complete verse (Revelation 8:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 8:8:

  • Uma: “The second angel blew his trumpet, there was something like a big mountain, flaming with fire. That mountain was thrown into the sea. One third of the water of the sea changed turning to blood.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then the next angel blew (the thing) like a tabuli’ that had been given to him. When he blew it, immediately there was something big like a mountain that was burning thrown into the sea. Then one part of the sea turned into blood. Two parts did not.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and there fell into the sea what seemed like a great blazing mountain.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “After-that the second angel also blew-his-horn, and there was like a large flaming mountain which was thrown into the ocean. A third of the ocean, it became blood,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When the second angel blew his horn, something was thrown down into the ocean which one could say was a big mountain including flames of fire. The third part of the ocean became blood.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The second angel blew the trumpet. What I saw thrown into the sea then, was like a big mountain when it is burning. There in the sea where it landed the water became blood. But it didn’t come to half that became blood.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

trumpet

The musical instrument that is most often translated as “trumpet” in English is translated in the following ways:

In the UBS Helps for Translators‘ Human-made Things in the Bible (original title: The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible) it says the following:

Description: The trumpet was a wind instrument, frequently used in signaling, especially in connection with war. It was made of metal (the trumpets mentioned in Numbers 10:2 et al. were made of silver). It was a straight, narrow tube, about 40-45 centimeters (16-18 inches) in length. One end had a mouthpiece, while the other end was widened into a bell shape.

Usage: The sound on the trumpet was made by blowing into the mouthpiece in such a way as to vibrate the lips. The vibrations were magnified as they passed along the widening body of the tube.

The purpose of the trumpet in Israel was primarily to signal. Numbers 10 lists a variety of occasions in which the trumpets were to be used, including signaling the people to break camp, calling all of the people together for a meeting, calling only the leaders together, sounding an alarm at the beginning of a battle, and blowing them for liturgical purposes during certain festivals. It is significant that it was the task of the priests to sound the trumpets.

Translation: Generally speaking, translators may distinguish between the Hebrew words chatsotsrah and shofar by rendering chatsotsrah as “trumpet” or “bugle” and shofar with a more generic word for “horn” or with “ram’s horn.” Note the following comment in Translation commentary on Psalm 98:4 – 98:6: “In some languages it will not be possible to make a distinction between the two Hebrew terms translated trumpets and horn. In such cases the local term for a horn will be used. The Greek Old Testament used only one term.”

The exact meaning of the Aramaic word qeren in Daniel 3:5 and following is debated. It probably refers to a brass wind instrument and is best rendered “horn.”

The present-day equivalent for the Greek word salpigx is “bugle.” A bugle is generally smaller than a trumpet and is often associated with the sounding of military signals.

Man blowing a trumpet (source: Horace Knowles (c) British and Foreign Bible Society 1954, 1967, 1972)

Quoted with permission.

See also trumpet / bugle.

angel

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The Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Aramaic that is translated as “angel” in English versions is translated in many ways:

  • Pintupi-Luritja: ngaṉka ngurrara: “one who belongs in the sky” (source: Ken Hansen quoted in Steven 1984a, p. 116.)
  • Tetela, Kpelle, Balinese, and Mandarin Chinese: “heavenly messenger”
  • Shilluk / Igede: “spirit messenger”
  • Mashco Piro: “messenger of God”
  • Batak Toba: “envoy, messenger”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “holy servant” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida 1961; Igede: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Central Mazahua: “God’s worker” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
  • Saramaccan: basia u Masa Gaangadu köndë or “messenger from God’s country” (source: Jabini 2015, p. 86)
  • Mairasi: atatnyev nyaa or “sent-one” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “word bringer” (source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
  • Apali: “God’s one with talk from the head” (“basically God’s messenger since head refers to any leader’s talk”) (source: Martha Wade)
  • Michoacán Nahuatl: “clean helper of God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Noongar: Hdjin-djin-kwabba or “spirit good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Wè Northern (Wɛɛ): Kea ‘a “sooa or “the Lord’s soldier” (also: “God’s soldier” or “his soldier”) (source: Drew Maust)
  • Iwaidja: “a man sent with a message” (Sam Freney explains the genesis of this term [in this article ): “For example, in Darwin last year, as we were working on a new translation of Luke 2:6–12 in Iwaidja, a Northern Territory language, the translators had written ‘angel’ as ‘a man with eagle wings’. Even before getting to the question of whether this was an accurate term (or one that imported some other information in), the word for ‘eagle’ started getting discussed. One of the translators had her teenage granddaughter with her, and this word didn’t mean anything to her at all. She’d never heard of it, as it was an archaic term that younger people didn’t use anymore. They ended up changing the translation of ‘angel’ to something like ‘a man sent with a message’, which is both more accurate and clear.”)

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) is used as in mi-tsukai (御使い) or “messenger (of God).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also angel (Acts 12:15) and this devotion on YouVersion .

sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 8:8 – 8:9

The destruction that follows the second trumpet blast affects one third of the earth’s water mass.

Something like a great mountain: this describes a huge solid object, the size and shape of a mountain. John cannot identify with precision this huge burning mass. The verb was thrown may be used in the general sense of “fell”; but it may be that the passive is used as a way of indicating that God or an angel hurled this burning mass into the sea. Another way of rendering this clause in languages that do not use the passive is “Then they (or, someone) threw something that looked like a huge burning mountain into the sea (or, oceans).”

If it is asked which sea the text is talking about, the obvious answer is the Mediterranean Sea. In this context, however, the word stands for all bodies of salt water on earth—inasmuch as one third of all fish in the seas died, and one third of the ships were destroyed (see “the sea” in 5.13).

A third of the sea: this means that one third of the water of the oceans was changed into blood; the other two thirds were not affected.

Became blood: the Greek text says the sea water turned into blood. Some believe the meaning is that the color of the water became red, like blood (as in the case of the moon, in 6.12); but it is better to translate quite literally. This disaster is reminiscent of the plague described in Exo 7.17-19. Translators in languages that do not use the passive may imitate Revised Standard Version and say “became blood.”

Revised Standard Version (and New Revised Standard Version) and Good News Translation differ as to where verse 9 begins. Good News Bible follows the numbering of the Greek text, as do all other translations. Revised Standard Version seems to be a mistake, as both King James Version and American Standard Version begin verse 9 where Good News Bible begins it.

Living creatures in the sea: the biblical classification of marine animals sometimes distinguished between fishes and the huge sea monsters. Here all marine life is meant. Another way of rendering this is “the things that have life in the sea” or “the things living in the sea.”

A third of the ships were destroyed: these ships were on the one third of the ocean that was turned into blood. Care must be taken that the word used for ships does not mean modern steamships but sailing vessels. In land-bound cultures where only small boats are known, one may say, for example, “boats of all sizes” or “all kinds of boats.”

An alternative rendering for verses 8b-9 is the following:

• The water in one-third of the seas was turned into blood, and all the living creatures and ships (or, vessels) found in that part were destroyed.

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 8:8

Paragraph 8:8–9

8:8a

second: The word second refers to the next item after the first one. If counted, this item would be counted as number two. See how you translated this word in 4:7 or 6:3.

8:8b

something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. God ordered someone to do this. For example:

⌊someone⌋ threw something like a great mountain, all ablaze
-or-

⌊God had someone⌋ throw something like a great mountain, all on fire

something like a great mountain burning with fire: This phrase indicates that the object looked like a mountain and that it was on fire. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

something that looked like a big mountain, burning with fire (New Century Version)
-or-
Something that looked like a huge mountain on fire (Good News Translation)
-or-
something like a great fiery mountain (Contemporary English Version)

sea: The word sea refers to a large body of water. A sea is often so large that someone standing on one side cannot see the other side. Here it probably refers to oceans in general. The sea is symbolic, so you should not name a particular sea. See how you translated this word in 5:13 or 7:1.

8:8c–9b

All three events in 8:8c–9b were caused by the thing like a big, fiery mountain. The second event (8:9a) does not have an “and” before it. This is good English style, but your language style will likely be different. List these three events naturally in your language.

8:8c

A third of the sea turned to blood: Here the word third means “one part out of three parts.” Other ways to translate this clause are:

One ⌊part⌋ in three ⌊parts⌋ of the oceans turned into blood
-or-
One-third of the water in the sea became blood (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
One part ⌊of every three parts⌋ of the oceans turned into blood and ⌊the other⌋ two parts did not

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