they marched up over the breadth of the earth

The Greek in Revelation 20:9 that is translated as “they marched up over the breadth of the earth” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as sie ziehen hinauf auf die Hochfläche der Erde or “they go up to the plateau of the earth.”

saint

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The Greek that is translated as “saint” in English is rendered into Highland Puebla Nahuatl as “one with a clean hearts,” into Northwestern Dinka as “one with a white hearts,” and into Western Kanjobal as “person of prayer.” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 146)

Other translations include:

complete verse (Revelation 20:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 20:9:

  • Uma: “The came in droves, all over the land, surrounding the village that God loves and the dwelling-place of his followers. But in-fact [instead of what they expected to happen], fire came down from the sky and wiped-them-out.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “They will proceed to cover the whole country and they will surround the camp of God’s people and the city cherished by God. But there will be fire falling from heaven and the fire will destroy (lit. eat) them all.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “They covered the whole of the earth, and they surrounded the city which is very dear to God and the soldiers of God who are those who believe in Him. But fire dropped on them from heaven and they were all destroyed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “They will hike over the wide surface of the earth to go surround the city that God loves that is the temporary-quarters of his people. But then there will be fire from heaven that will burn-them -up.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, these ones who were rounded up to join, they arrived-in-large-numbers. After they were gathered, they crowded in on that city which is held dear by God where his people live. But there was nothing which could be done by those ones who crowded in for fire fell coming from heaven, this being what burned them up.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The people arose all over the world. They surrounded the city where the people of God are. This is the city which God loves. But God then caused that fire fell from heaven. It burned to a finish all his enemies.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

heaven

Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Aramaic all have one term only that refers to what can be expressed in English as “sky” or “heaven(s)” (as a physical and spiritual entity). While there is a slight overlap between the meaning of the two English terms, “sky” (from Old Norse sky meaning “cloud”) typically refers to the physical entity, and “heaven” (from Old English heofon meaning “home of God”) typically refers to the spiritual entity. While this enriches the English lexicon, it also forces English Bible translators to make decisions that can be found only in the context in the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts. Most versions tend to use “heaven(s)” even if the meaning is likely “sky,” but the Contemporary English Version (NT: 1991, OT: 1995, DC: 1999) is an English translation that attempted to be more specific in the separation of the two meanings and was used as the basis for the links to verses used for this and this record (“sky”).

Norm Mundhenk (in The Bible Translator 2006, p. 92ff. ) describes the difficulty that English translations face (click or tap here to see more):

“A number of years ago an old lady asked me a question. What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away’? I do not remember what answer I gave, but I was surprised at how concerned she seemed to be about the verse. It was only later, after I had left her, that I suddenly realized what it was that she was so concerned about. She knew that death could not be far away, and all her life she had looked forward to being with God in heaven. But this verse said that ‘heaven will pass away’! What did that mean for her hopes? In fact, of course, in this verse Jesus was talking about the skies or the heavens, not about Heaven as the place of God’s presence. If I had realized the problem in time, I could easily have set the lady’s mind at rest on this question that was troubling her so much. However, I suspect that she is not the only person to be misled by the wording of this verse. Therefore, it is very surprising to find that even today many English versions (including the New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation) still say ‘heaven and earth’ in verses like Matt 24:35 and its parallels (Mark 13:31 and Luke 21:33). The Contemporary English Version (CEV) and Phillips’ translation seem to be aware of the problem, and in Mark 13:31 both of these have ‘earth and sky’ instead of ‘heaven and earth.’ But in some other passages (such as Matt 5:18) the traditional wording is still found in both of those translations. The New Century Version (NCV) does have ‘earth and sky’ more consistently, and the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has ‘sky and earth’ in these passages. (Although ‘sky and earth’ is closer to the Greek, it seems more natural in English to say ‘earth and sky’; but either way, at least the meaning is correct.)

“Louw and Nida’s Lexical Semantics of the Greek New Testament (publ. 1992) suggests that the Greek expression being translated here, ho ouranos kai he ge is ‘a more or less fixed phrase equivalent to a single lexical unit’ and that it means everything that God created, that is, the universe. They then quote Mark 13:31 as an example, using ‘heaven and earth’ in their translation of it. However, they go on to say that there ‘may be certain complications involved in rendering ho ouranos kai he ge as ‘heaven and earth,’ since ‘heaven’ might be interpreted in some languages as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself. The referents in this passage are ‘the sky and the earth,’ in other words, all of physical existence, but not the dwelling place of God, for the latter would not be included in what is destined to pass away.’ In my opinion, English itself is one of the languages where the word ‘heaven’ will be interpreted as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself, and translations into English should not use ‘heaven’ in these passages. It is probably because these passages are so very familiar that translators do not realize the meaning they are giving their readers when they use the expression ‘heaven and earth’ here. In modern English we might talk about a rocket ‘soaring into the heavens,’ but we would certainly not describe it as ‘soaring into heaven,’ because ‘heaven’ is not another way of referring to the sky or to outer space.

“In fact, it is surely important in all languages to have some way of distinguishing the concept of ‘sky’ from the concept of ‘dwelling place of God.’ In these passages translators should never use a term meaning ‘the dwelling place of God.’ It may not be necessary to use a term meaning ‘sky’ either, if there is some other expression in the language which gives the correct meaning of ‘everything that has been created’ or ‘the universe.’ There are of course places in the New Testament where Heaven, as the place where God lives, is contrasted with the earth. In these passages, translators should be careful to give the correct meaning. A good example of this is in the Lord’s Prayer, in Matt 6:10: ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Similarly, 1 Cor 15:47 says that ‘the first man [a reference to Adam] was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.’ Passages like these are referring to Heaven, not to the sky. Other NT passages where heaven refers to God’s dwelling place, in contrast with earth, are Matt 5:34-35, 16:19, 18:18, Acts 7:49, James 5:12, and Rev 5:3.

“Sometimes in the New Testament, the word ‘heaven’ is used because of the Jewish reluctance to use the name of God. ‘Heaven’ in these cases is used in place of ‘God’ and refers to God himself. This is the case in the many references in Matthew to ‘the kingdom of heaven’ where other gospels have ‘the kingdom of God’ (e.g., compare Matt 4:17 with its parallels in Mark 1:15 and Luke 10:9). It is also most likely the case in references like Matt 16:1, Luke 20:4, 5, John 3:27, and even perhaps Col 1:5.

“There are some places, such as Matt 11:25, where God is called ‘Lord of heaven and earth.’ Since God is of course the Lord of Heaven as well as of the universe, it may not matter so much which interpretation is given in these passages (others are Luke 10:21 and Acts 17:24). Nevertheless, the intended meaning here is likely to be ‘the universe.’ This is because this expression in Greek, as Louw and Nida say, is a set expression referring to everything that has been created. Acts 17:24 in fact combines the idea of the creation of the universe with the idea of God as Master or Lord of the universe. (…)

“Old Testament background The use of ‘heaven and earth’ in the New Testament is very similar to what we find in the Old Testament, because it is largely based on the Old Testament.

“The Old Testament begins with the story of creation, which is presented as the creation of the heavens and the earth, with lights to shine in the heavens and give light to the earth. Birds are created to live in the heavens, animals to live on earth, and fish to live in the sea (Gen 1:1-2:4).

“As we can see from the way the creation story is told, it is meant to be understood as the creation of the universe. Although in English the regions above the earth have traditionally been called ‘the heavens’ in the story of creation, they cannot be called ‘Heaven,’ in the sense of the place where God dwells. In terms of modern English, it would probably be better to say ‘the sky and the earth’ or ‘the earth and the sky.’ The story of creation then becomes an important theme throughout the Old Testament. (…)

“In most passages, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, when ‘heaven and earth’ or ‘the heavens and the earth’ are mentioned, the meaning is the created universe. It is not a reference to Heaven, as the dwelling place of God. In English, translators have not been careful to keep this distinction clear, and this is probably true in many other languages as well. However, as we have seen, this can lead to real confusion for ordinary Bible readers. It is better if translators find ways to make the meaning clear in these passages. ‘Heaven’ should be mentioned only in passages which clearly mean the dwelling place of God. In other passages, an expression should be used which means only ‘sky.’ Or else, the whole expression ‘heaven and earth’ can be translated in a way to show that the whole universe is meant.”

Other languages that have a semantic distinction similar to English include (click or tap here to see more):

  • Hungarian: ég — “sky”; menny — “heaven”
  • Tagalog: kalawakan — “sky”; langit/kalangitan — “heaven”
  • Swedish: sky — “sky”; Himmel — “heaven”
  • Loma: “up” — “sky”; “God’s place” — heaven”
  • Mossi: saase — “sky”; nyingeri — “the up above”(source for Loma and Mossi: Bratcher/Nida)
  • Roviana: mamaṉa — “sly”; maṉauru — “heaven” (an old word, meaning “empty, open space of the sky”) (source: Carl Gross)
  • Kayaw: mô̄la or “canopy-under”/mô̄khû̄la or “canopy-above-under” — “sky” (atmosphere where there is just air); mô̄khû̄ or “canopy-on/above” — “heaven” (invisible abode of God and angels)
  • Burmese: မိုး ကောင်း ကင်/moe kaungg kain — “sky”; ကောင်း ကင်/kaungg kain — “sky” or “heaven”; ကောင်း ကင်ဗုံ/kaungg kain bone — “heaven”
  • Mairasi: Sinyavi — an indigenous term that is used for both “sky” and heaven”; Surga — loanword from Sanskrit via Indonesian referring to “heaven” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: worl — “sky”; Boolanga-Yirakang Boodjer — “Country of God” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Kupsabiny: “up” for “sky” vs. “God’s Homestead” for “heaven” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)

In some languages, such as Yagaria, a term that was originally used as “sky” (gokudana) was adopted by the Christian community as “heaven.” This resulted in a language shift so that now all communities uses “empty space / air” (galogina or hakalogina) as “sky” and gokudana is exclusively used for the Christian concept of heaven. (Source: Renck 1990, p. 133)

Many languages follow the original biblical languages in not making that distinction, such as (click or tap here to see more):

In some languages, such as Wandala, the vocabulary for terms for either “heaven” or “sky” is much richer than just to include those two distinction. While zhegela, the term that is specifically used for the physical sky was only used in early translations of the New Testament for “sky,” other terms such as samaya (used for both “sky” and “heaven”), zlanna (specifically used for the perfect abode of God and the goal of the faithful, as in Matthew 8:11), kwárá (a locational term used to speak of a chief’s rule [lit., “voice”] such as Matthew 3:2), or sleksire (“chieftaincy,” “kingship,” or “royalty” [originally from slekse “chief”] and used where there are no locational overtones, such as in Matthew 16:28) are used. (Source: Mona Perrin in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 51ff.)

Under the auspices of the Dhama Mate Swe Association , a new Burmese translation of the New Testament was published in 2024 which uses terminology that attempts to overcome “insurmountable barriers to the Buddhist world.” One term that this version uses is ရွှေမြို့တော် (shway myahoettaw) or “Golden City” for “heaven,” referring it to the golden city described in Revelation 21 but at the same time using a Buddhist term for a desired destination that does not have the Buddhist connotation of ကောင်း ကင် (kaungg kain) as being the Trāyastriṃśa (တာဝတိံသာ) heaven, home of Śakra/Indra. This Burmese translation formed the basis of translations of parts of the New Testament into other languages spoken in Burma, including Sumtu Chin, Ekai Chin, Songlai Chin, Danau, Kadu, Kanan, Khün, Lahta Karen, Rakhine, Marma (Northern Rakhine), Riang Lai, Samtao, Shwe Palaung, Tai Laing, Taungyo, and Chak (Thet). (Source: Jay Pratt)

The English translation by Sarah Ruden (2021) uses “sky” throughout. Ruden explains (p. li): “The Greek word ouranos refers evenhandedly to the physical sky and the place—often pictured as a royal court — where supreme divinity resides. ‘Sky’ seems generally better, first of all in avoiding the wackier modern imagery that comes with the English ‘heaven.’ And even when a supernatural realm is meant, ‘sky’ will often do, because the divine realm was thought to be located there, in addition to the weather and the heavenly bodies, whereas ‘heaven’ to us is fundamentally a religious term, and the ancients did not tend to separate linguistic domains in this way. I have retained the plural ‘skies’ where I see it in the Greek, because it is a Hebraism familiar in English translations of scripture and (I hope) not too archaic or jarring.”

Translation commentary on Revelation 20:9

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Revelation 20:9

20:9a

And they marched: The Greek clause is literally “They went up.” The Berean Standard Bible uses the verb marched because this is the usual way in English to refer to an army traveling. Other ways to translate this clause are:

they marched up (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
Satan’s army marched (New Century Version)
-or-
they went up (New Living Translation (2004))

across the broad expanse of the earth: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as earth can also be translated as “country/region.” There are two ways to interpret it here:

(1) It refers to the whole world. For example:

all the way across the earth (Contemporary English Version)

(2) It refers to the country of Israel. For example:

They came swarming over the entire country. (New Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

broad expanse: This phrase refers to something that is very broad. The vast army approaching God’s people would be very spread out. Other ways to translate this word are:

breadth (New International Version)
-or-
surface
-or-

spread over the earth

20:9b

the camp of the saints and the beloved city: The Greek words are literally “the camp of the saints and/even the beloved city.” Here, the Greek conjunction meaning “and/even” probably introduces an explanation of the phrase the camp of the saints. In other words, the camp of the saints is the beloved city. For example:

the camp of the saints, which is the beloved City (New Jerusalem Bible)

camp: This word refers to a place where a group of people live temporarily, often with some of them prepared, like soldiers, to defend the whole group. Many scholars connect this word to the encampment of the Israelites in the wilderness, as in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

the saints: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the saints is literally “holy ones.” The Berean Standard Bible usually translates the Greek word as “saints.” See how you translated this word (“saints”) in 19:8.

the beloved city: The Greek phrase is literally “the city having been loved.” For example:

the city he loves (New International Version)

These verses do not say who loves this city but they imply that God loves it. In some languages it is necessary or more natural to indicate who loves this city. For example:

the city that he loves (Revised English Bible)
-or-
the city God loves (New Century Version)

Some scholars (Aune, Beckwith, Osbourne) see this phrase referring to the earthly Jerusalem, some (Beale, Charles) to the heavenly Jerusalem, and others (Swete, Kistemaker, Smalley, Johnson, Hughes, Mounce) see it as referring to God’s people as a whole. It is hard to decide. You should not add “Jerusalem” here.

20:9c

But fire came down from heaven:
These verses do not say how the fire came down. It is implied that God caused the fire to come down. In some languages it is more natural to indicate that God caused the fire. For example:

⌊God caused⌋ fire to come down from heaven

consumed them: Here the word consumed refers to the fire consuming quickly. It can also refer to burning something until it is just ashes. The fire completely destroyed the enemies of God’s people.

them: The pronoun here refers to the armies of the nations (20:8a).

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