9:16a–b

The words here imply that the four angels controlled the army. In some languages a literal translation would not imply that the four angels controlled the army. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain the implied information in a footnote. An example footnote is:

The four angels controlled this vast army of two hundred million soldiers, because both 9:15 and 9:18 refer to killing one third of mankind.

9:16a

mounted troops: This phrase refers to soldiers riding horses. At that time, these soldiers fought using swords, spears, or bows. They fought while sitting on the backs of the horses. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

troops of cavalry (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
soldiers on ⌊war⌋ horses

In some languages people are not familiar with soldiers riding horses. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain what cavalry is in a footnote. For example:

Soldiers on horses were a very strong fighting part of an army at that time.

two hundred million: The Greek phrase is literally “twice ten thousand of ten thousand.” This may refer to a huge but indefinite number of soldiers. But all English reference versions translate according to the calculation of “twice ten thousand of ten thousand,” which is two hundred million.

In some languages combinations of number words such as two hundred million are not known. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Follow the literal Greek phrase. For example:

twice ten thousand times ten thousand (Revised Standard Version)

• Use both numerals and number words. For example:

200 million

• Use only numerals. For example:

200,000,000

• Use a combination of smaller number words that equal two hundred million. For example:

two hundred thousands of thousands

• Use the major language word for “million.” For example:

200 milien
-or-
two hundred miliens

9:16b

I heard their number: The word heard implies that someone said how many soldiers there were. John heard what he said. In some languages it is more natural to refer to the person speaking. For example:

I heard ⌊someone tell⌋ the number of soldiers
-or-
I heard ⌊someone say⌋ how many of them there were

Having this clause after the number (9:16a) emphasizes the number. Another example of emphasizing the number is:

this was the number I heard (Revised English Bible)

General Comment on 9:16a–b

In some languages it is more natural to have the clause about hearing the number first. If possible, then emphasize the number naturally. For example:

16b I heard 16a the number of the mounted troops, and ⌊indeed,⌋ it was two hundred million!

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