The earth came to the help of the woman: it may not be natural to speak of the earth acting like a living being, but in most cultures there are stories that include fantastic events such as this one. Here it is necessary to say only “The earth helped the woman”; the Greek text does not suggest the sort of movement implied by Revised Standard Version came to the help. The word chosen to translate earth here should indicate the land, or the soil, not the planet Earth.

Opened its mouth: see similar language in Gen 4.11. If the figure of the earth opening its mouth is too strange, it may be better to say “A large opening appeared in the earth….” But this diminishes the vividness of the account; it is much better to retain the mythological language of the text, or to find an idiomatic way to express the dramatic nature of these events.

At the end of the verse, Revised Standard Version had poured translates the same verb used at the beginning of verse 15.

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 .