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OET (OET-LV) And thus I_saw the horses in my vision, and the ones sitting on them:
having breastplates fiery, and hyacinthine, and sulfurous, and the heads of_the horses like the_heads of_lions, and out_of the mouths of_them is_going_out fire, and smoke, and sulfur.
OET (OET-RV) and this is what the horses and their riders looked like in my vision: the soldiers wore chestplates that were red like fire, blue like sapphire, and yellow like sulfur. The heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and fumes of burning sulfur came out of their mouths.
In this section, the blowing of each trumpet signaled a disaster. God would send these disasters upon the people of the earth. Some of the disasters were hail, fire, and poisoned water.
Other examples of headings for this section are:
The Seven Angels and Trumpets (NCV)
The Seven Trumpets (NRSV)
Now the horses and riders in my vision looked like this:
¶ And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: (NASB)
¶ And in my vision I saw the horses and their riders. They looked like this:
Now the horses and riders: The word riders refers to the soldiers sitting on the horses. These riders may or may not have looked like people. Another way to translate this phrase is:
the horses and those who sat on them
in my vision: The Greek phrase is literally “the vision” (as in the NASB). The phrase refers to all that John has seen and written in this book. You may add the pronoun my if it is natural in your language.
vision: Here the word vision refers to something that appears supernaturally. It is like a dream, but the person is usually awake. It is something or someone that people usually cannot see, but God causes them to see it.
looked like this: This phrase indicates that the description of the horses and riders follows in 9:17b–d.
The breastplates have three colors. The colors are probably meant to match the three things that come out of their mouths. The fiery red color matches the color of fire. The dark blue color matches the color of the smoke. The sulfur yellow matches the color of sulfur.
The riders had breastplates the colors of fire, sapphire, and sulfur.
They wore coverings on their chests that had the colors of hot coal red, hyacinth/sapphire blue, and sulfur yellow
their breastplates had the colors of bright red, dark blue, and yellow.
The riders had breastplates: The Greek phrase the BSB translates as The riders had breastplates is literally “having breastplates.” The Greek does not indicate if it was the riders or the “horses” mentioned in 9:17a who wore breastplates. The phrase could refer to either:
the riders,
both the riders and the horses.
You should translate this phrase without saying who wore the breastplates. For example
The breastplates were
Their breastplates were (NIV)
breastplates: The breastplates are formed by a thin sheet of metal or overlapping plates of metal shaped to fit over the chest to protect the wearers. See how you translated this word in 9:9.
the colors of fire: This refers to a bright red. It is similar in color to bright red coals of a fire.
sapphire: The Greek word that the BSB translates as sapphire refers to a deep blue or purplish-blue color.
and sulfur: The word sulfur describes the color of pure sulfur, a medium yellow. For example:
sulfur–yellow (NJB)
In some languages people are not familiar with sulfur. If that is true in your language, you may want to use the usual word for yellow in your language. For example:
yellow
egg yolk yellow
The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions,
The heads of the horses looked like the heads of lions,
Each horse looked like it had the head of a lion,
like the heads of lions: The male lion has a mane of hair around his neck. Lions eat other animals and have large sharp teeth.
In some languages people are not familiar with lions. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
Use the major language word. If people are not familiar with this word, explain it in a footnote. For example:
A lion is a large feline/cat. It weighs about 200 kilograms. The male lion has a mane of hair over his neck. Lions eat other animals and have large sharp teeth.
See footnote on lion at 4:7.
Use the major language word and add a descriptive word or phrase. For example:
the heads of fierce lions
and out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and sulfur.
and out of their mouths came fire, blue smoke, and sulfur.
and fire, smoke, and poisonous sulfur came from each of their mouths.
out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and sulfur: The phrase out of their mouths is emphasized in the Greek and the BSB. If possible, emphasize this phrase naturally in your language.
In some languages it is more natural to have this clause in its usual place. For example:
fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths
out of their mouths: In 9:17c John described the heads of the horses. So the pronoun their probably refers to only the horses here.
smoke: The smoke was probably a dark blue color, matching the color on the breastplates. You may want to use a similar word or phrase for the color of the smoke here. For example:
dark blue smoke
sulfur: The word sulfur refers to a yellow powder or soft solid. It is often found at hot springs and near volcanoes. When sulfur burns, it makes a poisonous, bad smelling gas.
In some languages people are not familiar with sulfur. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
Use the major language word and add a descriptive word or phrase. For example:
poisonous sulfur
Describe sulfur. For example:
poisonous yellow powder You may then want to describe the literal word. For example:
Literally: “sulfur.” Sulfur is a powder that makes a poisonous, bad smelling gas when it burns.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
θώρακας πυρίνους, καὶ ὑακινθίνους, καὶ θειώδεις
breastplates fiery (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί οὕτως εἶδον τούς ἵππους ἐν τῇ ὁράσει καί τούς καθημένους ἐπʼ αὐτῶν ἔχοντας θώρακας πυρίνους καί ὑακινθίνους καί θειώδεις καί αἱ κεφαλαί τῶν ἵππων ὡς κεφαλαί λεόντων καί ἐκ τῶν στομάτων αὐτῶν ἐκπορεύεται πῦρ καί καπνός καί θεῖον)
John is describing the colors of the breastplates by association with other things that are those colors. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use objects from your own culture that are these colors or express the meaning plainly. See, for example, how you translated the word “fiery” in [6:3](../06/03.md). Alternate translation: [breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow] or [bright red, dark blue, and brilliant yellow breastplates]
Note 2 topic: translate-unknown
ὑακινθίνους
hyacinthine
A hyacinth is a plant in the lily family that has dark blue flowers on spikes. If your readers would not be familiar with what a hyacinth is, in your translation you could use the name of a plant or other object in your culture that is the same color as hyacinth flowers, or you could use a general expression. Alternate translation: [dark blue]
OET (OET-LV) And thus I_saw the horses in my vision, and the ones sitting on them:
having breastplates fiery, and hyacinthine, and sulfurous, and the heads of_the horses like the_heads of_lions, and out_of the mouths of_them is_going_out fire, and smoke, and sulfur.
OET (OET-RV) and this is what the horses and their riders looked like in my vision: the soldiers wore chestplates that were red like fire, blue like sapphire, and yellow like sulfur. The heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and fumes of burning sulfur came out of their mouths.
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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