Revelation 12:13-17, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Revelation 12:13-17
The Dragon Pursues the Woman and Her Offspring
Thrown down, the dragon hunts the woman and then her children
When the dragon sees that he has been thrown down to the earth, he pursues the woman who had given birth to the male child. She is given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
The serpent pours water like a river from his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. The earth helps the woman: it opens its mouth and swallows the river. Then the dragon is angry with the woman and goes off to make war on the rest of her offspring, those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Flood and wings are rescue imagery, not a conspiracy board
Eagle wings, wilderness, river, and earth gather older scriptural help-stories. The flood does not identify migration, media, an army, or a modern conspiracy, and the wings are not aircraft. The woman's offspring are command-keeping, Jesus-witnessing people, not a sect with exclusive saving identity.
War against the offspring is the dragon's move. It does not permit violence against people you decide are his agents.
How this should shape us
Receive help when you are pursued, and recognize the church as a threatened family rather than as a militia. Do not baptize a news panic as this river, and do not make war on people in the dragon's name.
Teach it back
Explain Revelation 12:13-17 in your own words. Include its place in Revelation's visionary movement, one major interpretive uncertainty, one Old Testament or first-century control, and one use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters differ?
Best judgment: The eagle wings, wilderness period, river, earth, woman, and offspring are polyvalent scriptural symbols. They do not map securely onto aircraft, migration routes, denominations, or ethnic peoples.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete coverage.
Revelation 12:13-17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations checked independently of the KJV.
Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Revelation.txt, 12:13-17
Supports: Greek form, morphology, and lexical-range cross-check; lexical data does not decide context by itself.
STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT Acts–Revelation data, rows for 12:13-17
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual variants, imagery, cross-references, and stated alternatives.
NET Bible Revelation PDF, printed pp. 2408–2447, 12:13-17 and attached translator/textual notes
Supports: Revelation's textual transmission, KJV/TR history, local uncertainty, and limits of reconstructing an earliest text.
Hernández, 'The Greek Text of Revelation,' author preprint, sections on textual plurality, Textus Receptus, Erasmus, manuscript recovery, Hoskier, Schmid, and Text und Textwert; local implications for 12:13-17
Supports: Methodological control for verbal, thematic, structural, authorial, reader, and later intertextual claims.
Moyise, 'Intertextuality and the Use of Scripture in the Book of Revelation?' pp. 391–401; allusion-method discussion applied to 12:13-17
Supports: Authorship, date, audience, genre, cycles, Roman setting, Lamb-shaped conquest, and limits on persecution reconstructions.
Oxford Handbook authorized preview: Koester, 'Revelation in Its Historical and Theological Context,' printed pp. 1–20; Reddish, 'The Genre of the Book of Revelation,' printed pp. 21–32; applied to 12:13-17
Supports: Reader-first whole-book context, Roman Asia, symbolism, worship, judgment, endurance, and responsible reception.
Enter the Bible Revelation course, sections Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, and Bible in the World; applied to 12:13-17
Supports: Full confessional commentary, Greek observations, Old Testament links, four major interpretive approaches, millennial options, and application.
Tabb, 'Revelation,' commentary heading covering Revelation 12:13-17 plus Introduction and Theology
Supports: Violent imagery, worship, witness, repentance, Lamb-shaped conquest, creation, and the unresolved divine-violence problem.
Decock, 'Images of War and Creation, Violence and Non-Violence in the Revelation of John,' complete article, sections 1–5; applied to 12:13-17
Supports: Gendered rhetoric, Roman power, faithful witness, worship, nonviolent application, and new creation.
Kirby, 'The Book of Revelation: Following the Lamb,' printed pp. 466–484, especially Gender and Violence, imperial setting, literary features, and Following the Lamb; applied to 12:13-17
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete coverage.
Exact location: Revelation 12:13-17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations checked independently of the KJV.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Revelation.txt, 12:13-17
Open the Revelation Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Greek form, morphology, and lexical-range cross-check; lexical data does not decide context by itself.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT Acts–Revelation data, rows for 12:13-17
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Revelation with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual variants, imagery, cross-references, and stated alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Revelation PDF, printed pp. 2408–2447, 12:13-17 and attached translator/textual notes
Open the official NET Revelation PDF ↗peer reviewed handbook chapter author preprint
The Greek Text of Revelation
Juan Hernández Jr.
The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Revelation, 2020
Supports: Revelation's textual transmission, KJV/TR history, local uncertainty, and limits of reconstructing an earliest text.
Exact location: Hernández, 'The Greek Text of Revelation,' author preprint, sections on textual plurality, Textus Receptus, Erasmus, manuscript recovery, Hoskier, Schmid, and Text und Textwert; local implications for 12:13-17
Open Hernández's author-uploaded preprint ↗peer reviewed open access article
Intertextuality and the Use of Scripture in the Book of Revelation?
Steve Moyise
Scriptura 84, 2003; online record 2013
Supports: Methodological control for verbal, thematic, structural, authorial, reader, and later intertextual claims.
Exact location: Moyise, 'Intertextuality and the Use of Scripture in the Book of Revelation?' pp. 391–401; allusion-method discussion applied to 12:13-17
Open Moyise's Scripture-use article ↗modern scholarly handbook preview
The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Revelation — publisher preview
Craig R. Koester, editor; chapters by Craig R. Koester and Mitchell G. Reddish
Oxford University Press, 2020
Supports: Authorship, date, audience, genre, cycles, Roman setting, Lamb-shaped conquest, and limits on persecution reconstructions.
Exact location: Oxford Handbook authorized preview: Koester, 'Revelation in Its Historical and Theological Context,' printed pp. 1–20; Reddish, 'The Genre of the Book of Revelation,' printed pp. 21–32; applied to 12:13-17
Open the Oxford Handbook preview ↗modern scholarly book introduction
Revelation course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Craig R. Koester and Kristofer Phan Coffman
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current online course inspected 2026
Supports: Reader-first whole-book context, Roman Asia, symbolism, worship, judgment, endurance, and responsible reception.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Revelation course, sections Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, and Bible in the World; applied to 12:13-17
Open the Enter the Bible Revelation course ↗modern open commentary
Revelation
Brian J. Tabb
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023 online edition
Supports: Full confessional commentary, Greek observations, Old Testament links, four major interpretive approaches, millennial options, and application.
Exact location: Tabb, 'Revelation,' commentary heading covering Revelation 12:13-17 plus Introduction and Theology
Open Tabb's Revelation commentary ↗peer reviewed open access article
Images of War and Creation, Violence and Non-Violence in the Revelation of John
Paul Decock
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 64.4, 2008
Supports: Violent imagery, worship, witness, repentance, Lamb-shaped conquest, creation, and the unresolved divine-violence problem.
Exact location: Decock, 'Images of War and Creation, Violence and Non-Violence in the Revelation of John,' complete article, sections 1–5; applied to 12:13-17
Open Decock's violence article ↗modern open scholarly book chapter
The Book of Revelation: Following the Lamb
D. Jill Kirby
Religious Studies Center, in New Testament History, Culture, and Society, 2019
Supports: Gendered rhetoric, Roman power, faithful witness, worship, nonviolent application, and new creation.
Exact location: Kirby, 'The Book of Revelation: Following the Lamb,' printed pp. 466–484, especially Gender and Violence, imperial setting, literary features, and Following the Lamb; applied to 12:13-17
Open Kirby's Revelation chapter ↗