Suggested explanations for individual words and phrases in the original Revelation
| Word or phrase | Systematical interpretation | Notes and comments |
| Accuser | Oppressor, Enemy | |
| Almighty | Heavenly God | |
| Amen | "So it is." | |
| Angel | A mysterious force or being |
John uses the word "angel" to describe all powers and beings unknown to him. It is quite clear that his angels are not winged people. |
| Ark of covenant | A method of storing or sending a contract or commandment | |
| Ascend | Rise up, take off | |
| Authority | Status, high rank | |
| Babylon | USA, Enemy of Israel or Palestina | The biggest power of John's time was Rome, which rose from Babylon. The big future power that is the enemy of Israel is seen as the extension of Babylon. |
| Bear | A powerful and rugged creature | |
| Become blood | Become lethal or filled with death | |
| Beast | Something that tries to lure or force people away from divine truth | The Beast here does not imply any satanic power, it is simply the enemy of freedom, peace and true justice. |
| Behold (Look) | "Look at what is shown to you" | This expression is often used when John is shown somehting from a display or screen. |
| Bitter | Toxic | |
| Black | Black / dark | |
| Blasphemous | Untrue, deceptive (about God or divine things) | |
| Blasphemy | Lie, deception | |
| Blood | Death (through violence) | |
| Book | Law, stored information | |
| Book of Life | Law of Karma (as applied to individuals) | |
| Bottomless pit | Airbase, aircraft
hangar Beast of the B.p. = aircraft |
|
| Bowl | Content | |
| Breastplate | Armour, casing | |
| Breath | Force of life | |
| Bright Linen | A pure aura | |
| Brimstone | Bullits or ammunition coming from a gun | |
| Calf | A creature that is a servant | |
| Cave | Undeground shelter | |
| Children of Isr. | The Jews | |
| Cloud | Smoke / mist / energy field | |
| Come and see | Look at this (that is shown to you) | |
| Court | ||
| Covenant | Contract, commandment | |
| Creature | An unidentified (mobile) machine | |
| Crown | Anything placed over or above head | |
| Crucify | Sacrify / condemn / suppress | |
| Demon | An evil (anti-divine) power or being | |
| Descend | Come down / land | |
| Devour | Destroy totally | |
| Dragon | (Mythical) reptilian force | |
| Eagle | A flying creature | |
| Earth | 1. The entire world 2. Ground / Land 3. Middle East ("on Earth") | John is confused about global distances. He has never been outside of his own territory and suddenly he is shown places around a world that is unknown to him. He sticks to use the word "Earth" to describe his own area (the Middle East); in the English translation this is apparent especially in the phrase "on the Earth" and uses other expressions for the entire planet (World, Nations etc.) |
| Earthquake | Earthquake / tremors / big explosion | |
| Elder | A wise person or being | |
| Emerald | ||
| Euphrates | Euphrates is used to point the location of Iraq and possibly Iran. | |
| Eye | A hole, dot or small light (on an object) | John has never seen small electric lights. The closest counterpart in his time would be the eyes of cat or a dog glowing in the dark. |
| Face | The front part (of the head) | |
| Fear (God) | Honor, respect | |
| Feed | Provide for needs (food etc.) | |
| Fire | Fire / Heat | |
| Firstfruit | Original follower | |
| Forehead | Sign of identity | Mark on the forehead means something that identifies a person. |
| Forever & ever | For an unimaginably long time | |
| Fornication | Deception, dishonesty, rottenness | |
| Foundation | Foundation / Origin | |
| Four | The "earthly" number, as opposed to seven (divine) | |
| Four corners | The four directions | |
| Four winds | The four wind directions | |
| Fourty-two
months (1260 days) |
Half of seven years (accurately 3,5 years, appr. 2,5 - 4,5 years) | Clearly in the old Jewish culture things were measured in fractions and multiples of 7 instead of 10, like it is today. Here 42 months is like the American phrase "18 months" which refers to one and a half years, approximately. Hence 42 months could cover a time span from 2 and a half to 4 and a half years. |
| Free | Free, independent (enterpriser) | |
| Garland | A group / array | |
| Gentile | A person of false religion / American / Capitalist | The modern Roman. |
| God,Lord | A great leader / President | God is used in several meanings.Usually it means "a leader" or "a great authority" and when it is necessary to give the impression of the One heavenly God, this is done by adding further definitions. |
| Gold | Gold / A shining material | In a couple of places gold is likenened to crystal; this refers to glass or transparent plastic (neither of which were known to John). |
| Gospel | The teaching of Jesus | |
| Great City | Capital / Government | |
| Hades | Greek God of Death | |
| Hail | Bombing, bombs | |
| Harlot | Deceiver, liar | |
| Harp | A mysterious instrument (with a sound) | |
| Harvest of earth | The spiritually mature people on Earth | |
| Head | Head / The front or top part of an object | |
| Heaven | Sky / Above ground / outside Earth / a mysterious location | Note that the word "sky" is not used. Heaven is used instead. John made a clear distinction between things on Earth (on the ground) and anywhere else (heaven). |
| Holy | Holy / Very important | |
| Horn | A protrusion / Antenna | |
| Horse | A vehicle (in war) | In John's time the only vehicles were animals and chariots pulled by animals. Horse was mainly used as a vehicle for soldiers in battles. None of the horses mentioned in this text are animals, but vehicles. |
| Horseman | Driver or rider of a vehicle | |
| Hour | A short moment | |
| I looked | I looked at the display (or vision) | |
| Idol | An object of worship | |
| Image | A picture (copy) that represents something real | |
| In presence | Under somebody's control or commandment | |
| In the Spirit | In an altered state (astral) | It is clear that John is "taken" away from his normal state of being. This kind of thing is often happening to people today as well, though many dismiss these experiences as dreams. |
| Incense | A mysterious energy or radiation | John tries to explain the meaning of radio waves that are the "prayers of the saints" (see "prayer") - incense is his closest word to describe an invisible radiation. At least in 18:13 the word is used in its conventional meaning, though. |
| Judge | Evaluate, determine | A fatal misinterpretation in Christianity, that has been used to bring fear to people; the image of an angry God that judges people. Remember, however, that the role of a judge is not to punish but to determine a due sentence; guilty OR not guilty. |
| Key | Means of openint or activating something | |
| King | Leader of a nation | Lesser authority than that of a God. |
| Lamb | A pure being / a sacrifice | Here this word apparently refers to Jesus, as in the "orthodox" interpretation. |
| Lampstand | A tower / high object with lights on it | |
| Left | Left / secondary | |
| Leopard | A powerful creature with speckles | |
| Lightning | A flash or beam of light | Also applies to actual natural lightning. |
| Lion | A powerful creature or machine | |
| Living creature | An unknown (mobile) object | |
| Locust | A flying machine / aircraft (one in a squadron) | |
| Loud voice | A voice that is amplified or processed | |
| Mark of the beast | An emblem or sign of the beast | |
| Michael | The (heavenly) solder/Angel representing Christ | |
| Mighty man | A (rich) person with power | |
| Moun Zion | A great mountain of spiritual importance | |
| Mountain | Mountain / continent / large mass | |
| Mouth | Mouth / opening / hole | |
| Mystery | A secret / riddle | |
| Naked | Transparent (figurative) | |
| Nation | A country | |
| Nations | The States | Why does John describe international countries with so many words: nations, tongues, tribes, peoples? In 11:18 it becomes plausable that "nations" refers to the United states (probably no word for a "state" in John's vocabulary) |
| Oil | Fossil oil | |
| Olive tree | "A building of oil" | If "tree" refers to a (high) building and olive oil is John's reference for fossil oil, then this is his way to describe a high building that has a lot to do with oil - like the WTC buildings. |
| Outer garments | ||
| Patience | Wisdom / understanding | |
| Prayer | Means of keeping in contact (with a higher being) | Indeed, here prayer means communication through technological devices (at least in the first chapters). |
| Plague | An event or period of suffering and destruction | This can mean an event of war or a natural disaster. |
| Prophecy | A statement or talk of a person with authority / The reign of a (political) leader | |
| Prophesy | Make statements or predictions with authority | |
| Prophet | A (political) person whose words have authority | |
| Rainbow | A large arc or dome | |
| Reap | Collect the "chosen" people | |
| Red (Fiery) | ||
| Reed | A device for measuring | |
| Remn. of seed | ||
| Revelation |
A vision received in a mysterious
way
|
|
| Right | Right / Primary | |
| Right hand | Occupation / enterprise | |
| Robe | Aura / Etherical body | |
| Rod of iron | A firm hold of power | |
| Sackcloth | 1. A misleading
cover (-up) 2. A shade that fades light |
It seems that in 11:3 sackcloth means the "suit" of a politician; perhaps because the content of the suit is "cheap" or faulty. Perhaps in John's time stuff packed in sackcloth was considered rotten. In Finnish there is a saying: "Don't buy a pig in a sack" meaning "Don't buy a sack without checking out its contents!" |
| Scale | ? | |
| Scroll | Possibly a disk | |
| Sea of glass | A smooth shiny surface | |
| Seal |
1. Encryption / protection |
|
| Serpent | 1. A snake 2. A tube-like object | |
| Servant | Follower | |
| Serve | To follow or obey someone | |
| Seven |
1. A holy number (number of God)
2. An approximation; "about seven" (5 - 9) |
|
| Seven spirits | ||
| Seven thousand | About 7000 (5000 - 9000) | See "fourty-two months" for a more detailed description of the Jewish way of measuring. |
| Sign | A phenomenon or mysterious event | A sign is seen as a harbringer of a change or an important event. |
| Sin | An act of ignorance or immorality | |
| Six-six-six | www | Nothing mysterious here: the mark "w" is 6 in Hebrew, where no separate marks for numbers exist. |
| Sky | A large wave? | This word is used only ONCE (6:14), instead of heaven which otherwise stands for sky. From the connection it can be figured that it refers to a large wave (perhaps covering the sky). |
| Slain | Killed / sacrified | |
| Slave | An employee of someone else | In John's time the division of free enterprisers and people working for others was not quite the same as it is today. |
| Smoke | Smoke / effect or indicator of something | |
| Sodom | A land / city of war or destruction | |
| Son of Man | Christ as a man | |
| Song | Spoken words of important content (expressing the teachings of someone important) | |
| Sorcery | Acts of unknown technology | |
| Sound of harp | A voice coming through a technical instrument | |
| Star | Any object on the sky or originating outside of Earth | |
| Stay awake | Stay aware | |
| Sword | A weapon of war | |
| Tail | Tail / the rear part | |
| Teeth | Bullits / ammunition | There were no fire arms in John's time. He has to find a word to describe bullits; pretty imaginative! |
| Temple | An important building / headquarters | |
| Temple in Heaven | A large aircraft | |
| Testimony | A statement / a (political) stand or message | |
| Throne | A position of power / A place of reign | |
| Thunder | An electric noise | One would guess this refers to a very loud noise, but it's not necessarily so. John uses this to discribe voices coming from machines and microphones; he has other words for portraying loud noises. |
| Time | A period of time (possibly seven years) | "Time and times and half a time" in 12:14 could mean 7+(2x7)+3,5 years = appr. 25 years. |
| Tongue | A cultural group | |
| Torment | Cause pain or suffering to someone | |
| Tree | Tree / house (a high building) | It seems this word is used for a building: plants are desribed as "green things" and grass. Houses and buildings are never mentioned. This must be a systematic interpretation error - why would houses never be mentioned? A possible explanation might be that modern architecture might remind John of scaffolding, which in his time was always built from wood (which is tree, in effect). |
| Tribe | An altenative word for nation | |
| Trumpet | An instrument that makes sound / Microphone | Well, how would you imagine a person from a non-technical era would describe a microphone? |
| Waters | The seas | |
| White | White / pure / bright | |
| Wilderness | Countryside, far off place | |
| Wine | Possibly fuel | |
| Vine of earth | ||
| Wing | A means of flying / a (flat) protrusion | |
| Virgin | Pure / a person of high sexual moral | |
| Witness | A person who speaks the message of a certain leader (God) | "My witness" refers to a person who speaks out "my" message. |
| Woe | Any kind of bad hardship over a large group of people | |
| Woman (the) | ||
| Women | In 14:4 "defiled with women" refers to men who are controlled by their sexual desires (in women this kind of behaviour is not so common). | |
| World | The entire world / Earth | |
| Word of God | The teachings of Jesus / Jesus as the speaker of divine truth | |
| Wormwood | Radioactive pollution | A concept totally unimaginable to John. He compares it to the effects of a poisonous plant. |
| Worship | 1. Follow / believe 2. Communicate (in mysterious ways) | |
| Worthy | A person of divine "integrity" and honesty | |
| Wrath | The divine plan (or its execution) | Probably a misinterpretation from Greek. The true meaning becomes clear in the context of the entire book. |