SIL Translator’s Notes on Revelation 9:5

9:5a–b

The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months: The power here is the same power mentioned in 9:3b. This sentence further describes that power.

9:5a

The locusts were not given power to kill them: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

God⌋ did not give to them the power to kill those people
-or-
the locusts did not receive the power to kill those people

9:5b

torment: This word refers to causing someone to feel severe pain. Other ways to translate this word are:

cause pain (New Century Version)
-or-
torture (New International Version)
-or-
make them suffer (Contemporary English Version)

General Comment on 9:5a–b

In some languages it is more natural to first describe the power these creatures did have. For example:

They were given power to torture them for five months, but not to kill them.

9:5c

torment: Translate this word the same way as in 9:5b.

© 2020 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.

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