What Does Revelation 12:9 Mean?
And the great dragon is thrown down, that ancient serpent, called the Slanderer and the Adversary, who leads the whole inhabited world astray. He is flung into the earth, and his messengers are thrown down with him.
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 great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.THE KEY
The Slanderer’s name and “cast out” share the Greek throw-root: the one who throws accusation is himself thrown down.
THE MEANING
The Slanderer deceives the whole world, yet he is cast out with his messengers. His reach is vast, but it does not make him sovereign: the one who throws accusation is himself thrown down.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that deception reaching the whole world must therefore rule everything. The verse shows the Slanderer under judgment and cast down even at the height of his reach.
THE ROOT
διάβολος
diábolos
GROWS FROM
βαλ-/βαλλ-
To throw, cast, or hurl.
“is thrown down” in this verse is diábolos. διάβολος (diábolos) is the name translated “Devil,” from διαβάλλω (diabállō), “to slander” or “accuse,” built on βάλλω (bállō), “to throw.” The verse then says he is ἐβλήθη (eblēthē), “was thrown”: the accusing thrower is himself thrown down.
ALSO GROWS
diabállō: Slander, accuse.
διαβάλλω
This compound carries the βάλλω throw-root into the act of accusation; it is the word-family behind διάβολος, the Slanderer.
ekbállō: Cast out, drive out.
ἐκβάλλω
Adding ἐκ- (“out”) to the same throw-root makes explicit the expulsion echoed in ἐβλήθη.
πλανῶν
planōn
GROWS FROM
πλαν-
To wander, cause to wander, or lead astray.
“leads astray” in this verse is planōn. The Greek word pictures deception as leading someone off course. The whole world is not merely told something false; it is made to stray.
ALSO GROWS
plánē: Wandering, error.
πλάνη
The noun keeps the motion of straying in view: the deception in the verse takes the world away from its course.
plános: Deceiver, one who leads astray.
πλάνος
This related word names the deceiving agent, keeping the focus on the one who causes others to wander.
THE PATTERN
The power to mislead or accuse does not secure the adversary’s place; the one who casts others down is also cast down.
And I will set opposition between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.And he said to them, I watched the Adversary fall like lightning from the heavens.Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world is thrown out.THE THREAD
Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world is thrown out.Revelation says the dragon ἐβλήθη (eblēthē, “was cast out”), from βάλλω (bállō, “throw”); John says the ruler of this world ἐκβληθήσεται (ekblēthḗsetai, “will be cast out”), from the same root. The repeated throw-root makes the Slanderer’s displacement a recurring verdict.
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