The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “widow” in English is translated in West Kewa as ona wasa or “woman shadow” (source: Karl J. Franklin in Notes on Translation 70/1978, pp. 13ff.) and in Newari as “husband already died ones” or “ones who have no husband” (source: Newari Back Translation).
In Cherokee the term is gender neutral and translates to “one who has lost someone.” (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 100)
The etymological meaning of the Hebrewalmanah (אַלְמָנָה) is likely “pain, ache,” the Greekchéra (χήρα) is likely “to leave behind,” “abandon,” and the Englishwidow (as well as related terms in languages such as Dutch, German, Sanskrit, Welsh, or Persian) is “to separate,” “divide” (source: Wiktionary).
Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 18:7:
Uma: “That villagers of Babel are like a woman who makes her body beautiful and does what she wants. That’s why I request that you torture them and make it difficult for them now. They hearts are so high [arrogant] they say: ‘I am a queen. I am not a widow, I will not undergo saddness/suffering.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Her boasting and her indulging whatever kind of desire she had was over-much therefore the suffering and grief sent to her shall also be over-much. Because she always boasted to herself, she said, ‘I am a queen reigning. I am not a widow. I will not experience grief.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “To excess she improved her situation, and now she will be repaid with grief and a situation of torment. For she never stops boasting, she says in her mind, ‘I am a queen and no widow. It is impossible for me to be overtaken by hardship.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The quantity of her wealth and her pride/arrogance (lit. making-high her body), that also will be the quantity of her hardship/suffering and sorrow. She says to herself (lit. says with her mind), ‘Here I am a queen who rules. Is it indeed-the-case (RQ implying of course not) that I will mourn as if I have been widowed?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For to the extent to which she caused herself to go in celebrating and being important, like that indeed is the extent to which she will experience being caused suffering and grief. Because in her mind she thinks, ‘I am really sitting in kingship. I’m not a widow. Till forever, really far from me is anything to grieve over.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Overflowingly they have had pleasures and they have been proud of all the money they had. So overflowingly will be the suffering they have now. Because they think in their hearts: ‘It is like we are rulers here where we are, nothing is lacking and never will come the day when we will have sadness’ they think.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
She glorified herself: this means “to boast”: “she boasted of her greatness,” “she was very vain,” or “she boasted, ‘I am very great.’ ”
Played the wanton: this is a rather quaint expression in English; the Greek means “indulged her lust,” “enjoyed luxury” (see the related noun “wealth” in Rev. 18.3). New Revised Standard Version has “lived luxuriously.” The verb appears here and in verse 9, and nowhere else in the New Testament. These first two clauses may also be expressed as “Just as she boasted, ‘I am very great,’ and lived a life full of luxury (or, good things).”
A like measure of torment and mourning: for the noun translated torment see “torture” at 9.5; 14.11. The more general idea of “suffering” or “pain” fits the context here. The Revised Standard Version sentence structure, As she … so give her, may not be the best way to translate this part of the verse; something like the Good News Translation restructuring may be easier to follow. New Jerusalem Bible has “Every one of her pomps and orgies is to be matched by a torture or an agony”; Revised English Bible “Measure out torment and grief to match her pomp and luxury.” Another way of expressing this is “You must cause her to receive extreme pain and sorrow that equals her luxurious life (or, way of life) and her pride in herself.”
Since: this statement of reason will be followed by the result in verse 8, “so….” It may be better to restructure, as Good News Translation has done, and say here “She tells herself,” “She keeps on saying to herself,” “She keeps reassuring herself,” or “She keeps thinking to herself.”
A queen I sit: “I am a queen, sitting on my throne.” Queen normally refers to the wife of a king, but in this context it means “a woman ruler” who has complete control over her subjects. In certain languages it will sound strange to bring in a feminine subject into the first sentence. In such a case one may say “Here I sit on my throne, ruling with complete authority.”
I am no widow, mourning I shall never see: it may not be natural to speak of “(never) seeing mourning,” so something like “I shall never mourn,” “I shall never be in mourning” may be better. This mourning is the sorrow a woman feels when her husband dies. This boast may be stated as follows: “I am not a widow, and I will never know the sorrow of widowhood,” or “Since I have no husband, I will never be a widow mourning her husband’s death,” or “I have no husband who will die, so I will never have to weep for him.” See similar language in Isa 47.7-9.
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 .
In 18:6a, the speaker urged his listeners to punish Babylon equal to the harm she had done to others. Here in 18:7a–b the speaker urged them to punish Babylon equal to the glory and luxury that she had given to herself.
As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief: The speaker asked his listeners to make her suffering of equal measure to the glory and luxury that she had given to herself. However, in some languages a verb other than give must be used for the correct meaning. For example:
Measure out torment and grief to match her pomp and luxury! (Revised English Bible) -or-
Punish her with torture and grief as great as the glory and luxury she took for herself! -or-
See the quantity of her glory and her luxury that she provided/bought for herself? Make the quantity of her torture and grief equal to that.
The Berean Standard Bible reverses the order of the two Greek clauses. See the General Comment at the end of 18:7b.
18:7a
as she has glorified herself: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as glorified is related to the word “glory.” Glory refers to brightness. It symbolizes greatness, power, splendor, and majesty. Babylon was proud and wanted everyone to admire her and be impressed by her greatness. Other ways to translate this word are:
as the glory…she gave herself (New International Version (2011)) -or-
majesty
lived in luxury: The Greek word here refers to things that satisfy sensual desires. See how you translated the word “luxury” in 18:3.
18:7b
give her…torment: This phrase refers to causing someone to suffer and feel pain. Other ways to translate this word are:
cause pain -or-
Give…torture (New International Version (1984)) -or-
make suffer
See how you translated this phrase in 9:5.
grief: This word here refers to the distress someone feels when suffering greatly. For example:
agony (New Jerusalem Bible)
General Comment on 18:7a–b
The Greek has the basis (18:7a) before the command (18:7b), as reflected in the Berean Standard Bible. Some English versions reverse this order. For example:
Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself (New International Version (2011))
In some languages it is necessary or more natural to have the basis first, as modeled by the Berean Standard Bible.
18:7c
18:7c begins with the conjunction often translated as “because.” The conjunction introduces the reason for the speaker urging his listeners to punish her. For example:
For (Good News Translation)
In her heart she says: Here the phrase In her heart refers to what the woman truly thinks. It indicates that 18:7d–e is her great desire. Use the usual word or phrase that is used in your language to indicate the origin of thoughts, desires, purposes, and intentions. It might be a different organ such as “liver,” or it might be a general word such as “insides.” Other ways to translate this phrase are:
she boasts to herself in her mind -or-
she proudly thinks deep inside
says: The Berean Standard Bible literally represents the Greek here. But the words of 18:7d–e are boastful, so some English versions use the word “boasts” here, as in the New International Version.
18:7d
I sit as queen: This clause indicates that the woman had great authority, like a queen. She was proud of her powerful position. Other ways to translate this clause are:
Here I sit, a queen! (Good News Translation) -or-
I am enthroned as queen (New Jerusalem Bible)
18:7e
I am not a widow: The word widow is a metaphor here. The woman claimed she would not be like a woman who has lost her husband. She boasted that she would not be left without anyone to take care of her or that she could take care of herself. Many English versions translate this clause literally. For example:
I am no widow (New Jerusalem Bible)
In some languages a literal translation would not have the figurative meaning above. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Translate the literal meaning and explain its figurative meaning in a footnote. For example:
The woman claims she will never be helpless and dependent on others, as widows often were when John wrote this book.
• Translate the metaphor as a simile. For example:
I am not ⌊like⌋ a widow
• Explain the meaning in your translation. For example:
I am not ⌊helpless like⌋ a widow -or-
I am not ⌊dependent on others⌋ like a widow
• Translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:
I am not helpless -or-
I am not dependent on others
You may then want to include a footnote to indicate the literal meaning. For example:
Literally: “I am not a widow.”
see grief: This word is the same Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “grief” in 18:7b. You may want to translate it with the same word here.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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