Revelation 12 is the twelfth chapter of the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of R ...

or the Apocalypse of John in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. The book is traditionally attributed to

John the Apostle John the Apostle ( grc, Ἰωάννης; la, Ioannes ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ;) or Saint John the Beloved was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebedee a ...

, but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate. This chapter contains the accounts about the woman, the dragon, and the child, followed by the war between Michael and the dragon, then the appearance of the monster from the sea.

William Robertson Nicoll Sir William Robertson Nicoll (10 October 18514 May 1923) was a Scottish Free Church minister, journalist, editor, and man of letters. Biography Nicoll was born in Lumsden, Aberdeenshire, the son of Rev. Harry Nicoll (1812–1891), a Free Chu ...

, a Scottish

Free Church A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions from ...

minister, suggests that in this chapter the writer has created a Christianised version of a Jewish source which "described the birth of the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

in terms borrowed from ... cosmological myths

uch as Uch ( pa, ; ur, ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf ( pa, ; ur, ; ''"Noble Uch"''), is a historic city in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Alexand ...

that of the conflict between the sun-god and the dragon of darkness and the deep".

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 17 verses. The

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

version has 18 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are among others: *

Papyrus 115 Papyrus 115 (''P. Oxy.'' 4499), designated by (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts) is a fragmented manuscript of the New Testament written in Greek on papyrus. It consists of 26 fragments of a codex containing parts of t ...

(ca. AD 275; extant verses 1-5, 8-10, 12-17) *

Papyrus 47 Papyrus 47 (''P. Chester Beatty'' III), designated by siglum (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is an early Greek New Testament manuscript written on papyrus, and is one of the manuscripts comprising the Chester Beat ...

(3rd century) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

(330-360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400-440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a ma ...

(ca. 450; complete)

Old Testament references

* Revelation 12:5:

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

New Testament references

* Revelation 12:5:

Revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

; 19:15.

VirginMaryStainedGlassStJoseph'sBasilica

The Woman, the Dragon and the Child (12:1–6)

Verse 1

:''Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.'' The

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

refers to "a great wonder" and the

Revised Standard Version The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1952 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. This translation itself is a revision of the Ameri ...

refers to "a great portent". The Greek word used is , rendered ''sign'' in many other passages in the New Testament. Barnes, Albert
Barnes' Notes
on Revelation 12, accessed 8 November 2018

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

biblical commentator

William Boyd Carpenter William Boyd Carpenter (26 March 1841, Liverpool – 26 October 1918, Westminster) was a Church of England cleric who became Bishop of Ripon and Royal Chaplain to Queen Victoria. Background William Boyd Carpenter was the second son of the Revd ...

writes that "the word ''sign'' is preferable to ''wonder'', both in this verse and in Revelation 12:3. It is the same word which is rendered ''sign'' in . It is a sign which is seen: not a mere wonder, but something which has a meaning; it is not 'a surprise ending with itself', but a signal to arrest attention, and possessing significance; there is 'an idea concealed behind it'."

Verse 3

:'' And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.'' The word rendered "dragon" - grc, δράκων, ' - occurs 9 times (and 4 more in derivative forms) in the New Testament,

only Only may refer to: Music Albums * ''Only'' (album), by Tommy Emmanuel, 2000 * ''The Only'', an EP by Dua Lipa, 2017 Songs * "Only" (Anthrax song), 1993 * "Only" (Nine Inch Nails song), 2005 * "Only" (Nicki Minaj song), 2014 * "The Only", by ...

in the

, where it is uniformly rendered as here: "dragon". The word for

diadem A diadem is a type of crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by monarchs and others as a badge of royalty. Overview The word derives from the Greek διάδημα ''diádēma'', "band" or "fillet", from διαδέω ''diadéō'', "I ...

(Greek: διάδημα) occurs only three times in the New Testament, always in the Book of Revelation.

Verse 5

:'' And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.'' *"A man child": from Greek: , '' '', literally: "a son, a male". The term "man child" in (

KJV The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

: "A man child is born") is translated from the Hebrew term: , where in the Greek it is , or simply as in the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

rendering of this passage. Bengel, Johann
''Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament''. Revelation 12.
Accessed on 24 April 2019. *"Rule" from Greek: , ', meaning "tend as a shepherd" (cf. ).Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, Andrew Robert; Brown, David. '' Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible''
"Revelation 12"
1871. It was prophesied in , that Christ should ''break'' the nations with ''a rod of iron''. Poole, Matthew, ''A Commentary on the Holy Bible''
"Revelation 12"

Michael and the Dragon (12:7–12)

Verse 7

:'' And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought.'' Michael (''Mikha'el'' in David H. Stern's

translation of the Bible The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. all of the Bible has been translated into 724 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,617 languages, and ...

into English) appears in the

Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology (a ...

as "the special patron or guardian angel of the people of Israel".

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in parts by Cambridge University Press from 1882 onwards. Anglican bishop John Perowne was the general editor. The first section published was written by theologian ...

Revelation 12
accessed 28 April 2019

Verse 9

:''And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil, and

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.'' *"Old serpent": This is the only place in canonical Scripture where without doubt it is revealed that the 'Tempter in Eden' () was 'the Devil' (cf. for a non-canonical Scripture allusion).

Verse 11

: ''And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.'' *"Overcame him by the blood of the Lamb" or "conquered him on account of the blood of the Lamb", implying that the power of the accuser or the devil was removed when 'the Lamb of God' had taken away the sin of the world (), and when the redeemed people have the boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

(). Boyd Carpenter, W.
Revelation 12
in Ellicott, C. J. (Ed.) 1905), ''Ellicott's Bible Commentary for English Readers'', London: Cassell and Company, Limited,

905-1906 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the Brahmi numerals, beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshat ...

Online version: (OCoLC) 929526708 accessed 28 April 2019

The Dragon and the Woman (12:13–17)

Verse 14

:'' And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.'' *"Two wings of a great eagle": Bauckham sees the "eagle's wings" (; ; ) and the "wilderness" in this verse as "exodus motifs".

Verse 16

:'' And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.'' KJV *"The earth opened her mouth and swallowed up": these words can be linked to the narrative of the earth opening her mouth and swallowing up

Korah Korah ( he, ''Qōraḥ''; ar, قارون ''Qārūn''), son of Izhar, is an individual who appears in the Book of Numbers of the Hebrew Bible and four different verses in the Quran, known for leading a rebellion against Moses. Some older Englis ...

Dathan Dathan ( he, דָּתָן ''Dāṯān'') was an Israelite mentioned in the Old Testament as a participant of the Exodus. He was a son of Eliab, the son of Pallu, the son of Reuben. Together with his brother Abiram, the Levite Korah and others, ...

, and

Abiram Abiram, also spelled Abiron ( he, אֲבִירָם "my father is exalted"), is the name of two people in the Old Testament. One was a member of the Tribe of Reuben, the son of Eliab, who, along with his brother Dathan, joined Korah in the conspir ...

in .

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV, etc.) {{Book of Revelation 12 Nativity of Jesus in the New Testament War in Heaven