complete verse (Revelation 9:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 9:12:

  • Uma: “The first plague/tormenting is past. There are still two kinds of plagues/tormentings following.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Na, that is the first of the most frightening disasters that come to the people in the world. After that there are still two frightening disasters that will soon come.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The first fearful happening is finished. There are still two which have not yet taken place.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “This was the ending of the first fearful hardship. There are still two that are to arrive.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “The first of those far-from-ordinary hardships had now passed. But there were two more to follow.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Now the first disaster is done. But there still are two to come.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 9:12

With this verse John separates the fifth trumpet blast from the two more still to come. For woe see 8.13; for behold see 1.7.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• The first terrible (or, horrible) punishment is over. After this there are still two more terrible punishments coming.

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 9:12

Paragraph 9:12

9:12a

The first woe has passed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as woe here means “trouble” or “distress.” This clause refers to the distress caused by the locusts (9:3–11). Other ways to translate this clause are:

That was the first of the disasters (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
The first trouble is past (New Century Version)

See how you translated the word woe in 8:13.

9:12b

Behold: In Greek the word which the Berean Standard Bible translates as Behold is more literally “look.” The word emphasizes or calls attention to the words that follow. The word is not a command to look at something. Other ways to translate this word are:

listen,
-or-
indeed/hey,

two woes are still to follow: The Greek clause is literally “two woes come yet after these things.” The phrase “these things” refers to the events in 9:1–11. Other ways to translate this clause are:

two woes are still coming after these things (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
there are still two other troubles that will come (New Century Version)
-or-
Two more horrible things will happen soon. (Contemporary English Version)

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.