OET interlinear REV 20:9

20:9a

And they marched: The Greek clause is literally “They went up.” The BSB uses the verb marched because this is the usual way in English to refer to an army traveling. Other ways to translate this clause are:

they marched up (RSV)

Satan’s army marched (NCV)

they went up (NLT)

across the broad expanse of the earth: The Greek word that the BSB translates as earth can also be translated as “country/region.” There are two ways to interpret it here:

1. It refers to the whole world. For example:

   all the way across the earth (CEV) (BSB, RSV, NIV, GNT, NASB, NABRE, NLT, GW, CEV, NET, ESV, NCV, KJV)

2. It refers to the country of Israel. For example:

   They came swarming over the entire country. (NJB) (NJB, REB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).Aune (page 1096) and Beale (page 1026) support interpretation (1). Beale says, “Since in Dan. 12:2 LXX “breadth of the earth”…refers to an area throughout the earth…, it is plausible that the same worldwide meaning attaches to the nearly identical phrase in Rev. 20:9.”

broad expanse: This phrase refers to something that is very broad. The vast army approaching God’s people would be very spread out. Other ways to translate this word are:

breadth (NIV)

surface

spread over the earth

20:9b

the camp of the saints and the beloved city: The Greek words are literally “the camp of the saints and/even the beloved city.” Here, the Greek conjunction meaning “and/even” probably introduces an explanation of the phrase the camp of the saints. In other words, the camp of the saints is the beloved city. For example:

the camp of the saints, which is the beloved City (NJB)

camp: This word refers to a place where a group of people live temporarily, often with some of them prepared, like soldiers, to defend the whole group. Many scholars connect this word to the encampment of the Israelites in the wilderness, as in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.The Greek word can also mean “a military camp” or “an army.” It is not clear how much of the military theme is intended here.

the saints: The Greek word that the BSB translates as the saints is literally “holy ones.” The BSB usually translates the Greek word as “saints.” See how you translated this word (“saints”) in 19:8.

the beloved city: The Greek phrase is literally “the city having been loved.” For example:

the city he loves (NIV)

These verses do not say who loves this city but they imply that God loves it. In some languages it is necessary or more natural to indicate who loves this city. For example:

the city that he loves (REB)

the city God loves (NCV)

Some scholars (Aune, Beckwith, Osbourne) see this phrase referring to the earthly Jerusalem, some (Beale, Charles) to the heavenly Jerusalem, and others (Swete, Kistemaker, Smalley, Johnson, Hughes, Mounce) see it as referring to God’s people as a whole. It is hard to decide. You should not add “Jerusalem” here.

20:9c

But fire came down from heaven: There is a textual issue in 20:9c: (1) Some early Greek manuscripts have the phrase out of heaven (BSB, RSV, NIV, GNT, NJB, NASB, NLT, GW, CEV, NET, NABRE, REB, ESV, NCV). (2) Some early Greek manuscripts have the phrases from God out of heaven (KJV only). It is recommended that you follow option (1), because the UBS Greek NT recommends it. These verses do not say how the fire came down. It is implied that God caused the fire to come down. In some languages it is more natural to indicate that God caused the fire. For example:

God caused fire to come down from heaven

consumed them: Here the word consumed refers to the fire consuming quickly. It can also refer to burning something until it is just ashes. The fire completely destroyed the enemies of God’s people.

them: The pronoun here refers to the armies of the nations (20:8a).