Revelation 12:1-6, The Fiery Red Dragon

Ἀποκάλυψις 12·1 Καὶ σημεῖον μέγα ὤφθη ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, γυνὴ περιβεβλημένη τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ ἡ σελήνη ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῆς στέφανος ἀστέρων δώδεκα, 2 καὶ ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα, καὶ κράζει ὠδίνουσα καὶ βασανιζομένη τεκεῖν. 3 καὶ ὤφθη ἄλλο σημεῖον ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἰδοὺ δράκων μέγας πυρρὸς ἔχων κεφαλὰς ἑπτὰ καὶ κέρατα δέκα καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτοῦ ἑπτὰ διαδήματα, 4 καὶ ἡ οὐρὰ αὐτοῦ σύρει τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀστέρων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἔβαλεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν. Καὶ ὁ δράκων ἕστηκεν ἐνώπιον τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς μελλούσης τεκεῖν, ἵνα ὅταν τέκῃ τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς καταφάγῃ. 5 καὶ ἔτεκεν υἱὸν ἄρσεν, ὃς μέλλει ποιμαίνειν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ. καὶ ἡρπάσθη τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς πρὸς τὸν θεὸν καὶ πρὸς τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ. 6 καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἔφυγεν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, ὅπου ἔχει ἐκεῖ τόπον ἡτοιμασμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἵνα ἐκεῖ τρέφωσιν αὐτὴν ἡμέρας χιλίας διακοσίας ἑξήκοντα.

Translation

1 And a great sign was seen in heaven, a woman clothed with1 the sun, and the moon under her feet, and a wreath2 of twelve stars on her head. 2 And being pregnant3, she cries out in labor and suffered terrible pain in giving birth. 3 And another sign was seen in heaven, and behold, a great red4 dragon having seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal headbands5 on his head. 4 His tail pulled down by force6 a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman, who is about to give birth, so that when she may give birth, he might devour her child. 5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is destined to mind7 all nations with an iron rod. 6 And her child was caught up8 to God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared9 there by God, so that he might take care of her there for one thousand two hundred and sixty (1,260) days.  Revelation 12:1-6

1 περιβεβλημένη (clothed with)

Greek: “having been thrown around”. In other words, the sun has been thrown around the woman like clothing.

2 στέφανος (a wreath) 

A sign of royalty or great achievement. A crown. This may also

indicate a “heavenly” form of royalty.

3 ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα (being pregnant)

Greek: “in having a womb”. An idiom for “being pregnant”.

4 πυρρὸς (red)

Greek: “fiery red”. Indicates that the color was orange, yellow, and red like fire.

5 διαδήματα (headband)

A type of crown employed as a symbol of the highest ruling power in a particular area and therefore often associated with kingship — ‘diadem crown. Since this is a different type of crown than is found in verse 1, it may indicate an “earthly” form of royalty.

6 σύρει (pulled down by force)

Most of the time, this verbs indicates that a resistance was in place that made the doer of the action to use force while performing the action. It’s possible that the 1/3 of the stars of heaven didn’t want to be pulled down.

7 ποιμαίνειν (to mind) 

Greek: “to shepherd” or “to rule” as "to shepherd sheep".

8 ἡρπάσθη (was caught up)

ἁρπάζω is the same verb that we get “rapture” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

9 ἡτοιμασμένον (prepared) 

Greek: “having been prepared”. This is in the perfect tense indicating

that the place was already prepared for the woman before hand.