Revelation 12:16-18 New English Translation
16 but[a] the earth came to her rescue;[b] the ground opened up[c] and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. 17 So[d] the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children,[e] those who keep[f] God’s commandments and hold to[g] the testimony about Jesus.[h] 18 And the dragon[i] stood[j] on the sand[k] of the seashore.[l]
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- Revelation 12:16 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present here.
- Revelation 12:16 tn Grk “the earth helped the woman.”
- Revelation 12:16 tn Grk “the earth opened its mouth” (a metaphor for the ground splitting open).
- Revelation 12:17 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the woman’s escape.
- Revelation 12:17 tn Grk “her seed” (an idiom for offspring, children, or descendants).
- Revelation 12:17 tn Or “who obey.”
- Revelation 12:17 tn Grk “and having.”
- Revelation 12:17 tn Grk “the testimony of Jesus,” which may involve a subjective genitive (“Jesus’ testimony”) or, more likely, an objective genitive (“testimony about Jesus”).
- Revelation 12:18 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the dragon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Revelation 12:18 tc Grk ἐστάθη (estathē, “he stood”). The reading followed by the translation is attested by the better mss (P47 א A C 1854 2344 2351 lat syh) while the majority of mss (051 M vgmss syph co) have the reading ἐστάθην (estathēn, “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.”
- Revelation 12:18 tn Or “sandy beach” (L&N 1.64).
- Revelation 12:18 sn The standard critical texts of the Greek NT, NA28 and UBS5, 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.
New English Translation (NET)
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