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OET (OET-LV) And they_are_looking of the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and nations, the corpse of_them three for_days and a_half, and the corpses of_them not they_are_allowing to_be_put into a_tomb.
OET (OET-RV) People from every nation and tribe and language will look at their corpses for three and a half days and will prevent their corpses from being put into a tomb.
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
The Greek uses the present tense for the verbs “view,” “permit,” “gloat,” and “celebrate.” The Greek grammar indicates that people will do those things throughout the three and a half days. Many English versions use the future tense. They use the phrase “For three and a half days” to indicate the continuous action.
For three and a half days all peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will view their bodies
For three and a half days people from every people/land, tribe/clan, language, and nation will look at their bodies
People from every people-group, tribe, language, and country will stare at their dead bodies for three days and half/part of the fourth day.
three and a half days: Some languages do not usually refer to half a day. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain it in your translation. For example:
three whole days and part of another day
three whole days and the next day until noon
all peoples and tribes and tongues and nations: The word all applies to each of the four kinds of groups. For example:
from every tribe, every language, every people, and every nation
See how you translated this phrase in 5:9 or 7:9. But note that the order of the groups is different here.
peoples: The Greek word that the BSB translates as peoples here refers to a large group of people. But it is sometimes used to refer to a whole country, which may have many people groups in it.
See how you translated this word in 5:9 or 7:9.
tribes: This word can refer to a whole people group like “tribe” or to subgroups within the people group like “clan.”
See how you translated this word in 5:9 or 7:9.
tongues: This word refers to all the people that speak one language as a group.
nations: The Greek word that the BSB translates as nations here refers to groups of people who share a common culture. But it is sometimes used to refer to whole countries, which may have many people groups in them. It is similar in meaning to “peoples” above, but probably it here refers to groups of people each under one government.
See how you translated this word in 5:9 or 7:9.
will view their bodies: The Greek word that the BSB translates as view is the normal word for “look at (something).” The people looked at the bodies because they were happy that the two witnesses were now dead. The word or phrase that you use should not imply that the people were sad that the two witnesses were dead. For example:
will stare at their corpses (NJB)
and will not permit them to be laid in a tomb.
and not allow anyone to bury them.
They will insist that no one bury them.
will not permit them to be laid in a tomb: The people will be very upset because the two witnesses caused much suffering. So they will not let anyone bury the two witnesses. Preventing anyone to bury them shows that the people reject them. The people do not honor them in any way. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
they will refuse to bury them (NCV)
will not allow them to be buried (GNT)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet
βλέπουσιν ἐκ τῶν λαῶν, καὶ φυλῶν, καὶ γλωσσῶν, καὶ ἐθνῶν
˱they˲_˓are˒_looking of the peoples (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί βλέπουσιν ἐκ τῶν λαῶν καί φυλῶν καί γλωσσῶν καί ἐθνῶν τό πτῶμα αὐτῶν ἡμέρας τρεῖς καί ἥμισυ καί τά πτώματα αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀφίουσιν τεθῆναι εἰς μνῆμα)
The terms people, tribe, language, and nation 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: [those from many different people groups look at]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
βλέπουσιν ἐκ τῶν λαῶν, καὶ φυλῶν, καὶ γλωσσῶν, καὶ ἐθνῶν
˱they˲_˓are˒_looking of the peoples (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί βλέπουσιν ἐκ τῶν λαῶν καί φυλῶν καί γλωσσῶν καί ἐθνῶν τό πτῶμα αὐτῶν ἡμέρας τρεῖς καί ἥμισυ καί τά πτώματα αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀφίουσιν τεθῆναι εἰς μνῆμα)
John is referring to speakers of various languages by association with the language that each one speaks. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [those from different people groups and tribes, speakers of various languages, and those from other nations look at]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
τὰ πτώματα αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀφίουσιν τεθῆναι εἰς μνῆμα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί βλέπουσιν ἐκ τῶν λαῶν καί φυλῶν καί γλωσσῶν καί ἐθνῶν τό πτῶμα αὐτῶν ἡμέρας τρεῖς καί ἥμισυ καί τά πτώματα αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀφίουσιν τεθῆναι εἰς μνῆμα)
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: [they do not permit anyone to place their corpses in a tomb]
Note 4 topic: translate-symaction
τὰ πτώματα αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀφίουσιν τεθῆναι εἰς μνῆμα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί βλέπουσιν ἐκ τῶν λαῶν καί φυλῶν καί γλωσσῶν καί ἐθνῶν τό πτῶμα αὐτῶν ἡμέρας τρεῖς καί ἥμισυ καί τά πτώματα αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀφίουσιν τεθῆναι εἰς μνῆμα)
Leaving the corpses of the witnesses in the street, rather than burying them, is a symbolic action by which the people of Jerusalem show how much they hated the witnesses. If this would not be clear to your readers, you could explain the significance of this action. Alternate translation: [out of hatred they do not permit anyone to place their corpses in a tomb]
OET (OET-LV) And they_are_looking of the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and nations, the corpse of_them three for_days and a_half, and the corpses of_them not they_are_allowing to_be_put into a_tomb.
OET (OET-RV) People from every nation and tribe and language will look at their corpses for three and a half days and will prevent their corpses from being put into a tomb.
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.