REV 12:3 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT And another sign was seen in heaven: and behold, a large red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his heads.

UST Then something else significant appeared in the sky. It was a huge red dragon. It had seven heads and ten horns. It had a royal crown on each of its heads.

BLB And another sign was seen in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads, seven diadems.

AICNT And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems;

OEB Another portent also was seen in the heavens There was a great red Dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.

WEBBE Another sign was seen in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns.

LSV And there was seen another sign in the sky, and behold, a great fire-colored dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads,

FBV Another sign appeared in heaven: a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven small crowns[fn] on his heads.

12:3 Or “diadems” (also 13:1). The Greek word used here is different to that used in 12:1.

TCNT Then another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great fiery red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.

T4T Something else very unusual appeared in the sky. It was a huge red dragon. It had seven heads and ten horns. On each of its heads was a royal crown.

LEB And another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven royal headbands.[fn]

12:3 Or “diadem crowns”

BBE And there was seen another sign in heaven; a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns.

Moff Then another portent was seen in heaven! There was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems upon his heads;

Wymth And another marvel was seen in Heaven—a great fiery-red Dragon, with seven heads and ten horns; and on his heads were seven kingly crowns.

ASV And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems.

DRA And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns: and on his head seven diadems:

YLT And there was seen another sign in the heaven, and, lo, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his head seven diadems,

Drby And another sign was seen in the heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems;

RV And there was seen another sign in heaven; and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems.

SLT And another sign was seen in heaven; and behold a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems.

Wbstr And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

KJB-1769 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

KJB-1611 And there appeared another [fn]wonder in heauen, and behold a great red dragon, hauing seuen heads, and ten hornes, and seuen crownes vpon his heads.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

12:3 Or, signe.

Bshps And there appeared another wonder in heauen, for beholde, a great redde dragon, hauing seuen heades, and tenne hornes, and seuen crownes vpon his heades.
(And there appeared another wonder in heaven, for behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.)

Gnva And there appeared another wonder in heaue: for beholde, a great red dragon hauing seuen heads, and ten hornes, and seuen crownes vpon his heads:
(And there appeared another wonder in heaven: for behold, a great red dragon having seven heads, and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads: )

Cvdl And there appeared another token in heauen, and beholde a greate reed dragon, hauinge seuen heades, and ten hornes and seue crownes vpo his heades:
(And there appeared another token in heaven, and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads:)

TNT And ther appered another wonder in heven for beholde a gret red dragon havynge .vii. heddes and ten hornes and crounes vpon his heddes:
(And there appeared another wonder in heaven for behold a great red dragon having 7 heads and ten horns and crowns upon his heads: )

Wycl And another signe was seyn in heuene; and lo! a greet reede dragoun, that hadde seuene heedis, and ten hornes, and in the heedis of hym seuene diademes.
(And another sign was seen in heaven; and lo! a great reede dragon, that had seven heads, and ten horns, and in the heads of him seven diademes.)

Luth Und es erschien ein ander Zeichen im Himmel; und siehe, ein großer, roter Drache, der hatte sieben Häupter und zehn Hörner und auf seinen Häuptern sieben Kronen.
(And it appeared a at_the sign in_the heaven; and see/look, a large, red dragon, the/of_the had seven heads and ten Hörner and on/in/to his heads seven crown.)

ClVg Et visum est aliud signum in cælo: et ecce draco magnus rufus habens capita septem, et cornua decem: et in capitibus ejus diademata septem,[fn]
(And sight(n) it_is something_else sign/signal in/into/on the_sky: and behold draco big rufus having heads seven, and horns ten: and in/into/on heads his diadem/headbandta seven, )

12.3 Draco magnus. Non de magno effectu, sed de potentia et superbia draconis loquitur. Et cornua decem, etc. Id est regna et divitias quibus principes decalogum legis impugnant.

12.3 Draco big. Not/No from/about great/highly effectu, but from/about power and pride of_the_dragon speaks. And horns ten, etc. That it_is kingdoms and riches to_whom leaders decalogum law impugnant.

UGNT καὶ ὤφθη ἄλλο σημεῖον ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ: καὶ ἰδοὺ, δράκων πυρρός μέγας ἔχων κεφαλὰς ἑπτὰ, καὶ κέρατα δέκα, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτοῦ ἑπτὰ διαδήματα,
(kai ōfthaʸ allo saʸmeion en tōi ouranōi: kai idou, drakōn purros megas eⱪōn kefalas hepta, kai kerata deka, kai epi tas kefalas autou hepta diadaʸmata,)

SBL-GNT καὶ ὤφθη ἄλλο σημεῖον ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἰδοὺ δράκων ⸂μέγας πυρρός⸃, ἔχων κεφαλὰς ἑπτὰ καὶ κέρατα δέκα καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτοῦ ἑπτὰ διαδήματα,
(kai ōfthaʸ allo saʸmeion en tōi ouranōi, kai idou drakōn ⸂megas purros⸃, eⱪōn kefalas hepta kai kerata deka kai epi tas kefalas autou hepta diadaʸmata,)

RP-GNT Καὶ ὤφθη ἄλλο σημεῖον ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἰδού, δράκων πυρὸς μέγας, ἔχων κεφαλὰς ἑπτὰ καὶ κέρατα δέκα, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτοῦ ἑπτὰ διαδήματα.
(Kai ōfthaʸ allo saʸmeion en tōi ouranōi, kai idou, drakōn puros megas, eⱪōn kefalas hepta kai kerata deka, kai epi tas kefalas autou hepta diadaʸmata.)

TC-GNT Καὶ ὤφθη ἄλλο σημεῖον ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἰδού, δράκων [fn]πυρὸς μέγας, ἔχων κεφαλὰς ἑπτὰ καὶ κέρατα δέκα, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτοῦ [fn]ἑπτὰ διαδήματα.
(Kai ōfthaʸ allo saʸmeion en tōi ouranōi, kai idou, drakōn puros megas, eⱪōn kefalas hepta kai kerata deka, kai epi tas kefalas autou hepta diadaʸmata. )

12:3 πυρος μεγας 𝔐^K [41.9%] ¦ μεγας πυρρος 𝔐^A−,C ECM NA PCK SBL TR WH [24%] ¦ μεγας πυρος 𝔐^A+ [17.5%] ¦ πυρρος μεγας ANT TH [15.7%]

12:3 επτα διαδηματα 𝔐^A,C,K [89.4%] ¦ διαδηματα MSS [6.9%] ¦ διαδηματα επτα TR [2.3%]

Key for above GNTs: orange:accents differ, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 12:1–17: The woman fled from the dragon

In this section, John saw several signs or symbols representing spiritual reality. The first sign was a woman, representing the people of God. The second sign was a dragon, representing Satan. The woman was about to give birth, and the dragon wanted to kill the child. The child is symbolic of Jesus as the Christ. God took the son to heaven and protected the woman.

In 12:7–12, John interrupted the story of the woman and the dragon to tell about the war between the dragon and the angels. These verses help explain why the dragon wanted to kill the woman. In 12:13, John continued the story of the woman and the dragon.

Other examples of headings for this section are:

The sign of the dragon chasing the woman

The vision of the woman and the dragon

The spiritual conflict of God’s people and Satan

12:3a

Then another sign appeared in heaven:

¶ And another great sign/portent appeared in heaven,
¶ Then another spectacular/amazing sign came into sight/view in heaven.

Then another sign appeared in heaven: This verse continues the vision that began in 12:1. Translate the words sign and heaven as you did in 12:1.

12:3b

a huge red dragon with seven heads,

and look/hey, a huge red dragon with seven heads,
It was a very large, red, fierce, winged serpent/reptile called a dragon! It had seven heads

12:3b begins with the Greek words that mean “and look.” The word emphasizes or calls attention to the words that follow. The words also probably indicate surprise or suddenness. The word “look” here is not a command to look at something. Other ways to translate this word are:

indeed/hey,

and what should appear but

Suddenly/Unexpectedly,

huge: This word means “very big.”

dragon: This word refers to a creature that is mythical. It refers to a large land animal or possibly a large sea animal. A Greek mosaic done about 300 years before Jesus was born shows one type of Greek dragon:

A sculpture on a wall in Babylon was done around 300 years before Jesus was born. It shows their thoughts about what a dragon looked like:

This next illustration is from a Persian artist about 1430 AD:

They are usually considered to be much larger than people. Dragons were usually thought to be fierce and dangerous. Here the dragon symbolizes something evil, namely Satan.

Some languages do not have a word for dragon. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

Use a generic word for a fierce, mythical creature. For example:
monster
Describe dragon by using a fierce animal known today as a basis. For example:
fierce snake/lizard
crocodile
Use the word for a similar dangerous mythical creature that your readers already know about. You may then want to explain the Greek word in a footnote. An example footnote is:
Literally: “dragon.” This is a mythical creature that was large and fierce.
Use the major language word for dragon. If people are not familiar with this word, explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:
A dragon is a mythical creature. They were thought to be large and fierce. They were often described as something like a lizard or reptile.

The dragon is a symbol for Satan. In some languages a literal translation would not indicate that the dragon is a symbol for Satan. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain the symbol in a footnote. Some example footnotes are:

The dragon/lizard is a symbol for Satan.

The dragon/lizard represents Satan.

12:3c

ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads.

and there were ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.
with a king’s/ruler’s headdress on each head indicating he was king/ruler. It also had ten horns on its heads.

ten horns: These verses do not say how seven heads had ten horns on them. You should not try to explain the meaning in your translation.

horns: This word refers to animal horns. The horn was a symbol of strength.

seven royal crowns on his heads: Each head had a crown on it.

royal crowns: This word refers to the decorated metal circles that kings usually wear on their heads. The royal crowns here are a symbol of authority to rule people.

The Greek word here is different than the Greek word that the BSB translates as “crown” in 12:1c. In some languages people are not familiar with royal crowns. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain the meaning in your translation. For example:

headpieces/hats of rulers

headdresses of authority

See how you translated this word in 4:4.

Parallel REV 12:3

Section 12:1–17: The woman fled from the dragon

12:3a

12:3b

12:3c