complete verse (Revelation 6:17)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 6:17:

  • Uma: “Because the terrifying day has arrived, the time when God and the Lamb show their anger, no-one can endure to stand in front of them.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Because the day has come when the wrath of God and the Sheep is caused to come to mankind. And nobody can endure this wrath, whoever he be.’ (lit. even who)” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because the time has come for them to punish us humans and no one will be able to resist them.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because the important (lit. valuable) day on which they will punish us (excl.) has arrived and we (excl.) absolutely cannot endure/bear it!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because we (excl.) have comprehended that the far-from-ordinary day has been reached when they will cause their anger to surface. Well, who could endure that?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “It is plain now that there has arrived the day for punishment. No one get out of it,’ they said.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 6:17

The great day of their wrath: here great has the negative sense of “terrible.” This is the Day of Judgment, the final punishment. God and the Lamb act together to punish all the people on earth. Translators in some languages will need to retain a word like for in order to show the logical relationship between this verse and the former one. But in others the cry of despair may be prefaced by an expression similar to “Oh no! The terrible day…” or “Indeed, the terrible day….”

Who can stand before it?: that is, no one can survive the wrath that is coming (see Nahum 1.6).

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Indeed the Day when God and the Lamb will punish everyone has come, and no one will be able to survive this punishment.”

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 6:17

6:17a

For: This conjunction introduces the reason for what they said in 6:16b–c. For example:

because (God’s Word)

the great day of Their wrath has come: The phrase has come indicates that the day on which the people spoke these words was the great day of Their wrath.

In some languages it is necessary or more natural to translate has come in a different way. For example:

the great day of their wrath is today
-or-
It has become the great day of their wrath

the great day: Here the word great indicates that the day is important or extraordinary. This day is a special day when God and Jesus will punish the unbelievers on the earth. To those people, this day will be extremely terrifying. So you should not use a word that implies they are happy about this day. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

the terrible day (Good News Translation)
-or-
the extraordinary day
-or-
the unique day

day of Their wrath: This phrase refers to the day when God and the Lamb will be very angry. They will express their anger by punishing people. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

day when God and the Lamb show their anger
-or-
day when God and the Lamb are angry and punishing us(excl.)

6:17b

who is able to withstand it?: This is a rhetorical question. It emphasizes the fact that no one can stand. Some ways to translate this are:

• Use a rhetorical question. For example:

who can stand against it? (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
who is able to survive? (New Living Translation (2004))

• Use a statement. For example:

No one can stand against it!
-or-
Indeed, no one will survive!

withstand: Here this word refers to enduring or surviving. See the above examples.

General Comment on 6:16–17

The people spoke to the mountains and rocks. In some languages a literal translation is not natural. If that is true in your language, you may need to translate 6:16 as a wish or desire. For example:

16a They wanted the mountains and rocks 16b to fall on them and hide them from the face of him who sits on the throne 16c and from the wrath of the Lamb. 17a They shouted, “The great day of their wrath has come, 17b and who can stand?”
-or-

16a They wished/desired that the mountains and rocks 16b would fall on them. They wished/desired the mountains and rocks to hide them so that God on the throne could not see them 16c and the Lamb would not punish them in his anger. 17a They exclaimed, “The great day of their wrath has come. 17b Nobody will be able to endure it!”

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