The Meaning of Revelation 12:6 Explained

Revelation 12:6

KJV: And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

YLT: and the woman did flee to the wilderness, where she hath a place made ready from God, that there they may nourish her -- days a thousand, two hundred, sixty.

Darby: And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has there a place prepared of God, that they should nourish her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days.

ASV: And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  the woman  fled  into  the wilderness,  where  she hath  a place  prepared  of  God,  that  they should feed  her  there  a thousand  two hundred  [and] threescore  days. 

What does Revelation 12:6 Mean?

Study Notes

a thousand
Revelation 11:2 ; Revelation 11:3 ; Revelation 13:5 ; Daniel 9:27 ; Daniel 7:14 .
him
Daniel 7:13 ; Daniel 7:14 is identical with Revelation 5:1-7 and antedates the fulfilment of Daniel 2:34 ; Daniel 2:35 .; Daniel 7:13 ; Daniel 7:14 ; Revelation 5:1-7 describe the investiture of the Son of Man and Son of David with the kingdom authority, while Daniel 2:34 ; Daniel 2:35 describes the crushing blow (Armageddon, Revelation 16:14 which destroys Gentile world-power, thus clearing the way for the actual setting up of the kingdom of heaven.; Daniel 2:34 ; Daniel 2:35 ; Revelation 19:19-21 are the same event.

Verse Meaning

Since Satan cannot destroy Jesus Christ he turns his attention to Israel. John saw Israel as having fled into the wilderness where God protected her for1 ,260 days (three and a half years), the second half of the tribulation period ( Revelation 12:14; Revelation 11:2-3; cf. Matthew 24:16; Mark 13:14). Many non-dispensational interpreters take the1 ,260 days as describing the entire inter-advent period. [1] Throughout Scripture a wilderness often represents a place of desolation, safety, discipline, and testing. The passive "be nourished" suggests that others, perhaps Gentiles but definitely God and angels (cf. Daniel 12:1), will care for the Jews at this time. [2] Swete believed the event immediately in view was the escape of the church of Jerusalem to Pella (cf. Mark 13:14). [3] But we believe this reference is to an event still future.

Context Summary

Revelation 12:1-6 - "he Shall Reign For Ever And Ever"
The kingdom is even now Christ's, but it is hidden, even as He is. One day it will be manifested. For a long time David was the anointed king of Israel, but Saul sat on the throne until the predestined hour came when the tribes of Israel made David their chosen monarch. This surely is a type of that which will one day become apparent to the whole creation. The kingdom of the world will wholly and permanently become Christ's. Suffering and sorrow will then flee away, as birds of ill omen at dawn. War will cease to the end of the world. The glad populations of mankind will walk in the light of life, and the long night and travail of nature will be ended. It may be that each great era of human history ends with a scene of judgment; or that these series of visions are concurrent, viewing the earth-order from different standpoints.
What comfort is derived from this vision of the Ark of God's Covenant, which abides in the inner sanctuary! He is true to us. His word cannot alter, neither will He recede from His pledge to overthrow our enemies, to undo the devastation they have caused, and to realize His original purpose in man's creation. [source]

Chapter Summary: Revelation 12

1  A woman clothed with the sun travails
4  The great red dragon stands before her, ready to devour her child;
6  when she is delivered she flees into the desert
7  Michael and his angels fight with the dragon, and prevail
13  The dragon, being cast down into the earth, persecutes the woman

Greek Commentary for Revelation 12:6

Fled into the wilderness [επυγεν εις την ερημον]
Second aorist active indicative of πευγω — pheugō Here, of course, not Mary, but “the ideal woman” (God‘s people) of the preceding verses, who fled under persecution of the dragon. God‘s people do not at once share the rapture of Christ, but the dragon is unable to destroy them completely. The phrases used here seem to be reminiscent of Deuteronomy 8:2. (wanderings of Israel in the wilderness), 1 Kings 17:2. and 1 Kings 19:3. (Elijah‘s flight), 1 Macc. 2:29 (flight of the Jews from Antiochus Epiphanes), Matthew 2:13 (flight of Joseph and Mary to Egypt), Mark 13:14 (the flight of Christians at the destruction of Jerusalem). [source]
Where [οπουεκει]
Hebrew redundancy (where - there) as in Revelation 3:8; Revelation 8:9, Revelation 8:9; Revelation 13:8, Revelation 13:12; Revelation 17:9; Revelation 20:8.Prepared (ετοιμαζω — hētoimasmenon). Perfect passive predicate participle of τοπος — hetoimazō for which verb see Matthew 20:23; Revelation 8:6; Revelation 9:7, Revelation 9:15; Revelation 16:12; Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:2, and for its use with απο του τεου — topos John 14:2. and for the kind of fellowship meant by it (Psalm 31:21; 2 Corinthians 13:13; Colossians 3:3; 1 John 1:3).Of God “From (by) God,” marking the source as God (Revelation 9:18; James 1:13). This anticipatory symbolism is repeated in Revelation 12:13.That there they may nourish her (ινα — hina ekei trephōsin autēn). Purpose clause with τρεπουσιν — hina and the present for continued action: active subjunctive according to A P though C reads τρεπεται — trephousin present active indicative, as is possible also in Revelation 13:17 and certainly so in 1 John 5:20 (Robertson, Grammar, p. 984), a solecism in late vernacular Greek. The plural is indefinite “they” as in Revelation 10:11; Revelation 11:9. One MSS. has trephetai (is nourished). The stereotyped phrase occurs here, as in Revelation 11:2., for the length of the dragon‘s power, repeated in Revelation 12:14 in more general terms and again in Revelation 13:5. [source]
Prepared [ετοιμαζω]
Perfect passive predicate participle of τοπος — hetoimazō for which verb see Matthew 20:23; Revelation 8:6; Revelation 9:7, Revelation 9:15; Revelation 16:12; Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:2, and for its use with απο του τεου — topos John 14:2. and for the kind of fellowship meant by it (Psalm 31:21; 2 Corinthians 13:13; Colossians 3:3; 1 John 1:3). [source]
Of God [ινα εκει τρεπωσιν αυτην]
“From (by) God,” marking the source as God (Revelation 9:18; James 1:13). This anticipatory symbolism is repeated in Revelation 12:13.That there they may nourish her (ινα — hina ekei trephōsin autēn). Purpose clause with τρεπουσιν — hina and the present for continued action: active subjunctive according to A P though C reads τρεπεται — trephousin present active indicative, as is possible also in Revelation 13:17 and certainly so in 1 John 5:20 (Robertson, Grammar, p. 984), a solecism in late vernacular Greek. The plural is indefinite “they” as in Revelation 10:11; Revelation 11:9. One MSS. has trephetai (is nourished). The stereotyped phrase occurs here, as in Revelation 11:2., for the length of the dragon‘s power, repeated in Revelation 12:14 in more general terms and again in Revelation 13:5. [source]
That there they may nourish her [ινα]
Purpose clause with τρεπουσιν — hina and the present for continued action: active subjunctive according to A P though C reads τρεπεται — trephousin present active indicative, as is possible also in Revelation 13:17 and certainly so in 1 John 5:20 (Robertson, Grammar, p. 984), a solecism in late vernacular Greek. The plural is indefinite “they” as in Revelation 10:11; Revelation 11:9. One MSS. has trephetai (is nourished). The stereotyped phrase occurs here, as in Revelation 11:2., for the length of the dragon‘s power, repeated in Revelation 12:14 in more general terms and again in Revelation 13:5. [source]
Of God [ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ]
Lit., from God, the preposition marking the source from which the preparation came. For a similar use, see James 1:13, “tempted of God.” [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Revelation 12:6

Revelation 5:11 Thousands [χιλιάδες]
Χιλιάς , a collective term like, μυριάς , meaning the number one thousand, is almost invariably used with men in Revelation. See Revelation 7:4; Revelation 11:13. Only once with a material object (Revelation 21:16). With inferior objects χίλιοι athousand is used. See Revelation 11:3; Revelation 12:6. These words are the theme of Alford's noble hymn - “Ten thousand times ten thousandIn sparkling raiment bright, The armies of the ransomed saints-DIVIDER-
Throng up the steeps of light:-DIVIDER-
'Tis finished, all is finished,-DIVIDER-
Their fight with death and sin;-DIVIDER-
Fling open wide the golden gates,And let the victors in.” [source]

Revelation 11:2 Forty and two months []
A period which appears in three forms in Revelation: forty-two months (Revelation 13:5); twelve hundred and sixty days (Revelation 11:3, Revelation 12:6); a time, times and half a time, or three years and a half (Revelation 12:14, compare Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7) [source]
Revelation 11:2 Leave without [εκβαλε εχωτεν]
Literally, “cast without” (second aorist active imperative of εκβαλλω — ekballō not measure it Prohibition with μη — mē and the first aorist active (ingressive) subjunctive of μετρεω — metreō This outer court is left to its fate. In Herod‘s temple the outer court was marked off from the inner by “the middle wall of partition” Future active of πατεω — pateō here to trample with contempt as in Luke 21:24, even the holy city (Matthew 4:5; Isaiah 48:2; Nehemiah 11:1). Charles thinks that only the heavenly city can be so called here (Revelation 21:2, Revelation 21:10; Revelation 22:19) because of Luke 11:8 (Sodom and Gomorrah). But the language may be merely symbolical. See Daniel 9:24.Forty and two months Accusative of extent of time. This period in Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7. It occurs in three forms in the Apocalypse (forty-two months, here and Revelation 13:5; 1260 days, Revelation 11:3; Revelation 12:6; time, times and half a time or 3-1/2 years, Revelation 12:14 and so in Daniel). This period, however its length may be construed, covers the duration of the triumph of the Gentiles, of the prophesying of the two witnesses, of the sojourn of the woman in the wilderness. [source]
Revelation 11:2 Forty and two months [μηνας τεσσερακοντα και δυο]
Accusative of extent of time. This period in Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7. It occurs in three forms in the Apocalypse (forty-two months, here and Revelation 13:5; 1260 days, Revelation 11:3; Revelation 12:6; time, times and half a time or 3-1/2 years, Revelation 12:14 and so in Daniel). This period, however its length may be construed, covers the duration of the triumph of the Gentiles, of the prophesying of the two witnesses, of the sojourn of the woman in the wilderness. [source]
Revelation 12:14 The two wings of the great eagle [αι δυο πτερυγες του αετου του μεγαλου]
Not the eagle of Revelation 8:13, but the generic use of the article. Every eagle had two wings. Probably here, as in Matthew 24:28, the griffon or vulture rather than the true eagle is pictured. For the eagle in the O.T. see Exodus 19:4; Isaiah 40:31; Job 9:26.That she might fly (ινα πετηται — hina petētai). Purpose clause with ινα — hina and present middle subjunctive of πετομαι — petomai old verb, to fly, in N.T. only in the Apocalypse (Revelation 4:7; Revelation 8:13; Revelation 12:14; Revelation 14:6; Revelation 19:17). Resumption of the details in Revelation 12:6 (which see) about the “wilderness,” her “place,” the redundant εκει — ekei with οπου — hopou the “time and times, and half a time” (καιρον και καιρους και ημισυ — kairon kai kairous kai hēmisu), 1260 days, but with τρεπεται — trephetai (present passive indicative) instead of τρεπωσιν — trephōsin (general plural of the present active subjunctive), and with the addition of “from the face of the serpent” (απο προσωπου του οπεως — apo prosōpou tou opheōs), because the serpent rules the earth for that period. “To the end of the present order the Church dwells in the wilderness” (Swete), and yet we must carry on for Christ. [source]
Revelation 12:14 That she might fly [ινα πετηται]
Purpose clause with ινα — hina and present middle subjunctive of πετομαι — petomai old verb, to fly, in N.T. only in the Apocalypse (Revelation 4:7; Revelation 8:13; Revelation 12:14; Revelation 14:6; Revelation 19:17). Resumption of the details in Revelation 12:6 (which see) about the “wilderness,” her “place,” the redundant εκει — ekei with οπου — hopou the “time and times, and half a time” (καιρον και καιρους και ημισυ — kairon kai kairous kai hēmisu), 1260 days, but with τρεπεται — trephetai (present passive indicative) instead of τρεπωσιν — trephōsin (general plural of the present active subjunctive), and with the addition of “from the face of the serpent” (απο προσωπου του οπεως — apo prosōpou tou opheōs), because the serpent rules the earth for that period. “To the end of the present order the Church dwells in the wilderness” (Swete), and yet we must carry on for Christ. [source]
Revelation 16:12 Was dried up [εχηραντη]
First aorist (prophetic) passive of χηραινω — xērainō (Revelation 14:15). Cf. Zechariah 10:11.That may be made ready (ινα ετοιμαστηι — hina hetoimasthēi). Purpose clause with ινα — hina and the first aorist passive of ετοιμαζω — hetoimazō Common verb in Rev (Revelation 8:6; Revelation 9:7, Revelation 9:15; Revelation 12:6; Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:2).The way for the kings Objective genitive βασιλεων — basileōn come from the sunrising “Those from the rising of the sun,” the kings from the east (cf. Matthew 2:2) in their march against Rome. Parthia in particular resisted Rome before Trajan‘s day. [source]
Revelation 16:12 That may be made ready [ινα ετοιμαστηι]
Purpose clause with ινα — hina and the first aorist passive of ετοιμαζω — hetoimazō Common verb in Rev (Revelation 8:6; Revelation 9:7, Revelation 9:15; Revelation 12:6; Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:2). [source]
Revelation 17:9 Seven mountains [επτα ορη]
Rome was known as the city on seven hills (Vergil, Horace, Ovid, Cicero, etc.).On which (οπουεπ αυτων — hopou- οπουεκει — ep' autōn). “Where - upon them.” Pleonasm like hopou- ekei in Revelation 12:6. In Revelation 13:1. it is the beast that has the seven heads, while here the woman riding the beast has seven heads, a slight change in the symbolism, and the heads are further identified as kings. [source]
Revelation 17:9 On which [οπουεπ αυτων]
“Where - upon them.” Pleonasm like hopou- ekei in Revelation 12:6. In Revelation 13:1. it is the beast that has the seven heads, while here the woman riding the beast has seven heads, a slight change in the symbolism, and the heads are further identified as kings. [source]
Revelation 13:16 That there be given them [ινα δωσιν αυτοις]
Same use of ινα — hina after ποιεω — poieō as in Revelation 13:12, Revelation 13:15, only here with indefinite plural δωσιν — dōsin (second aorist active subjunctive), “that they give themselves,” as in Revelation 10:11; Revelation 12:6; Revelation 16:15.A mark (χαραγμα — charagma). Old word from χαρασσω — charassō to engrave, in Acts 17:29 of idolatrous images, but in Rev (Revelation 13:16, Revelation 13:17; Revelation 14:9, Revelation 14:11; Revelation 16:2; Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:4) of the brand of the beast on the right hand or on the forehead or on both. Deissmann (Bible Studies, pp. 240ff.) shows that in the papyri official business documents often have the name and image of the emperor, with the date as the official stamp or seal and with χαραγμα — charagma as the name of this seal. Animals and slaves were often branded with the owner‘s name, as Paul (Galatians 6:17) bore the stigmata of Christ. Ptolemy Philadelphus compelled some Alexandrian Jews to receive the mark of Dionysus as his devotees (3 Macc. 3:29). The servants of God receive on their foreheads the stamp of the divine seal (Revelation 7:3). Charles is certain that John gets his metaphor from the τεπιλλιν — tephillin (phylacteries) which the Jew wore on his left hand and on his forehead. At any rate, this “mark of the beast” was necessary for life and all social and business relations. On the right hand, that is in plain sight.Upon their forehead Accusative with επι — epi though genitive just before with χειρος — cheiros (hand). See note on Revelation 7:3 and note on Revelation 9:4 (genitive επι των μετωπων — epi tōn metōpōn). Only in the Apocalypse in N.T. [source]

What do the individual words in Revelation 12:6 mean?

And the woman fled into the wilderness where she has there a place having been prepared by - God so that they should nourish her days one thousand two hundred sixty
καὶ γυνὴ ἔφυγεν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ὅπου ἔχει ἐκεῖ τόπον ἡτοιμασμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἵνα τρέφωσιν αὐτὴν ἡμέρας χιλίας διακοσίας ἑξήκοντα

γυνὴ  woman 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: γυνή  
Sense: a woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow.
ἔφυγεν  fled 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: φεύγω  
Sense: to flee away, seek safety by flight.
εἰς  into 
Parse: Preposition
Root: εἰς  
Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among.
ἔρημον  wilderness 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ἔρημος  
Sense: solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited.
ὅπου  where 
Parse: Adverb
Root: ὅπου  
Sense: where, whereas.
ἔχει  she  has 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἔχω  
Sense: to have, i.e. to hold.
τόπον  a  place 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: τόπος 
Sense: place, any portion or space marked off, as it were from surrounding space.
ἡτοιμασμένον  having  been  prepared 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Participle Middle or Passive, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: ἑτοιμάζω  
Sense: to make ready, prepare.
τοῦ  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Θεοῦ  God 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
ἵνα  so  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἵνα  
Sense: that, in order that, so that.
τρέφωσιν  they  should  nourish 
Parse: Verb, Present Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: τρέφω  
Sense: to nourish, support.
αὐτὴν  her 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Accusative Feminine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
ἡμέρας  days 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Plural
Root: ἡμέρα  
Sense: the day, used of the natural day, or the interval between sunrise and sunset, as distinguished from and contrasted with the night.
χιλίας  one  thousand 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Plural
Root: χίλιοι  
Sense: a thousand.
διακοσίας  two  hundred 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Plural
Root: διακόσιοι  
Sense: two hundred.
ἑξήκοντα  sixty 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Plural
Root: ἑξήκοντα  
Sense: sixty.