I am studying the seven kings of Revelation 17:9-10. Some translations, like the KJV and NKJV say: Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. THERE ARE ALSO SEVEN KINGS, five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come.
Other versions, like the NET or NIV say: “THEY ARE ALSO SEVEN KINGS…”
So, I do not know Greek…and this is a big difference. In the NET, the heads are also kings. In the KJV, the kings are not part of the symbolism. They are more parenthetical.
Can anyone help me?
The Greek is transliterated “eisi”. It can be translated many different ways depending on context. There’s no noun preceding it. So it could be “they are, they were, there were, there are” etc. The online Blue Letter Bible is a great resource for looking up Greek and Hebrew words. Once you have the verse you want, click on the “tools” button. In this case it won’t help you much but at least you’ll see the Greek and there’s a link to Strong’s Concordance. Careful with the Book of Revelation though. It’s heady wine 😉
fefferdan, thank you so much. That is helpful. Can I ask…how would I go about finding out if Revelation 17:10 should be translated “They are” or “There are?” basically, if it is “They are,” then the heads are also kings. If it is “There are,” then the sentence is parenthetical, not necessarily connecting the kings to the heads. Is it even possible to determine which one the author intended?
I speak Greek.
Let me take a look at it.
9 ὧδε ὁ νοῦς ὁ ἔχων σοφίαν. Αἱ ἑπτὰ κεφαλαὶ ἑπτὰ ὄρη εἰσίν, ὅπου ἡ γυνὴ κάθηται ἐπʼ αὐτῶν. καὶ βασιλεῖς ἑπτά εἰσιν· οἱ πέντε ἔπεσαν, ὁ εἷς ἔστιν, ὁ ἄλλος οὔπω ἦλθεν, καὶ ὅταν ἔλθῃ ὀλίγον αὐτὸν δεῖ μεῖναι.
In our minds there is wisdom. The 7 heads 7 hills are (the word eisin, in its informal form implying an object, not people), and the woman sits on them. and the kings seven are (the same word “eisin”, seem to imply the Kings are the hills, which are also the heads)“five of them fell down, the one is (the word “estin” which is the formal form of “eisin”, since we are now taking about a person. The implication is that the one holds on, is still here), the other has not come yet, and when he comes, he will stay only for a little while.”
So based on the context, I would be inclined to agree with the NIV translation. There are 7 objects, and they are heads, hills, and kings (the whole thing seems to imply kingdoms, the land and the leader).
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