6:12 Then 1 I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge 2 earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, 3 and the full moon became blood red; 4 6:13 and the stars in the sky 5 fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping 6 its unripe figs 7 when shaken by a fierce 8 wind. 6:14 The sky 9 was split apart 10 like a scroll being rolled up, 11 and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
2 tn Or “powerful”; Grk “a great.”
3 tn Or “like hairy sackcloth” (L&N 8.13).
4 tn Grk “like blood,” understanding αἷμα (aima) as a blood-red color rather than actual blood (L&N 8.64).
5 tn Or “in heaven” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”). The genitive τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (tou ouranou) is taken as a genitive of place.
6 tn Grk “throws [off]”; the indicative verb has been translated as a participle due to English style.
7 tn L&N 3.37 states, “a fig produced late in the summer season (and often falling off before it ripens) – ‘late fig.’ ὡς συκὴ βάλλει τοὺς ὀλύνθους αὐτῆς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου μεγάλου σειομένη ‘as the fig tree sheds its late figs when shaken by a great wind’ Re 6:13. In the only context in which ὄλυνθος occurs in the NT (Re 6:13), one may employ an expression such as ‘unripe fig’ or ‘fig which ripens late.’”
8 tn Grk “great wind.”
9 tn Or “The heavens were.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) can mean either “heaven” or “sky.”
10 tn BDAG 125 s.v. ἀποχωρίζω states, “ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀπεχωρίσθη the sky was split Rv 6:14.” Although L&N 79.120 gives the meaning “the sky disappeared like a rolled-up scroll” here, a scroll that is rolled up does not “disappear,” and such a translation could be difficult for modern readers to understand.
11 tn On this term BDAG 317 s.v. ἑλίσσω states, “ὡς βιβλίον ἑλισσόμενον like a scroll that is rolled up…Rv 6:14.”