Greek word · G3769

οὐρά

oura

tail

An animal's tail; in some figurative uses, the rear end or last part of something. In the New Testament it appears only in Revelation (9:10; 9:19 twice; 12:4).

Appears 5 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

οὐρά, -ᾶς, ἡ

[in LXX for זָנָב ;]

a tail: Revelation 9:10, 19 12:4.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Revelation 9:19

Range of meaning

An animal's tail; in some figurative uses, the rear end or last part of something. In the New Testament it appears only in Revelation (9:10; 9:19 twice; 12:4).

Against the English

"Tail" is an accurate translation. What English readers miss is the deliberate pattern: tails carry the harm in both the fifth trumpet (scorpion tails, 9:10) and the sixth (snake tails, 9:19), and the dragon's tail sweeps down stars in 12:4.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 9:14–15 (Septuagint 9:13–14) uses head and tail as a pair: "the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail." Some commentators read Revelation's harmful tails against this text (see debates). In Greek and Roman writing, the stinging tail of the scorpion was the standard picture of a hidden attack from behind.

Where it appears

Revelation · 5

  1. Revelation 9:10 οὐρὰς οὐραῖς tails

    They had tails with stingers like scorpions, which had the power to injure people for five months.

    Here: The tails of the locust-creatures. Real locusts have no stinging tail. This is the feature that makes them more than insects.

  2. Revelation 9:19 οὐραῖς οὐραὶ tails

    For the power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; indeed, their tails were like snakes, having heads with which to inflict harm.

    Here: The horses' tails. This matches the locusts of the fifth trumpet, whose scorpion-like tails held their power to harm (9:10).

  3. Revelation 12:4 οὐρὰ tail

    His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, hurling them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth.

    Here: The dragon's tail, a picture of the sheer size and reach of a sea-serpent-like monster. Elsewhere in Revelation tails are where the demonic locusts and horses carry their power to harm (9:10, 19).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.