The destruction that follows the second trumpet blast affects one third of the earth’s water mass.

Something like a great mountain: this describes a huge solid object, the size and shape of a mountain. John cannot identify with precision this huge burning mass. The verb was thrown may be used in the general sense of “fell”; but it may be that the passive is used as a way of indicating that God or an angel hurled this burning mass into the sea. Another way of rendering this clause in languages that do not use the passive is “Then they (or, someone) threw something that looked like a huge burning mountain into the sea (or, oceans).”

If it is asked which sea the text is talking about, the obvious answer is the Mediterranean Sea. In this context, however, the word stands for all bodies of salt water on earth—inasmuch as one third of all fish in the seas died, and one third of the ships were destroyed (see “the sea” in 5.13).

A third of the sea: this means that one third of the water of the oceans was changed into blood; the other two thirds were not affected.

Became blood: the Greek text says the sea water turned into blood. Some believe the meaning is that the color of the water became red, like blood (as in the case of the moon, in 6.12); but it is better to translate quite literally. This disaster is reminiscent of the plague described in Exo 7.17-19. Translators in languages that do not use the passive may imitate Revised Standard Version and say “became blood.”

Revised Standard Version (and New Revised Standard Version) and Good News Translation differ as to where verse 9 begins. Good News Bible follows the numbering of the Greek text, as do all other translations. Revised Standard Version seems to be a mistake, as both King James Version and American Standard Version begin verse 9 where Good News Bible begins it.

Living creatures in the sea: the biblical classification of marine animals sometimes distinguished between fishes and the huge sea monsters. Here all marine life is meant. Another way of rendering this is “the things that have life in the sea” or “the things living in the sea.”

A third of the ships were destroyed: these ships were on the one third of the ocean that was turned into blood. Care must be taken that the word used for ships does not mean modern steamships but sailing vessels. In land-bound cultures where only small boats are known, one may say, for example, “boats of all sizes” or “all kinds of boats.”

An alternative rendering for verses 8b-9 is the following:

• The water in one-third of the seas was turned into blood, and all the living creatures and ships (or, vessels) found in that part were destroyed.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .