What Does Revelation 11:13 Mean?
And in that same hour a great shaking comes, and the tenth part of the city falls, and in the shaking seven thousand names of men are killed, and the ones left behind are gripped by fear and give weight to the God of heaven.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.THE KEY
The remnant gives God glory while still terrified, so recognition does not wait for fear to disappear.
THE MEANING
A city is shaken, part of it collapses, and seven thousand lives are lost. Those who remain are terrified, and in that same terror they give glory to the God of heaven. The verse holds devastation and recognition together without saying the fear has lifted.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that recognition of God can come only after fear is gone: the remnant is still terrified as it gives God glory.
THE ROOT
οἱ λοιποί
hoi loipoi
GROWS FROM
λείπω (leipō; λειπ-)
To leave, be lacking, or remain as what is left.
“ones left behind” in this verse is hoi loipoi. The Greek calls the survivors “the remaining ones,” from a word that can mean to leave or lack. A remnant is what remains after something has been taken away, placing the survivors inside the catastrophe’s subtraction.
ALSO GROWS
loipos: Remaining; the rest.
λοιπός
This is the word used for those still present after the city falls and lives are lost.
leimma: A remnant; what remains.
λεῖμμα
This related form names the remainder directly, linking the scene to other passages that speak of a remnant.
δόξαν
doxan
GROWS FROM
δοκέω (dokeō; δοκ-)
To think or regard; δόξα carries the sense of esteem, honor, or recognized worth.
The phrase is literally “gave glory”: the survivors direct honor toward God as the one whose weight they recognize. Their terror and their recognition occur together, so glorifying God does not mean the shock is over.
ALSO GROWS
doxazō: To honor or glorify.
δοξάζω
This verb expresses the act of recognizing and giving honor, as the remnant does here.
endoxos: Honored; held in esteem.
ἔνδοξος
This related word carries the idea of being regarded with honor, deepening the sense of glory as recognized worth.
ὀνόματα
onomata
GROWS FROM
ὄνομα
onoma
Name, designation, or reputation.
“names of men” in this verse is onomata. The Greek says “names of human beings, seven thousand,” where the KJV gives “men.” It is a way of counting people, but the word “names” keeps human identity in view inside the terrible number.
ALSO GROWS
onomazō: To name, call, or mention.
ὀνομάζω
This naming word shares the same seed and makes the Greek phrase’s emphasis on names visible.
epōnymos: Named after; bearing a name.
ἐπώνυμος
This related form shows how a name can mark identity, echoing the personal weight of the death tally.
THE PATTERN
When upheaval strips away what can fall, what remains becomes visible, and fear can coexist with recognition of God.
For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them will turn back. The running out, decreed, will overflow with alignment.And this, “Yet once more,” shows the setting elsewhere of what is shaken, as of what has been made, so that what is not shaken may remain.And awe seized them all, and they gave weight to God, saying, A great prophet has been roused among us, and God has looked in upon his people.THE THREAD
So also now, in this present season, there is a remnant left behind, picked out by favor.“Remnant” here translates λοιποί (loipoi); Romans uses the related λεῖμμα (leimma), both from λείπω (leipō), “to leave” or “remain.” Revelation shows people left after catastrophe, while Romans names a remnant present now, the root keeps the sense of what remains alive across both verses.
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