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OET (OET-LV) And they_are_saying to_me:
It_is_fitting you again to_prophesy concerning peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings many.
OET (OET-RV) and they told me, “You have to speak out God’s message about many nations and people groups and language groups and kings.”
In this section, John saw a powerful angel come down from heaven to the earth. John described what the angel looked like. When the angel shouted, John heard seven beings speak with loud voices like thunder. God told John not to write what they said. The powerful angel announced that when the seventh angel blew his trumpet, God would finish his plan. Then God told John to eat the scroll that the angel held. He also told John that he would show him more future events.
Other examples of headings for this section are:
John saw an angel holding a small scroll
The Angel with the Little Scroll (NRSV)
And they told me, “You must prophesy again
¶ Then I was told, “It is necessary for you to prophesy again
¶ Someone told me, “You are required to proclaim/tell more of God’s revelation
they told me: There is a textual issue in 10:11a: (1) Some early Greek manuscripts have the clause they said to me (BSB, NRSV, NASB, GW, CEV, NET). (2) Some later Greek manuscripts have the clause he said to me (KJV only). It is recommended that you follow option (1), because the UBS Greek NT supports it. The Greek clause is literally “they said to me.” It is not clear who the pronoun they refers to. It probably refers generally to angels who told John God’s message. For example:
they said to me (NRSV)
some voices said (CEV)
Others told me
Some English versions translate this clause as a passive because it is not clear to whom the pronoun “they” refers.
You must prophesy: The Greek clause is literally “It is necessary for you to prophesy.” God required John to write more prophecies for him.
prophesy: The word prophesy refers to speaking to people a message that God gives to him. These messages are called “prophecies” and reveal things that God wants people to know at that time. Other ways to translate this word are:
speak God’s message
proclaim God’s revelation
about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”
about many peoples, countries, languages, and kings.”
about many peoples/lands, nations, languages, and national leaders.”
about: There are several ways to interpret the Greek word that the BSB translates as about. The main interpretations are:
It means concerning. The word refers to talking about the many peoples and nations. For example:
about (RSV) (BSB, RSV, NIV, GNT, NASB, NABRE, NLT, CEV, NET, REB, ESV, NCV)
It means against. The prophecy is about the bad things that the many peoples and nations are doing. For example:
against (NJB) (NJB)
It means before. The prophecy is for the many peoples and nations to hear. For example:
in front of (GW) (KJV, GW)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).Swete (page 132) says, “The Seer is not sent to prophesy in their presence…, nor against them.” Osbourne (page 404) translates the Greek word as “about.”
peoples and nations: See how you translated these words in 5:9 or 7:9.
kings: This word refers to the highest ruler of a country. He usually has authority to make all decisions concerning the country. In some languages people are not familiar with kings. If that is true in your language, you may want to use a word or phrase that means leaders of countries. For example:
leaders of nations
Note 1 topic: writing-pronouns
λέγουσίν μοι
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί λέγουσιν μοί Δεῖ σέ πάλιν προφητεῦσαι ἐπί λαοῖς καί ἔθνεσιν καί γλώσσαις καί βασιλεῦσιν πολλοῖς)
The pronoun they is an indefinite pronoun that does not have a specific referent in the immediate context. John is using this indefinite construction to focus on what he was told rather than on who told it to him. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this with a different expression that does not use an indefinite pronoun. Alternate translation: [I was told]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet
λαοῖς, καὶ ἔθνεσιν, καὶ γλώσσαις, καὶ βασιλεῦσιν πολλοῖς
peoples (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί λέγουσιν μοί Δεῖ σέ πάλιν προφητεῦσαι ἐπί λαοῖς καί ἔθνεσιν καί γλώσσαις καί βασιλεῦσιν πολλοῖς)
In this context, the terms peoples, nations, languages, and kings mean similar things. John is using the four terms together to make a comprehensive statement. If it would be clearer for your readers, you could express the emphasis with a single phrase. Alternate translation: [every different people group]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
λαοῖς, καὶ ἔθνεσιν, καὶ γλώσσαις, καὶ βασιλεῦσιν πολλοῖς
peoples (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί λέγουσιν μοί Δεῖ σέ πάλιν προφητεῦσαι ἐπί λαοῖς καί ἔθνεσιν καί γλώσσαις καί βασιλεῦσιν πολλοῖς)
The angel is referring to speakers of various languages by association with the languages themselves, and John is referring to the subjects of various kingdoms by association with their kings. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [many peoples and nations and speakers of many languages and subjects of many kingdoms]
OET (OET-LV) And they_are_saying to_me:
It_is_fitting you again to_prophesy concerning peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings many.
OET (OET-RV) and they told me, “You have to speak out God’s message about many nations and people groups and language groups and kings.”
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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