The Greek in Revelation 6:13 that is translated as “fig tree drops its winter fruit” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as wie unreife Feigen vom Baum or “like unripe figs from the tree.”
fell to earth
In Gbaya, the notion of “fell to earth” is emphasized with gbéyéŋ, an ideophone used to describe something falling to the ground.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
fig tree
The Greek that is translated in English as “fig tree” is translated in Lokạạ with figi, an indigenized transliteration of the English “fig.”
“The Lokạạ translators noted that they could not use the name of their local fig kẹkamati, which is very close to the fig family but only a shrub. This is because of the appearance of the Greek term for fig tree in verses such as John 1:48, where the fig tree is an enjoyable place for sitting in the shade. The Lokạạ translators decided to use an iconic translation of the English “fig”, which they indigenised as figi in Lokạạ. Since the term figi could not easily be connected to the indigenous term kẹkamati, readers would not have difficulty with passages such as John 1:48, in which people sit under the fig tree.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
See also fig, fig tree in leaf and Can a fig tree yield olives or a grapevine figs.
on the ground / to the ground
In Gbaya, the notion of being flat on the ground or falling to the ground is emphasized in the referenced verses with gbéyéŋ, an ideophone that expresses the fact of being flat on the ground, or falling to the ground.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
complete verse (Revelation 6:13)
Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 6:13:
- Uma: “The stars also all fell from the sky to earth, like the unripe/miscarried fruits of a tree fall from the top when shaken by a big wind.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “The stars dropped down on the earth like fruit dropping when a tree is shaken by a strong wind.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And stars fell down to the earth like unripe fruit of the igira tree when they are struck by the wind and fall.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “The stars also fell to earth like the not-yet ripe fruit of trees blown-down by a strong typhoon.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “And as for the stars, they all fell down, just like the falling of still immature fruit from a tree when it is in the path of a strong wind.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “Above, the stars fell to the earth. These stars fell as though old figs were shaken by the wind, all falling arriving to the earth. It was like that.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
sky
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 (“heaven”).
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:
- 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:
- Latin: caelum
- Portuguese: céu
- French: ciel
- Italian: cielo
- Catalan: cel
- Russian and Ukrainian: небо/‘nebo
- Finnish: taivas
- Estonian: taevas
- Dutch: hemel
- Czech: nebe
- Slovak: nebo
- Danish: himmel
- German: Himmel
- Matumbi: kunani (lit. “up”) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
- Cherokee: galaladi (ᎦᎸᎳᏗ) or “up” — Bender / Belt (2025, p. 23) note that there is a related term — galvlohi (ᎦᎸᎶᎯ) — that is used “for the upperworld of Cherokee cosmology, [but] was not used, possibly to communicate a sharp distinction.
- Mandarin Chinese: 天/tiān
- Korean: 하늘/haneul
- Amele: sao (source: John Roberts)
- Kamo: yamba, which, when capitalized (Yamba), means “God” (source: David Frank)
- Manchu: ᠠᠪᡴᠠ/abka
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.)
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.”
fig
Two types of fig trees are mentioned in the Bible, the Common Fig Ficus carica (Hebrew te’enah) and the Sycomore Fig Ficus sycomorus (Hebrew shiqmah; see “Sycomore fig”). They are closely related. The common fig tree grows not only in Israel, but throughout the world in warm climates. In the Holy Land it was a common source of food; the fruit was eaten both fresh and dried. Sometimes the dried ones were pressed together to form flat “cakes” or blocks (Hebrew develah). But, just as important, the large leaves of the fig make it an excellent shade tree. However, the first use of the fig mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 3:7) was not for food or shade but for clothing; Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves for themselves to cover their nakedness.
The fig was probably domesticated in northwestern Turkey from a wild variety that grew there around 5000 years ago. Greek, Roman, and Egyptian records indicate that the fruits were popular. Figs are now grown especially in Israel, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Portugal, as well as in the warm parts of the United States.
The fig is believed to be indigenous to western Asia and to have been distributed by humans and birds throughout the Mediterranean area. Remnants of figs have been found in excavations of sites traced to at least 5000 B.C.
The domesticated fig grows to about 5-8 meters (17-26 feet) and has a round crown and very deep and round roots. The trunk may grow to be more than 70 centimeters (2 feet) thick. Fig trees may grow to be several decades old, if they are well cared for. Figs are usually propagated by planting cuttings. The pollination of the flowers is an amazingly intricate process closely linked to the life cycle of a tiny wasp, and the fact that fig trees, like papayas and date palms, are male or female. (There are now some kinds of figs that produce fruit without pollination.) The fruits are about the size of a hen’s egg and can be green, yellow, purple, or brown depending on the type. They are sweet and soft and difficult to transport. For that reason most farmers dry the fruits before shipping them. The “fruit” of the fig is technically a strangely shaped flower. Noting the absence of a “real” flower, the ancient people of India called it a flowerless tree.
The common fig tree, along with the vine and the olive, is one of the three “top trees” for the Jews. The Bible refers to the fig over 270 times. The image of peace and happiness in Israel was “every man under his vine and under his fig tree” (1 Kings 4:25).
Wild figs are common throughout the tropical world; there are at least eight hundred species of Ficus, thirty-two in southern Africa alone. The banyan, peepul, and bo are all types of fig. The fruits of wild fig trees are not nearly as juicy or sweet as those of the domesticated ones. In many places people eat the fruit when they find it in the wild, but do not market it or cultivate the trees. Translators are urged to use the local word, and, if necessary, use a footnote to indicate the difference between the local one and the biblical one. Where it is not known at all, transliterations from a major language may be used in nonfigurative contexts.
Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)
In Cherokee it is translated as “apple-like” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 18).
Translation commentary on Revelation 6:13
The stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale: stars falling to earth is another of the great events marking the end (Mark 13.25). The sky is violently shaken, and the stars fall out of the sky. In some languages one must indicate where the stars fall from; for example, “the stars fell down from the sky to the earth like….” The stars fall like unripe figs fall from the tree when it is shaken by a strong wind. The figure John uses to explain this great event is that of unripe figs, which grow in the winter and usually fall off in the spring. Instead of winter fruit, “unripe figs” or “green figs” may be said (Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, Good News Translation, Translator’s New Testament, An American Translation, and others), or else, simply “figs” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), or even “fresh figs.” However, the important element in this figure is unripe fruit, not one particular kind of fruit. So in cultures where figs are unknown, one may say, for example, “green fruit” or “unripe fruit.” In other languages there is specific vocabulary for the falling of leaves off a tree. In such cases this verb can be used to describe the falling of the stars, to heighten the effect of the figurative language.
Gale: this translates the Greek “a strong wind.” In small island cultures the equivalent of a gale is “hurricane” or “typhoon.”
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• The stars fell down from the sky to the earth just like unripe figs (or, fruit) falling from the tree when a violent wind (or, typhoon) shakes it.
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 .
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