The serpent: or “The dragon” (as in verses 13-14, above).

Poured water like a river out of his mouth: in English the verb “to spew” is the most natural one in such a context: “spewed a flood of water from his mouth.” The verb in Greek in most contexts means simply “to throw.”

To sweep her away with the flood: this translates the Greek “to make her waterborne,” that is, to float her away.

Alternative translation models for this verse are:

• Then the dragon spewed water out of his mouth like a river that flowed after that woman, so that it would make her float away.

Or:

• In order to let the water carry the woman off, the snake (or, dragon) spewed a great water out of its mouth after her.

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 .