Section 8:1–5
The Lamb opened the last seal, and an angel offered incense
In this section, the Lamb opened the seventh seal and heaven was quiet for half an hour. Then seven angels were each given trumpets. Another angel came to the altar with a bowl for burning incense. He was given incense and offered it on the altar. The angel then used the bowl to gather burning coals from the altar. He threw the burning coals upon the earth.
Other examples of headings for this section are:
The Seventh Seal (Good News Translation)
-or-
The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer (New Revised Standard Version)
Paragraph 8:1–2
8:1a
opened: Here the word opened refers to breaking the last drop of wax that sealed the scroll. See how you translated this word in 6:1 or 6:12.
seventh: The word seventh here refers to the next item after the sixth one. If counted, this item would be counted as number seven. Here it also refers to the last of the seven items. Use the word or phrase that is natural in your language. For example:
the one after the other six
-or-
the one after the six of them
-or-
last
seal: A seal indicates that only those with the proper authority are allowed to open the thing with the seal on it. See how you translated this word in 5:1 or 6:12.
8:1b
there was silence in heaven: This clause indicates that heaven was quiet. There was no noise. Other ways to translate this clause are:
⌊all⌋ in heaven was silent
-or-
heaven became quiet
about half an hour: The word hour refers to a period of time. There are twenty-four hours in one day. The phrase half an hour refers to half of the time referred to by the word hour. Some languages do not have a word or phrase for the meaning of half an hour. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Use a word or phrase that means about that length of time. For example:
about the same time as that from sundown to the first star
-or-
about the same time that it takes to walk two kilometers
• Use minutes. For example:
thirty minutes
• Use the major language word or phrase if it is well known.
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