complete verse (Revelation 13:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 13:16:

  • Uma: “And he ordered that all people must receive the sign of the first animal. That sign must be put on their right hand or their forehead. So, all people–the important or the unimportant, the rich or the poor, who live as slaves or those who live as nobles–he forced them all to receive the sign of that animal.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “He forced all people, whether their status was high or low, rich or poor, slaves or not. They all were forced to be marked on their right hand or on their foreheads.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And all people, great or not great, rich or not rich, slave or not slave, he forced them to be marked on the right hand, and if not, then on their foreheads.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The second animal also forced all people to be marked on their right hand or their forehead. Even the high-status people and the low, the rich and the poor, the slaves and not slaves, he forced them to be marked.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And then that monster forced all the people, high and low-class, rich and beggars, slaves and not. They were forced to have themselves marked on their right hand/arm or forehead.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The terrible animal forced all the people to be marked on their right hands or on their foreheads. All were marked, little and big, rich and poor, those who had bosses and those who do not have bosses, all were marked.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 13:16

It causes all: conceivably the subject could be the living statue; but it is certain that the subject is, as Good News Translation specifically states, the second beast (also Bible en français courant, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). So some translators will wish to say “The second beast causes….”

Both small and great: see 11.18. Here two further classifications are added in order to include all the people of the world: rich and poor, both free and slave. For rich and poor see 3.17. For free and slave see 6.15.

It causes all … to be marked: this causative expression may be translated “it required everyone … to be marked” or “it gave an order for everyone … to be marked.” Conceivably this could mean “to mark themselves.” In Greek the impersonal third person plural of the active voice is used as an impersonal passive (see similar comments in 12.6). As explained in the next verse, this mark is the beast’s name, or a numerical equivalent of its name. It would be something like a seal, or a brand, that could be stamped on a person’s hand or forehead. It is more likely, though, that the beast’s agents did the marking.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• The second beast gave an order for everyone, whether they were of high or low status, had many or few possessions, were the property of another person or were free, to receive a mark on their hands or their foreheads.

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 .