17:6a–b
the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus: This clause indicates that the woman drank the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus, which, in this symbolism, caused her to be drunk, that is, intoxicated as if drinking much wine.
17:6a
the blood of the saints: This phrase is an idiom that indicates that someone murdered the saints. The image of the first beast (13:15) or the woman caused their deaths. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
the blood ⌊from the dead bodies⌋ of the saints
-or-
the deaths of the saints
The word blood is used in the same way as in 17:6a.
saints: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as saints means “holy ones.” The word refers to all believers. For example:
God’s people (Good News Translation)
See how you translated this word in 5:8 or 16:6.
17:6b
and witnesses for Jesus: The Greek text begins here with a conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and. The English versions interpret this conjunction in two ways:
(1) The conjunction means even, so 17:6b describes “the blood of the saints” in 17:6a. For example, the New Living Translation (2004) says:
with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus
(2) The conjunction means and, so two groups are referred to here. For example, the New American Standard Bible says:
and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the expressions in both 17:6a and 17:6b probably refer to believers who would not renounce Jesus. But if the major language version follows interpretation (2), you may want to follow that.
Some other ways to translate this word are:
namely, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus
-or-
that is to say, those who testify about Jesus
witnesses for Jesus: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as witnesses for Jesus :
(1) The word refers to those who publicly spoke about Jesus and called him their Lord. For example:
the witnesses to Jesus (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
those who testify about Jesus (God’s Word)
(2) The word refers to those who were faithful to Jesus. For example:
those who were killed because of their faith in Jesus (New Century Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) because of similar use of the word in 1:2b, 1:9e, 6:9c, and 12:11b.
Paragraph 17:6c–8
17:6c
And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her: The Greek says: “Having seen her, I marveled (with) great wonder.” Other ways to translate these words are:
I was very surprised when I saw her (God’s Word)
-or-
This surprising sight amazed me (Contemporary English Version)
Since 17:6a mentions seeing the woman, it is more natural in some languages not to repeat that here. For example:
I was very amazed
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