σκορπίος

From the study of Revelation 9:10

Range of meaning

The scorpion: the actual creature, and proverbially a symbol of hidden, painful danger and of harsh punishment.

Against the English

'Scorpion' is a direct and accurate equivalent.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 8:15 describes the wilderness as a land of 'fiery serpents and scorpions'. In 1 Kings 12:11, 14 Rehoboam threatens to discipline 'with scorpions' (probably barbed whips). Ezekiel 2:6 uses scorpions as an image for hostile people. Sirach 39:30 lists 'scorpions and vipers' among the things created for vengeance. In Luke 10:19 and 11:12 serpents and scorpions are a pair standing for hostile forces.

From the study of Revelation 9:5

Range of meaning

Scorpion. In the Mediterranean and Near Eastern world it was a symbol of hostile, painful danger and of the hazards of the wilderness.

Against the English

All versions say 'scorpion.' BSB and NLT shorten 'the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man' to the 'sting' of a scorpion. That keeps the meaning but loses the vivid moment of being struck.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 8:15 ('the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions'). Ezekiel 2:6 (the rebellious people as scorpions). 1 Kings 12:11, 14 ('I will discipline you with scorpions,' probably barbed whips). Sirach 39:30 lists scorpions among the creatures created for vengeance. Luke 10:19 ('authority to tread on serpents and scorpions'). Luke 11:12. Pliny the Elder and other ancient writers on natural history discuss scorpion stings and their remedies. The yellow scorpion of Palestine and Syria (Leiurus) gives an excruciating sting. It is dangerous to small children but usually survived by adults.

From the study of Luke 11:12

Range of meaning

The scorpion, an arachnid with a venomous sting. Figuratively it stood for painful, hostile, or harmful things (a 'scorpion' whip in 1 Kings 12:11, 14; hostile people in Ezekiel 2:6). In Greek the same word was also used for a spiny fish (the scorpion-fish) and a siege engine, but those senses do not fit a child's meal here.

Against the English

'Scorpion' is accurate in every major version. Nothing is lost in translation, although modern Western readers may not feel how ordinary and how feared scorpions were in Galilee and Judea.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 8:15 (LXX) pairs 'snake' and 'scorpion' as the dangers of the wilderness. Sirach 39:30 lists 'scorpions and vipers' among instruments of judgment. Luke 10:19, a chapter earlier, has Jesus give the seventy-two authority 'to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy'. Revelation 9:3-10 uses scorpion stings for torment. Commentators also cite a Greek proverb, 'a scorpion instead of a perch' (a harmful thing given in place of a good one), from the ancient proverb collections. Its exact wording and date should be held loosely.