complete verse (Revelation 17:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 17:16:

  • Uma: “The time will come when the animal with the ten kings that are with him will hate the sexually loose woman who is sitting on him. They will attack her, make her naked, they will eat part of her flesh, and the rest they will burn.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And the ten horns that you saw, the meaning is the ten kings; they and the creature hate that bad woman. They will get/take all her wealth and strip her. They will eat including her flesh and burn her.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And those ten horns which you saw, which is to say, ten kings, and that beast, they will turn against the prostitute. They will seize her possessions and strip her naked and eat her flesh and burn her up.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “There is a day that will arrive when the fearsome animal and the ten horns will hate that-aforementioned woman. They will take all her possessions and strip-her -naked. They will also eat her flesh/muscle, and afterwards they will burn what remains.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Those ten horns which you also saw and that monster, they will hate that woman who uses her body to make money. They will snatch-for-themselves all her possessions. They will leave her naked. And then they will devour her, and what is left they will burn.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Those ten horns you saw on the terrible animal, they will hate the woman, the prostitute. They will make her suffer leaving her naked. They will eat her flesh. What is left from that they will burn.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 17:16

The ten horns … and the beast will hate: for some reason the beast and the ten kings who are his allies (verse 13) will turn against the infamous prostitute and attack her. For hate see 2.6.

They will make her desolate and naked: this is better translated “they will take away all her belongings, and will strip her naked” or “They will take … and take off all her clothes so that she is naked.” If the language level allows it, the appropriate verb for make … desolate is “to despoil,” “to plunder.”

Devour her flesh and burn her up with fire: it must be noted that the first and the last of the four actions (make … desolate and burn) apply more naturally to the city (Babylon); the other two actions (make her … naked, and devour her flesh) apply to the prostitute herself. In the translation the plain meaning of all four actions should be clearly represented. For devour her flesh the translation can say “will devour her” (see the figure in Psa 27.2, RSV footnote; Jer 10.25; Micah 3.3). The figure is that of a wild animal that eats its victim as soon as it kills it. The statement will … burn her up with fire means to consume her body with fire. The same verb “to burn up” appears also in 18.8. This phrase may also be expressed as “they will take fire and burn her up (or, destroy her)” or “they will set her on fire….”

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 .