Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB MSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV SLT Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Rev C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22
Rev 11 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19
OET (OET-LV) And the corpse of_them will_be on the road of_the city the great, which is_being_called spiritually, Sodoma/(Şədom) and Aiguptos/(Miʦrayim), where also the master of_them was_executed_on_a_stake.
OET (OET-RV) Their corpses will lie on the road of the great city, which in spiritual terms is called Sodom and/or Egypt (Mitsrayim)—where their master was executed by being nailed to a stake.
In this section, John saw a new part of this vision. He saw the temple in Jerusalem. Ungodly people controlled the outermost courtyard of the temple.
Then he saw two men who testified about God and Jesus. They were killed, but God caused them to live again and took them to heaven. At that time God caused an earthquake in which seven thousand people died. The rest of the people in Jerusalem then honored God.
Other examples of headings for this section are:
God’s two witnesses
Two men told/testified about God and Jesus in Jerusalem
Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city—
Their corpses(dual) will lie in the street of the great city,
Their dead bodies will lie in the main street of the well-known city.
Their bodies: The Greek phrase is literally “their body,” but it refers to both bodies.
street: The Greek word that the BSB translates as street refers to an important or broad street. For example:
main street (NLT)
the great city: This phrase refers to Jerusalem, or possibly Rome or all places where the people oppose God. John purposely did not name the city here.
great: The word great indicates that the city is an important or well-known city. For example:
important (GW)
figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—
which is symbolically Sodom and Egypt,
That city is spiritually/prophetically called Sodom and Egypt.
figuratively called Sodom and Egypt: The people of Sodom sinned greatly (Genesis 13:13). The people of Egypt oppressed God’s people (Exodus 3:7,9). God punished them for those sins. Perhaps at this time, the people of Jerusalem will be sinning greatly too. But John does not explain why the great city is called Sodom and Egypt. So you should not explain it in your translation either.
This clause tells the reader more about the great city. Translate this clause so that it tells more about the great city. Some languages must avoid using the word “which” to do so. For example:
It is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt.
figuratively called: The Greek word that the BSB translates as figuratively means “spiritually.” It indicates that the great city is like Sodom and Egypt, perhaps in their bad thinking toward God. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
that is prophetically called (NRSV)
which mystically is called (NASB)
known by the symbolic names (NJB)
where their Lord was also crucified.
where their(dual) Lord was crucified.
Long ago people killed the Lord of the two witnesses on a cross in that city.
where their Lord was also crucified: There is a textual issue in 11:8c: (1) The earliest Greek manuscripts have the pronoun their (BSB, RSV, NIV, GNT, NJB, NASB, NLT, GW, CEV, NET, NABRE, REB, ESV, NCV). (2) One early Greek manuscript have the pronoun our (KJV only). It is recommended that you follow option (1), because the UBS Greek NT supports it. This phrase tells the reader more about the “great city.” Translate it so that it tells more about the great city. Some languages must avoid using the word where to do so. For example:
Their Lord was crucified there.
John’s readers knew that Jesus was crucified at Jerusalem. But the “great city” might be symbolic of all people who are enemies of God. You may want to explain this in a footnote:
Jesus was crucified at Jerusalem. But the “great city” may be symbolic of all people who are enemies of God.
their Lord was also crucified: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. The particular people who crucified Jesus is not important here. For example:
people crucified the Lord of those two witnesses
their: The pronoun their refers to the two witnesses, and not to the people of the great city.
Lord: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Lord means “the one who has authority over (something),” or “owner.” Jesus is ruler over the two witnesses, so they always did what he told them.
crucified: The word crucified refers to a method of executing someone. Soldiers nailed the prisoner to a wooden cross through the wrists and feet. Then they raised the cross and stood it up in a hole in the ground. The person hung from the cross in great pain until he died. Other ways to translate this word are:
nailed to a cross
put on a cross to die
If you have translated one or more of the Gospels, see how you translated this word in Matthew 20:19, Mark 15:13, Luke 23:21, or John 19:6.
The “great city” is described in two ways in 11:8b–c. It is given two symbolic names. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that Jesus was crucified in Sodom and Egypt. If that is true in your language, you may want to reorder the phrases. For example:
where their Lord was crucified, which is also figuratively called Sodom and Egypt.
where the Lord was killed. This city is named Sodom and Egypt, which has a spiritual meaning. (NCV)
where their Lord was crucified. The spiritual names of that city are Sodom and Egypt. (GW)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
τῆς πόλεως τῆς μεγάλης
the ˱of˲_the city ¬the great
John assumes that his readers will understand that by the great city he means Jerusalem. You could say that explicitly if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [Jerusalem]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ἥτις καλεῖται πνευματικῶς
which ˓is_being˒_called spiritually
If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [which we may spiritually call]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / simile
ἥτις καλεῖται πνευματικῶς, Σόδομα καὶ Αἴγυπτος
which ˓is_being˒_called spiritually Sodom (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί τό πτῶμα αὐτῶν ἐπί τῆς πλατείας τῆς πόλεως τῆς μεγάλης ἥτις καλεῖται πνευματικῶς Σόδομα καί Αἴγυπτος ὅπου καί ὁ Κύριος αὐτῶν ἐσταυρώθη)
The point of these comparisons is that God once destroyed Jerusalem because its people were so wicked, like Sodom, and that Jerusalem oppressed people who belonged to God, like Egypt. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this point explicitly. Alternate translation: [which God destroyed for wickedness as he destroyed Sodom and which oppressed God’s people as did Egypt]
Note 4 topic: writing-politeness
ὁ Κύριος αὐτῶν
the Lord ˱of˲_them
John is referring to Jesus by a respectful title. Use a form for addressing someone respectfully in your language. Alternate translation: [their Lord Jesus]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ἐσταυρώθη
˓was˒_crucified
If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [suffered crucifixion]
11:8 their bodies will lie in the main street: Evil is so vindictive that it even desecrates the dead.
• Jerusalem (literally the great city): The designation “the great city” would have immediately suggested Rome to early readers (16:19; 17:18; 18:10, 16, 18-19, 21). But John also describes it as the city where their Lord was crucified as well as Sodom and Egypt—all places that were hostile to God and his people (see also 17:5, 9).
• where their Lord was crucified: There is a direct connection between how the Lord was treated by evil forces and the experience of persecuted Christians (see Acts 9:5).
OET (OET-LV) And the corpse of_them will_be on the road of_the city the great, which is_being_called spiritually, Sodoma/(Şədom) and Aiguptos/(Miʦrayim), where also the master of_them was_executed_on_a_stake.
OET (OET-RV) Their corpses will lie on the road of the great city, which in spiritual terms is called Sodom and/or Egypt (Mitsrayim)—where their master was executed by being nailed to a stake.
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.
Open Bible Data site copyright © 2023–2026 Freely-Given.org.
Python source code for creating these static pages is available on GitHub under an open licence.
For Bible data copyrights, see the details for each displayed Bible version.
The Open English Translation (OET) main site is at OpenEnglishTranslation.Bible or OET.Bible.