-17

War in Heaven

12:7 Then ¹  war broke out in heaven: Michael ²  and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 12:8 But ³  the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, ⁴  so there was no longer any place left ⁵  in heaven for him and his angels. ⁶  12:9 So ⁷  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 ⁸  I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,

“The salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God,

and the ruling authority ⁹  of his Christ, ¹⁰  have now come,

because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, ¹¹ 

the one who accuses them day and night ¹²  before our God,

has been thrown down.

12:11 But ¹³  they overcame him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

and they did not love their lives ¹⁴  so much that they were afraid to die.

12:12 Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them!

But ¹⁵  woe to the earth and the sea

because the devil has come down to you!

He ¹⁶  is filled with terrible anger,

for he knows that he only has a little time!”

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

[12:7]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[12:7]  ² 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]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the implied contrast.

[12:8]  ⁴ tn The words “to prevail” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:8]  ⁵ tn Grk “found.”

[12:8]  ⁶ tn Grk “for them”; the referent (the dragon and his angels, v. 7) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:9]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.

[12:10]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:10]  ⁹ tn Or “the right of his Messiah to rule.” See L&N 37.35.

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

[12:10]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Or “who accuses them continually.”

[12:11]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.

[12:11]  ¹⁴ sn They did not love their lives. See Matt 16:25; Luke 17:33; John 12:25.

[12:12]  ¹⁵ tn The word “But” is not in the Greek text, but the contrast is clearly implied. This is a case of asyndeton (lack of a connective).

[12:12]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and is filled,” a continuation of the previous sentence. Because English tends to use shorter sentences (especially when exclamations are involved), a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[12:13]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” because the clause it introduces is clearly resumptive.

[12:13]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “saw.”

[12:14]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present here.

[12:14]  ²⁰ tn Or “desert.”

[12:14]  ²¹ tn The word “God” is supplied based on the previous statements made concerning “the place prepared for the woman” in 12:6.

[12:14]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:15]  ²⁴ tn Grk “so that he might make her swept away.”

[12:16]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present here.

[12:16]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the earth helped the woman.”

[12:16]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the earth opened its mouth” (a metaphor for the ground splitting open).

[12:17]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the woman’s escape.

[12:17]  ²⁹ tn Grk “her seed” (an idiom for offspring, children, or descendants).

[12:17]  ³⁰ tn Or “who obey.”

[12:17]  ³¹ tn Grk “and having.”

[12:17]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the dragon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:17]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ tn Or “sandy beach” (L&N 1.64).

[12:17]  ³⁶ 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.