Revelation 16:18
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18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
18 and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty.
18 And there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as had never been since men were on the earth, so great was that earthquake. (RSV)
18 Then there were flashes of lightning, roaring, and crashes of thunder, and there was a tremendous earthquake—an earthquake unequaled since humanity has been on the earth, so tremendous was that earthquake.
18 And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake.
18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.
How to read Genesis: a Lesson from the New Testament
- Notes before starting on Revelation 16:18:
- In Greek the word highlighted above is ἄνθρωπος ('ánthropos) a singular noun, meaning "man" and "humankind" — which one depends on context.
- The verb translated "were", "has been", "was" etc. is ἐγένετο (egéneto) a general word meaning "became". (For example, just in the Gospel of Matthew it is translated "it came to pass", "there arose", "became", "happened", "seemed", "came about", [darkness] "fell", "occurred", "appeared".)
- English Bible translations listed in the table below have managed to come up with twenty-two different ways of expressing these seven simple Greek words in English!
- For our purposes, we only need to work out the answer to one question: does it refer to the innumerable people of Genesis 1, or to the two people of Genesis 2?
Question:
Does Revelation 16:18 refer to the "adam" of Genesis 1:27:
. . . "Let us make man in our image, . . . and let them have dominion . . . over all the earth . . . So God created man . . . in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them
or
- to the anonymous clay "adam" that God made from the earth, and later named "Adam", at the end of this sequence? :—
- breathed life into it
- planted a garden for him
- took him into the garden
- gave him the woman in a "deep sleep"
- named the woman, and in doing so named him "Adam"
- Answer: Clearly the verse is a reference to the first creation record of Genesis 1:1 to 2:3. Consider the following table of English translations:
The variety of English translations
(As found at biblehub.com.)
| Translation | Version(s) |
|---|---|
| from the day that men were upon the earth | Haweis New Testament |
| from the time man was upon the earth | Godbey New Testament |
| in all history | Contemporary English Version |
| since humanity has been on the earth | NET Bible |
| since humans have been on earth | GOD'S WORD® Translation |
| since man came to be upon the earth | NASB 1977, NASB 1995 |
| since man has been on the earth | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| since man was on the earth | English Standard Version New Heart English Bible |
| since mankind came to be upon the earth | New American Standard Bible |
| since mankind has been on earth | New International Version |
| since mankind originated on the earth | Amplified Bible |
| since men came on the earth | Literal Standard Version Young's Literal Translation |
| since men were on the earth | American King James Version New King James Version A Faithful Version Anderson New Testament |
| since men were upon the earth | King James Bible Berean Study Bible King James 2000 Bible Darby Bible Translation Webster's Bible Translation Geneva Bible of 1587 Bishops' Bible of 1568 Coverdale Bible of 1535 Tyndale Bible of 1526 Berean Literal Bible Literal Emphasis Translation Douay-Rheims Bible Mace New Testament |
| since people have been on the earth | Christian Standard Bible International Standard Version |
| since people have been upon The Earth | Aramaic Bible in Plain English |
| since people were placed on the earth | New Living Translation |
| since the creation of human beings | Good News Translation |
| since the time men were upon earth | Smith's Literal Translation |
| since there was a man upon the earth | Weymouth New Testament |
| since there were men on the earth | World English Bible Worrell New Testament |
| since there were men upon the earth | American Standard Version Revised Version |
