What Does Revelation 12:4 Mean in the King James?
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Greek word for “child,” τέκνον (téknon), grows from the same root as “give birth,” binding what the dragon targets to the very act it waits to consume.
THE MEANING
You see the woman poised to give birth while the dragon waits to devour her child at the first moment of life. The verse holds the imminence of birth and the violence aimed at the born child together, without softening either.
THE ROOT
τέκνον
téknon
GROWS FROM
τίκτω
To bear or bring forth.
The nearby phrase “ready to be delivered” uses τεκεῖν (tekeîn), from the same verb τίκτω (tíktō), meaning “to give birth.” The child is named as what is brought forth, so the verse’s threat falls directly on the fruit of the birth it is watching.
ALSO GROWS
tekeîn: To give birth, to bear.
τεκεῖν
This infinitive appears in the phrase about the woman being ready to give birth, directly linking the act to the child named τέκνον (téknon).
tókos: Birth, offspring.
τόκος
This noun from the same word family keeps birth and what comes from it joined under the root of bringing forth.
THE PATTERN
A force that seeks to destroy vulnerable life positions itself at the moment that life is coming into the world.
And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.THE THREAD
And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.“Brought forth” translates ἔτεκεν (éteken), from τίκτω (tíktō), the same root family as τέκνον (téknon), “child,” in this verse. The next verse shows the birth the dragon waits to devour, then carries the child beyond its reach.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us