REV 12:4 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.
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 his tail sweeps away a third of the stars of heaven and hurled them down to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman being about to give birth so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.

UST The dragon’s tail dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them onto the earth. The dragon set himself in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that he could eat her child as soon as he was born.

BSB His tail swept a third of the stars from [the] sky, hurling them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth.

BLB And his tail drags a third of the stars of heaven, and he cast them to the earth. And the dragon stands before the woman being about to bring forth, so that when she should bring forth, he might devour her child.

AICNT and his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.

OEB His tail draws after it a third of the stars in the heavens, and it hurled them down on the earth. The Dragon is standing in front of the woman who is about to give birth to the child, so that he may devour it as soon as it is born.

WEBBE His tail drew one third of the stars of the sky, and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Now the dragon’s tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born.

LSV and his tail draws the third of the stars of the sky, and he cast them to the earth; and the dragon stood before the woman who is about to bring forth, that when she may bring forth, he may devour her child;

FBV His tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them down to the earth. The dragon stood right in front of the woman who was giving birth, so that he could eat her child as soon as it was born.

TCNT His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.

T4T The dragon’s tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and threw them to the earth. The dragon set himself in front of the woman who was about to give birth, in order that he might eat her child as soon as it was born.

LEB And his tail swept away a third of the stars from heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, in order that whenever she gave birth to her child he could devour it.

BBE And his tail was pulling a third part of the stars of heaven down to the earth, and the dragon took his place before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when the birth had taken place he might put an end to her child.

Moff his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and flung them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was on the point of being delivered, to devour her child as soon as it was born.

Wymth His tail was drawing after it a third part of the stars of Heaven, and it dashed them to the ground. And in front of the woman who was about to become a mother, the Dragon was standing in order to devour the child as soon as it was born.

ASV And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon standeth before the woman that is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered he may devour her child.

DRA And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered; that, when she should be delivered, he might devour her son.

YLT and his tail doth draw the third of the stars of the heaven, and he did cast them to the earth; and the dragon did stand before the woman who is about to bring forth, that when she may bring forth, her child he may devour;

Drby and his tail draws the third part of the stars of the heaven; and he cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bring forth, in order that when she brought forth he might devour her child.

RV And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was about to be delivered, that when she was delivered he might devour her child.

SLT And his tail draws the third of the stars of heaven, and he cast them into the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman about to bring forth, that when she should bring forth he might devour her child.

Wbstr And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered, to devour her child as soon as it was born.

KJB-1769 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

KJB-1611 And his taile drew the third part of the starres of heauen, and did cast them to the earth: And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be deliuered, for to deuoure her childe as soone as it was borne.
(And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was borne.)

Bshps And his tayle drue the thirde part of the starres of heauen, and cast them to the earth: And the dragon stoode before the woman which was redie to be deliuered, for to deuoure her chylde assoone as it were borne.
(And his tale drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it were borne.)

Gnva And his taile drew the thirde part of the starres of heauen, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman, which was ready to be deliuered, to deuoure her childe, when shee had brought it foorth.
(And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman, which was ready to be delivered, to devour her child, when she had brought it forth. )

Cvdl and his tayle drue the thyrde parte of the starres, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stode before the woma, which was ready to be delyuered: for to devoure her childe as sone as it were borne.
(and his tale drew the third part of the stars, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woma, which was ready to be delivered: for to devoure her child as son as it were borne.)

TNT and his tayle drue the thyrde parte of the starres and cast them to the erth. And the dragon stode before the woman which was reddy to be delyvred: for to devoure her chylde as sone as it were borne.
(and his tale drew the third part of the stars and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman which was reddy to be delyvred: for to devoure her child as son as it were borne. )

Wycl And the tail of hym drow the thridde part of sterris of heuene, and sente hem in to the erthe. And the dragoun stood bifore the womman, that was to berynge child, that whanne sche hadde borun child, he schulde deuoure hir sone.
(And the tail of him drew the third part of stars of heaven, and sent hem in to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman, that was to bearing child, that when she had born child, he should devour her son.)

Luth Und sein Schwanz zog den dritten Teil der Sterne und warf sie auf die Erde. Und der Drache trat vor das Weib, die gebären sollte, auf daß, wenn sie geboren hätte, er ihr Kind fräße.
(And be Schwanz pulled the third part/portion the/of_the Sterne and threw they/she/them on/in/to the earth/land/ground. And the/of_the dragon stepped before/in_front_of the woman, the give_birth should, on/in/to that, when they/she/them born would_have, he you(pl)/their/her child fräße.)

ClVg et cauda ejus trahebat tertiam partem stellarum cæli, et misit eas in terram: et draco stetit ante mulierem, quæ erat paritura, ut cum peperisset, filium ejus devoraret.[fn]
(and tail his trahebat third part starrum heavens, and he_sent them in/into/on the_earth/land: and draco he_stood before woman, which was paritura, as when/with peperisset, son his to_devourt. )

12.4 Et cauda. Id est deceptiones, quibus celant vitia, ut cauda celantur turpia. Stellarum. Id est illorum qui illuminant Ecclesiam doctrina, non vita. Stetit ante mulierem. Quæ patiebatur dolorem, per quod credebat cito cessuram. Per passionem credebat diabolus Ecclesiam subjugatam. Devoraret. Paratus erat draco ad devorandum; sed non potuit, quia natus est qui prohibuit.

12.4 And tail. That it_is deceptiones, to_whom celant vices, as tail celantur turpia. Stellarum. That it_is of_them who/which illuminant assembly/church teaching/instruction, not/no life. He_stood before woman. Which patiebatur pain, through that believebat quickly cessuram. Per passion believebat the_devil assembly/church subyugatam. Devoraret. Paratus was draco to to_be_devoured; but not/no could, because born it_is who/which forbade.

UGNT καὶ ἡ οὐρὰ αὐτοῦ σύρει τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀστέρων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἔβαλεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν. καὶ ὁ δράκων ἕστηκεν ἐνώπιον τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς μελλούσης τεκεῖν, ἵνα ὅταν τέκῃ, τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς καταφάγῃ.
(kai haʸ oura autou surei to triton tōn asterōn tou ouranou, kai ebalen autous eis taʸn gaʸn. kai ho drakōn hestaʸken enōpion taʸs gunaikos taʸs mellousaʸs tekein, hina hotan tekaʸ, to teknon autaʸs katafagaʸ.)

SBL-GNT καὶ ἡ οὐρὰ αὐτοῦ σύρει τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀστέρων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἔβαλεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν. καὶ ὁ δράκων ἕστηκεν ἐνώπιον τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς μελλούσης τεκεῖν, ἵνα ὅταν τέκῃ τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς καταφάγῃ.
(kai haʸ oura autou surei to triton tōn asterōn tou ouranou, kai ebalen autous eis taʸn gaʸn. kai ho drakōn hestaʸken enōpion taʸs gunaikos taʸs mellousaʸs tekein, hina hotan tekaʸ to teknon autaʸs katafagaʸ.)

RP-GNT Καὶ ἡ οὐρὰ αὐτοῦ σύρει τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀστέρων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἔβαλεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν· καὶ ὁ δράκων ἕστηκεν ἐνώπιον τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς μελλούσης τεκεῖν, ἵνα, ὅταν τέκῃ, τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς καταφάγῃ.
(Kai haʸ oura autou surei to triton tōn asterōn tou ouranou, kai ebalen autous eis taʸn gaʸn; kai ho drakōn hestaʸken enōpion taʸs gunaikos taʸs mellousaʸs tekein, hina, hotan tekaʸ, to teknon autaʸs katafagaʸ.)

TC-GNT Καὶ ἡ οὐρὰ αὐτοῦ σύρει τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀστέρων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἔβαλεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν. Καὶ ὁ δράκων [fn]ἕστηκεν ἐνώπιον τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς μελλούσης [fn]τεκεῖν, ἵνα ὅταν τέκῃ τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς καταφάγῃ.
(Kai haʸ oura autou surei to triton tōn asterōn tou ouranou kai ebalen autous eis taʸn gaʸn. Kai ho drakōn hestaʸken enōpion taʸs gunaikos taʸs mellousaʸs tekein, hina hotan tekaʸ to teknon autaʸs katafagaʸ. )

12:4 ἕστηκεν 𝔐^A,C,K ¦ ἔστηκεν WH {Note: While percentages cannot be calculated since not all manuscripts have breathing marks, Hoskier lists only five manuscripts that have smooth breathing.}

12:4 τεκειν 𝔐^A,K [80.6%] ¦ τικτειν 𝔐^C PCK [18.9%]

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs (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

12:4a

His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, tossing them to the earth.

His tail dragged a third part of the stars from the sky and threw/hurled them to the earth.
He swept the sky with his tail and pulled/dragged one of every three stars from the sky. Then he threw them down to the earth.

His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, tossing them to the earth: These clauses probably refer to the great power of the dragon. There are many interpretations of these clauses, so you should not explain their meaning in your translation.

His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky: The word swept refers to gathering a third of the stars. The motion of the dragon’s tail caused the stars to move.

In some languages it is more natural to make the dragon itself the subject of the clause. For example:

With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky (GNT)

a third of the stars: Here the word third means “one out of every three.” For example, in a group of three thousand stars, one thousand stars fell to earth. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

one part in three parts of the stars

one of every three stars

one part of the stars and two parts not

tossing them to the earth: The word tossing means “throwing.” After the dragon gathered a third of the stars with his tail, he threw them to earth. For example:

threw them down to the earth (GNT)

12:4b

And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth,

The dragon stood waiting in front of the woman who was about to birth the child,
He went and remained standing in front of the woman who was about to bear the baby,

And the dragon stood before the woman: The Greek grammar probably indicates that after the dragon threw the stars to the earth he stood before the woman and remained there waiting for some time. For example:

the dragon stopped in front of the woman (NJB)

the dragon: The BSB translates the Greek literally here. But the previous sentence and this sentence are both about the dragon. In some languages a pronoun would be more natural. For example:

He

12:4c

ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth.

in order to eat her child whole as soon as he/it was born.
so that he could swallow/consume her child as soon as she birthed/bore him.

devour: This word refers to eating something completely. For example:

eat the whole child

consume

her child: The word child does not indicate whether the child is male or female. But some languages must explicitly say “male-child” or “female-child.” If that is true in your language, you should say “male-child” (12:5a).

Parallel REV 12:4

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

12:4a

12:4b

12:4c