complete verse (Revelation 8:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 8:7:

  • Uma: “The first angel blew his trumpet, suddenly there fell from the sky to the earth hail [lit., fruit rain] and fire mixed with blood. One third of the world burned up, even including [lit., until arriving at] one third of the forest and all the green grass.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then one angel blew (the thing) like a tabuli’ that had been given to him. When he blew it, immediately lots of ice and fire mixed with blood fell on the earth. One part of the earth was burnt by that fire including one part of the trees and the weeds were burnt. Two parts were not burnt.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The first of the angels blew his trumpet. Then hail and fire mixed with blood fell on the earth. One third of the earth was burned, and because of this one third of all the trees and all of the grass there were burned up.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The first angel blew-his-horn, and after-that it rained hail and fire that was mixed with blood. And a third of the earth was burned-up, along-with a third of the trees and all the grass/weeds.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When the first angel blew his horn, it rained, but what fell was ice which was hard like rock and fire which included blood. The third part of the world was burned up, and the third part of the forest and all the grass/weeds.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The first angel blew the trumpet. There was hail. There was fire mixed with blood. All came down on the earth. One part of the land burned, but it didn’t come to half that burned. There on the land that burned, the trees burned, the green grass burned.” (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.

Translation commentary on Revelation 8:6 – 8:7

The angels take some action—perhaps bringing the trumpets to their lips—that signals to John that they are getting ready to blow their trumpets (verse 6). Who had the seven trumpets: in some languages it will be more natural to say “holding the seven trumpets.”

And there followed: after the trumpet blast the following things happened. Revised Standard Version is a bit awkward (and there followed); it is better to imitate Good News Translation, with a full stop and a new sentence, or to translate “and the following things happened at once.”

Hail and fire, mixed with blood: for hail and fire see the plague described in Exo 9.23-25 (see also Psa 18.12). Hail is frozen rain drops; in some languages a hailstorm is called a rain of rocks or stones. The fire may represent lightning (as lightning was part of the plague). The blood may be an allusion to the first plague (Exo 7.20). Ezek 38.22 speaks of hail, fire, and bloodshed.

Fell on the earth: in Greek the text says “was thrown (or, hurled) to the earth” (so New Revised Standard Version “and they were hurled to the earth”). The same verb occurs in verse 8. This seems to imply that God or an angel threw them down on the earth. In such a case a translator may render this whole clause as “And the angels hurled frozen rocks (or, hail) and fire mixed with blood down upon the earth.” This may be a vivid way of saying “fell suddenly” (also in verse 8).

The destruction caused by this disaster affected one third of the earth’s surface: one third of the trees was destroyed by fire, that is, the trees that grew in that one third part of the earth’s surface. All green grass is probably a way of saying “all plants,” “all vegetation” (since it would be hard to envision only the grass as such being destroyed, but not the smaller plants and shrubs). The text seems to say all the vegetation on earth was burned up, but it is quite certain that in this context the meaning is all the vegetation that grew on that same one third section of the earth’s surface was destroyed. In certain languages the passive expression was burnt up may be avoided by saying something like “suffer burn completely.”

An alternative translation model for the latter part of this verse is:

• The fire burned up a third part of the earth, destroying all the trees and vegetation on that part.

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 8:7

Paragraph 8:7

8:7a

Then the first angel sounded his trumpet: The Greek clause is literally “The first trumpeted.” It indicates that the first of the seven angels blew his trumpet. For example:

The first blew his trumpet (New Jerusalem Bible)

8:7b

and hail and fire mixed with blood: The Greek clause is literally “hail and fire mixed with blood occurred/happened.” It refers to the hail, fire, and blood appearing. For example:

Hail and fire mingled with blood appeared (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

hail and fire mixed with blood: The Greek phrase indicates that both the hail and the fire were mixed with the blood. For example:

hail and fire both mixed with blood

hail: The word hail refers to frozen rain. A piece of hail can be as small as a raindrop or bigger than a fist. Some languages do not have a word for hail. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:

frozen rain
-or-
rain turned to ice
-or-
balls of ice
-or-
cold, hard rain

• Use the major language word. If people are not familiar with this word, explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:

The word “hail” refers to frozen rain. A piece of hail can be as small as a raindrop or bigger than a fist.

8:7c

were hurled down: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. God probably ordered someone to hurl the hail and fire. For example:

⌊someone⌋ threw it

General Comment on 8:7b–c

Two verbs affect the hail and fire. First John sees them (the hail and fire “appeared”), then he saw them thrown to the earth. The second verb emphasizes the fact that God caused this disaster of hail and fire. In some languages the first verb may not be needed for the correct meaning. For example:

hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth (New Living Translation (2004))

8:7d–f

A third of the earth was burned up, along with a third of the trees and all the green grass: These three clauses are passive. Some languages must use other kinds of clauses. For example:

⌊The fire⌋ burned a third of the earth, ⌊it⌋ burned a third of the trees, and ⌊it⌋ burned all the green grass.
-or-

⌊The fire⌋ burned a third of the earth, a third of the trees, and all the green grass.
-or-
A third of the land burned, a third of the trees burned, and all the green grass burned.

A third of the earth…along with a third of the trees: Here the word third means “one part out of three parts.” For example, in a group of three hundred areas of land, one hundred of them burned. Other ways to translate these clauses are:

one ⌊plot⌋ in three ⌊plots⌋ of land…one tree in three
-or-
one of every three lands/areas of all the earth…one of every three trees
-or-
of all the parcels of land on the earth one parcel burned and two parcels did not burn…of all the trees one burned and two did not burn

the earth: Here the phrase the earth refers to the land.

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