Paragraph 21:25–28

21:25a

There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars: The word signs here refers to unusual and significant sights or events that will happen to the sun, moon, and stars. These signs will indicate that God will soon do something very important. The text implies that the signs will cause people to be afraid. For more information, see the note on “sign” in 21:7b.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

Miraculous signs will occur in the sun, moon, and stars. (God’s Word)
-or-
Strange things will happen to the sun, moon, and stars. (Contemporary English Version)

The parallel passages in Matthew 24:29 and Mark 13:24–25 say that the sun and moon will become dark and the stars will fall from the sky. See also Isaiah 34:4 and Joel 2:30–31.

21:25b

and on the earth: The phrase on the earth refers to the whole earth, the world in general.

dismay among the nations: This phrase uses an ellipsis. The words “will be” are implied from 21:25a. For example:

and on the earth dismay ⌊will be⌋ among the nations…

The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as nations is the same word that it translated as “nations” in 21:24b and “Gentiles” in 21:24c–d. Here it refers to the people in these countries all around the world.

21:25c

bewildered: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as bewildered refers to being severely anxious, distressed, and confused. This type of anxiety is often caused when a person does not know how to overcome a situation or danger. In this context people will feel helpless in their anguish and fear because they will not know what to do.

Some ways to translate bewildered are:

deeply troubled and confused (God’s Word)
-or-
they won’t know what to do (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
perplexed (New Living Translation (2004))

by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves gives the reason why people will be perplexed and anxious. The sea will be making loud noises, and there will be high waves on its surface. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

because of the roaring and tossing of the sea (God’s Word)
-or-
over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves (NET Bible)
-or-
not knowing which way to turn from the roar and surge of the sea (Revised English Bible)

In some languages it may be necessary to translate roaring and surging as main verbs and say, for example:

at the way the sea roars and ⌊its waves⌋ toss/crash

roaring: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as roaring refers to the loud sound that the sea makes during a storm. Other ways to translate this word are:

loud noise
-or-
thunderous roar
-or-
loud crashing sound

surging: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as surging refers to the movement of the sea during a storm. It refers to the waves made by the wind. other ways to translate this word are:

big pounding ⌊waves⌋
-or-
surging ⌊waves⌋

In some languages it may be necessary to translate the word surging with a phrase such as:

how the sea/water rises and falls

Refer to this action in a natural way in your language. In some languages there may be an idiom to express it.

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.