6:12 Then 1 I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge 2 earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, 3 and the full moon became blood red; 4 6:13 and the stars in the sky 5 fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping 6 its unripe figs 7 when shaken by a fierce 8 wind.
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
2 tn Or “powerful”; Grk “a great.”
3 tn Or “like hairy sackcloth” (L&N 8.13).
4 tn Grk “like blood,” understanding αἷμα (aima) as a blood-red color rather than actual blood (L&N 8.64).
5 tn Or “in heaven” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”). The genitive τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (tou ouranou) is taken as a genitive of place.
6 tn Grk “throws [off]”; the indicative verb has been translated as a participle due to English style.
7 tn L&N 3.37 states, “a fig produced late in the summer season (and often falling off before it ripens) – ‘late fig.’ ὡς συκὴ βάλλει τοὺς ὀλύνθους αὐτῆς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου μεγάλου σειομένη ‘as the fig tree sheds its late figs when shaken by a great wind’ Re 6:13. In the only context in which ὄλυνθος occurs in the NT (Re 6:13), one may employ an expression such as ‘unripe fig’ or ‘fig which ripens late.’”
8 tn Grk “great wind.”