complete verse (Revelation 9:19)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 9:19:

  • Uma: “On the tails of those horses, there were [things] like the heads of biting snakes. With their tails, they tortured mankind. So, those horses tortured and killed mankind with their mouths and with their tails.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But those horses had two different things for killing the people, firstly what came out of their mouths, secondly that at their tails. Because their tails were like snakes, they had heads for biting the people.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For it is in the mouths of the horses that they have power to kill and also in their tails because their tails are like snakes because they have heads on them and those tails can harm people.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because the power of those-aforementioned horses to kill, it was in their mouths. They also used their tails to injure people, because their tails had heads (lit. were-headed) like the head of a snake.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “The ability of those horses really was in their mouths, and in their tails which were like snakes having heads which they used to strike with causing suffering.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The horses had death in their mouths, they had death in their tails. For the tails of the horses bit like snakes bit people.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 9:19

The horses kill, not only with what pours out of their mouths, but also with their tails, which are like snakes with heads. The picture is of a snake connected by its tail to the horse’s rear, the snake’s head being the other end of the horse’s tail. It is the head that strikes at people and wounds them (the same verb is used in verse 10; see 2.11).

In English the use of the word serpents (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Translator’s New Testament, Phillips, Moffatt, New American Bible, Revised) evokes images of dragons rather than of snakes. (The American Heritage Dictionary does not list “snake” as one of the meanings of “serpent.”) It appears that a contemporary translation should use the word “snake”; but this is of no great importance.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• For it is the mouths and tails of the horses that have the power (or, ability) to hurt people. Their tails are like snakes with heads. They use these to hurt people.

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 9:19

9:19a

For: Here the Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces an explanation for the plagues. Some English versions omit the conjunction. Connect 9:19a to 9:18 in a way that is natural in your language.

the power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails: The horses killed people with the plagues from their mouths. They also hurt people with bites of their snake-like tails.

the power of the horses: Here the word power refers to the ability to hurt people. The word does not refer to physical strength here. In some languages including this implied information in your translation will make the meaning clearer. For example:

The power of the horses ⌊to hurt people⌋
-or-
The horses’ ability ⌊to kill people⌋

9:19b

indeed: This conjunction introduces an explanation of 9:19a. For example:

because (NET Bible)

Some English versions only use a semi-colon or leave the connection implied.

having heads with which to inflict harm: This clause explains how the tails of the horses were like snakes. Their tails had something that looked like the heads of poisonous snakes. Other ways to translate this clause are:

and had heads which inflicted wounds (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
with heads, and they use them to hurt people (Good News Translation)
-or-
having heads that were able to hurt/wound people

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