Wahyu 12:7-12

War in Heaven

12:7 Then ¹  war broke out in heaven: Michael ²  and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 12:8 But ³  the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, ⁴  so there was no longer any place left ⁵  in heaven for him and his angels. ⁶  12:9 So ⁷  that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. 12:10 Then ⁸  I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,

“The salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God,

and the ruling authority ⁹  of his Christ, ¹⁰  have now come,

because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, ¹¹ 

the one who accuses them day and night ¹²  before our God,

has been thrown down.

12:11 But ¹³  they overcame him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

and they did not love their lives ¹⁴  so much that they were afraid to die.

12:12 Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them!

But ¹⁵  woe to the earth and the sea

because the devil has come down to you!

He ¹⁶  is filled with terrible anger,

for he knows that he only has a little time!”

[12:7]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[12:7]  ² sn The archangel Michael had a special role in protecting the nation of Israel in the OT (Dan 10:13, 21; 12:1; see also Jude 9).

[12:8]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the implied contrast.

[12:8]  ⁴ tn The words “to prevail” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:8]  ⁵ tn Grk “found.”

[12:8]  ⁶ tn Grk “for them”; the referent (the dragon and his angels, v. 7) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:9]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.

[12:10]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:10]  ⁹ tn Or “the right of his Messiah to rule.” See L&N 37.35.

[12:10]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[12:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). The translation “fellow believer” would normally apply (L&N 11.23), but since the speaker(s) are not specified in this context, it is not clear if such a translation would be appropriate here. The more generic “brothers and sisters” was chosen to emphasize the fact of a relationship without specifying its type.

[12:10]  ¹² tn Or “who accuses them continually.”

[12:11]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.

[12:11]  ¹⁴ sn They did not love their lives. See Matt 16:25; Luke 17:33; John 12:25.

[12:12]  ¹⁵ tn The word “But” is not in the Greek text, but the contrast is clearly implied. This is a case of asyndeton (lack of a connective).

[12:12]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and is filled,” a continuation of the previous sentence. Because English tends to use shorter sentences (especially when exclamations are involved), a new sentence was started here in the translation.