Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation follow the Greek in changing from the future tense of the verbs in verses 7-8 to the past tense in verses 9-10. Beckwith comments that in verses 7-8 John speaks as a prophet, and in verses 9-10 he reports what he had seen in a vision. If the change of tense causes too much trouble, a translator can use the future tense in verses 9-10; but the past tense should be kept, if at all possible.
They marched up over the broad earth: it is possible that the Greek word translated earth means here “land,” that is, the land of Israel. But “earth” is how most translations render the word. The Greek verb translated they marched up is “they went up,” in the sense of spreading out all over the earth’s surface. Another way of expressing this is “they went out everywhere over the earth.”
Surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city: the two expressions refer to only one place, not two: “they surrounded the city that God loves, where his people were living.” The Greek word translated camp may mean: (1) a military camp; (2) a “stopping place,” like the camps where the Hebrews stopped on their way from Egypt to Canaan; or (3) “army,” as in Heb 11.34. In Heb 13.11-13 the word is used of the Hebrews’ camping place, and then, by extension, it is used to refer to the city of Jerusalem, outside of which Jesus was crucified. Here it seems that camp means city, without the specific idea of a military camp. The phrase the beloved city can be translated “the city that God loves.” The city is Jerusalem, but the name should not appear in the translation. For city compare 11.2. Alternative translation models for this first sentence are “They went out over the whole earth and surrounded the city that God loves, where his people were living” or “… and surrounded the place where God’s people were living; that is the city that he loves.”
Fire came down from heaven and consumed them: as in Ezek 38.22; and for the verb consumed see 11.5. It is God who sends the fire down, and as the RSV footnote shows, some Greek manuscripts and early versions include the name of God. It is recommended that the Greek text represented in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation be followed; if, however, a translator prefers to include God as the one who sent the fire down, there is no harm done.
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .