Armageddon

The term that is transliterated as “Armageddon” or “Harmagedon” in English is translated in British Sign Language with a sign that combines the signs for “war battle” and “destruction.” (Source: Anna Smith)


“Armageddon” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

complete verse (Revelation 16:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 16:16:

  • Uma: “So, kings with their soldiers from all over the world, they did gather at the place that is called in the Yahudi language: Harmagedon.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then the three demons brought the kings to gather there in the place called Amageddon in the Hibrani language.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the demons will gather together the kings and their soldiers in the land which in the Hebrew language is called Armageddon. ‘Listen carefully to this,’ says Jesus Christ, ‘because My return will be like the coming of a thief. The person who doesn’t sleep but prepares his clothing, which is to say, he expects Me, he will rejoice at that time because he will not be naked, which is to say, he will not be ashamed.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “That being so, they gathered the rulers and their soldiers in the place designated Armageddon in the Hebreo language. Therefore the Lord Jesus said/says, ‘Listen (you pl) to this. My coming will be sudden/unexpected like the coming of a thief. Fortunate is the one who doesn’t sleep who is dressed who is ready, because he will not be shamed at my coming like a naked soldier who has to get-up to get dressed, then goes to wage-war.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, those evil-spirits then assembled all those kings who had been persuaded to join them, including their soldiers, at the place called Armagedon in the Hebreo language.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Concerning the rulers who were brought, they gathered at the place called in the Hebrew language Armageddon.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

demon

The Greek that is typically translated/transliterated in English as “demon” is translated by other languages in the following ways:

  • Central Mazahua: “the evil spirit(s) of the devil” (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
  • Kupsabiny: “bad spirit(s)” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “bad bush-spirit(s)” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Hausa: “unclean spirit” (see note below) (source: Hausa Common Language Back Translation)
  • Mandarin Chinese: “dirty spirit” (污灵 / wūlíng) (Protestant); “evil spirit/demon” （邪鬼 / xiéguǐ) (Catholic) (source: Zetzsche)
  • Sissala: kaŋtɔŋ, which traditionally referred to “either a spirit of natural phenomena such as trees, rivers, stones, etc., or the spirit of a deceased person that has not been taken into the realm of the dead. Kaŋtɔŋ can be good or evil. Evil kaŋtɔŋ can bring much harm to people and are feared accordingly. A kaŋtɔŋ can also dwell in a person living on this earth. A person possessed by kaŋtɔŋ does not behave normally.” (Source: Regina Blass in Holzhausen 1991, p. 48f.)
  • Umiray Dumaget Agta: hayup or “creature, animal, general term for any non-human creature, whether natural or supernatural.” Thomas Headland (in: Notes on Translation, September 1971, p. 17ff.) explains some more: “There are several types of supernatural creatures, or spirit beings which are designated by the generic term hayup. Just as we have several terms in English for various spirit beings (elves, fairies, goblins, demons, imps, pixies) so have the Dumagats. And just as you will find vast disagreement and vagueness among English informants as to the differences between pixies and imps, etc., so you will find that no two Dumagats will agree as to the form and function of their different spirit beings.” This term can also be used in a verb form: hayupen: “creatured” or “to be killed, made sick, or crazy by a spirit.”
  • Yala: yapri̍ija ɔdwɔ̄bi̍ or “bad Yaprija.” Yaprijas are traditional spirits that have a range presumed activities including giving or withholding gifts, giving and protecting children, causing death and disease and rewarding good behavior. (Source: Eugene Bunkowske in Notes on Translation 78/1980, p. 36ff.)
  • Lamnso’: aànyùyi jívirì: “lesser gods who disturb, bother, pester, or confuse a person.” (Source: Fanwong 2013, p. 93)
  • Paasaal: gyɩŋbɔmɔ, “beings that are in the wild and can only be seen when they choose to reveal themselves to certain people. They can ‘capture’ humans and keep them in hiding while they train the person in herbalism and divination. After the training period, which can range from a week to many years, the ‘captured’ individual is released to go back into society as a healer and a diviner. The gyɩŋbɔmɔ can also be evil, striking humans with mental diseases and causing individuals to get lost in the wild. The Pasaale worldview about demons is like that of others of the language groups in the area, including the Northern Dagara [who use kɔ̃tɔmɛ with a similar meaning].” (Source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)

In the still widely-used 1908 Tswana (also: Setswana) translation (by Robert Moffat, revised by Alfred Wookey), the term badino or “ancestor spirit” is used for “demon,” even though in the traditional understanding there is nothing inherently negative associated with that term. Musa Dube (in: Journal of Society of New Testament 73, 1999, p. 33ff. ) describes this as an example of “engaging in the colonization of the minds of natives and for advancing European imperial spaces. The death and burial of Setswana culture here was primarily championed through the colonization of their language such that it no longer served the interests of the original speakers. Instead the written form of language had equated their cultural beliefs with evil spirits, demons and wizardry. This colonization of Setswana was in itself the planting of a colonial cultural bomb, meant to clear the ground for the implantation of a worldwide Christian commonwealth and European consciousness. It was a minefield that marked Setswana cultural spaces as dangerous death zones, to be avoided by every intelligent Motswana reader or hearer of the translated text.”

In Kachin, the term Nat (or nat) us used for “demon” (as well as “devil” and “unclean/evil spirit“). Like in Tswana, the meaning of Nat is not inherently negative but can be positive in the traditional Nat worship as well. Naw Din Dumdaw (in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 94ff.) argues that “the demonization of Nat created a social conflict between Kachin Christians and Kachin non-Christians. Kachin converts began to perceive their fellow Kachins who were still worshipping Nats as demonic and they wanted to distance themselves from them. Likewise, the Nat-worshiping Kachin community perceived the Kachin converts as betrayers and enemies of their own cultural heritage. (…) The demonization of the word Nat was not only the demonization of the pre-Christian religion but also the demonization of the cultural heritage of the Kachin people. When the word Nat is perceived as demonic, it creates an existential dilemma for Kachin Christians. It distances them from their cultural traditions.”

Note that often the words for “demon” and “unclean spirit / evil spirit” are being used interchangeably.

See also devil and formal pronoun: demons or Satan addressing Jesus.

Translation commentary on Revelation 16:16

And they assembled them: the same verb is used in verse 14. It is helpful to specify both the subject and the object of the verb, as Good News Translation has done.

Armageddon: this is the transliteration (in Greek) of the Hebrew harmegiddo “the hill of Megiddo.” The name itself does not appear in the Old Testament. The Plain of Megiddo in northern Palestine was the scene of some important battles in Israelite history (see Judges 5.19; 2 Kgs 23.29-30; 2 Chr 35.22). Armageddon is the most commonly used English form of the word; but New Revised Standard Version has “Harmagedon”; Revised English Bible “Harmageddon”; Translator’s New Testament “Har-Magedon.” Is called may also be rendered “they call in the Hebrew language” or “has the name Armageddon in Hebrew.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Revelation 16:16

Paragraph 16:16

16:16a

Here John returns to describing his vision. This is not part of the quotation of Jesus’ words.

they assembled: The subject of the verb assembled is probably the three frog-like demonic spirits (16:13). For example:

the spirits brought (Good News Translation)

Your translation should clearly refer to the three frog-like spirits. Your translation should not imply or refer to any group of believers in 16:15.

the kings: The Greek word is literally “them.” The pronoun refers to the kings (16:14b). Your translation should clearly refer to the kings.

16:16b

the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon: This phrase indicates that the name Armageddon is a Hebrew word. Hebrew is the language of the people of Israel, the Jews.

Armageddon: This word means “Mount Mageddon.” This name in Greek is spelled Harmagedōn.

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