What Does Revelation 8:13 Mean in the King James?

And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Revelation 8:13 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The same Greek word makes the messenger’s proclamation and the trumpet blasts two voices in one warning.

THE MEANING

A messenger moves across heaven and makes the coming distress audible before the remaining trumpets sound. The threefold “Woe” names what is ahead as calamity for those dwelling on earth.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that the coming calamity is still hidden: the warning is already voiced before those trumpets sound.

THE ROOT

φωνῇ

phōnē

GROWS FROM

φων-

phōn-

Sound or voice; the sound of calling aloud.

“voice / voices” in this verse is phōnē. One Greek word appears first for the messenger’s loud voice and again for the trumpet’s sounds. The trumpet is not background noise: its sound is also a voice announcing what is about to break over the earth.

ALSO GROWS

phōnéō: To call aloud or summon.

φωνέω

This branch shows voice as an act that calls attention, matching the warning that summons the earth’s inhabitants to hear what is coming.

áphōnos: Voiceless or speechless.

ἄφωνος

Built from the same sound-root, this word marks the absence of voice and highlights how audible this warning is.

κατοικοῦντας

katoikountas lemma katoikéō

GROWS FROM

οἰκ-

oik-

House, home, or dwelling.

The word for “inhabiters” keeps the image of home inside it: these are the ones dwelling on earth, set against the messenger crossing heaven. The warning travels from the heavenly route toward the earthly dwelling place.

ALSO GROWS

oîkos: House or home.

οἶκος

The shared root brings the idea of a home into the word for those who inhabit the earth.

oikouménē: The inhabited world.

οἰκουμένη

This branch widens the dwelling image from individual residents to the world they inhabit.

THE PATTERN

An alarm makes approaching judgment audible before its full force arrives.

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

Joel 2:1 · KJVThe trumpet sounds while the approaching day is still near, making the warning audible in advance.

If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

Ezekiel 33:3 · KJVThe trumpet turns the sight of danger into a warning the people can hear.

One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

Revelation 9:12 · KJVThe announcement of two more woes makes the next calamities audible before they arrive.

THE THREAD

And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

Revelation 9:13 · KJV

The same Greek word, ⁨φωνή⁩ (phōnē), means “voice” here and in Revelation 8:13. There, the messenger’s voice and the trumpet’s voices converge as one warning; here, a voice comes from the altar as the sixth trumpet sounds.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us