Revelation 6:12-17

6:12 Then ¹  I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge ²  earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, ³  and the full moon became blood red; ⁴  6:13 and the stars in the sky ⁵  fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping ⁶  its unripe figs ⁷  when shaken by a fierce ⁸  wind. 6:14 The sky ⁹  was split apart ¹⁰  like a scroll being rolled up, ¹¹  and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 6:15 Then ¹²  the kings of the earth, the ¹³  very important people, the generals, ¹⁴  the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave ¹⁵  and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 6:16 They ¹⁶  said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷  6:17 because the great day of their ¹⁸  wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” ¹⁹ 

[6:12]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[6:12]  ² tn Or “powerful”; Grk “a great.”

[6:12]  ³ tn Or “like hairy sackcloth” (L&N 8.13).

[6:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “like blood,” understanding αἷμα (aima) as a blood-red color rather than actual blood (L&N 8.64).

[6:13]  ⁵ tn Or “in heaven” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”). The genitive τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (tou ouranou) is taken as a genitive of place.

[6:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “throws [off]”; the indicative verb has been translated as a participle due to English style.

[6:13]  ⁷ tn L&N 3.37 states, “a fig produced late in the summer season (and often falling off before it ripens) – ‘late fig.’ ὡς συκὴ βάλλει τοὺς ὀλύνθους αὐτῆς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου μεγάλου σειομένη ‘as the fig tree sheds its late figs when shaken by a great wind’ Re 6:13. In the only context in which ὄλυνθος occurs in the NT (Re 6:13), one may employ an expression such as ‘unripe fig’ or ‘fig which ripens late.’”

[6:13]  ⁸ tn Grk “great wind.”

[6:14]  ⁹ tn Or “The heavens were.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) can mean either “heaven” or “sky.”

[6:14]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 125 s.v. ἀποχωρίζω states, “ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀπεχωρίσθη the sky was split Rv 6:14.” Although L&N 79.120 gives the meaning “the sky disappeared like a rolled-up scroll” here, a scroll that is rolled up does not “disappear,” and such a translation could be difficult for modern readers to understand.

[6:14]  ¹¹ tn On this term BDAG 317 s.v. ἑλίσσω states, “ὡς βιβλίον ἑλισσόμενον like a scroll that is rolled up…Rv 6:14.”

[6:15]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[6:15]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated; nor is it translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[6:15]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “chiliarchs.” A chiliarch was normally a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).

[6:15]  ¹⁵ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[6:16]  ¹⁶ 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.

[6:16]  ¹⁷ tn It is difficult to say where this quotation ends. The translation ends it after “withstand it” at the end of v. 17, but it is possible that it should end here, after “Lamb” at the end of v. 16. If it ends after “Lamb,” v. 17 is a parenthetical explanation by the author.

[6:17]  ¹⁸ tc Most mss (A Ï bo) change the pronoun “their” to “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou) in order to bring the text in line with the mention of the one seated on the throne in the immediately preceding verse, and to remove the ambiguity about whose wrath is in view here. The reading αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”) is well supported by א C 1611 1854 2053 2329 2344 pc latt sy. On both internal and external grounds, it should be regarded as original.

[6:17]  ¹⁹ tn The translation “to withstand (it)” for ἵστημι (Jisthmi) is based on the imagery of holding one’s ground in a military campaign or an attack (BDAG 482 s.v. B.4).