Tag Archives: Revelation 9:12

The Grammar of Judgment: Sorrow, Sequence, and Syntax in Revelation 9:12

Ἡ οὐαὶ ἡ μία ἀπῆλθεν· ἰδοὺ ἔρχονται ἔτι δύο οὐαὶ μετὰ ταῦτα. (Revelation 9:12)

The first woe has passed; behold, yet two woes are coming after these things.

Revelation 9:12 is deceptively short, yet every clause and particle pulses with apocalyptic urgency. The text serves as a structural hinge in the Book of Revelation, marking the progression from the fifth trumpet to the sixth, and announcing the continuation of divine judgment. Though only a single sentence, the verse employs aorist narrative framing, deictic markers, and futuristic present tense, all serving to heighten its theological and literary intensity. This article dissects the verse’s Koine syntax, imagines a Classical Greek equivalent, and reflects on how the grammar itself echoes the rhythm of prophetic terror.… Learn Koine Greek

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