Revelation 17:15:19Rev.17.15.W19TAB
γλῶσσαι
glosssai
“languages”
- Transliteration
- GLOSS-sai
- Extended
- GLOHS-sai
- IPA
- /ˈglɔːs.sai/
Meaning by language
- English
- languages
Greek · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Gamma | gh — guttural | |
| Lambda | l — as in law | |
| Omega | o — same as omicron | |
| Sigma | s — as in sit | |
| Sigma | s — as in sit | |
| Alpha | ah — as in father | |
| Iota | i — as in machine |
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The word
Word in context
- word
GLOSS-sai
- sentence
KAI LE-gei moi TA HY-da-ta HA EI-des HOU hê POR-nê KA-thê-tai la-OI KAI O-khloi ei-SIN KAI ETH-nê KAI GLOSS-sai
Exegesis
The core explanation is an equative clause: laoi kai ochloi eisin kai ethne kai glossai {λαοὶ καὶ ὄχλοι εἰσὶν καὶ ἔθνη καὶ γλῶσσαι | la-oí kaí óch-loi ei-sìn kaí éth-nē kaí glôs-sai}. Here laoi, ochloi, ethne, and glossai, all plural, stand in predicate nominative relation to Ta hydata, with eisin functioning as the copular verb ‘are’. The repeated kai coordinates the four groups, rhetorically broadening the scope to emphasize the comprehensive, worldwide character of the symbol. In translation, the symbolic equation is made explicit by retaining the copular structure (“are” / “represent”) while smoothing word order into natural English, yet preserving the cumulative series of “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues” to reflect the expansive emphasis of the Greek.
Root and etymology
glossagamma–lambda–omega–sigma–sigma–alpha
“tongue, language”
In context — Revelation 17:15
And he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues .”
About this coordinate
Revelation 17:15:19 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 19 of Revelation 17:15, so the Greek word γλῶσσαι (glosssai) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written Rev.17.15.W19, which extends further down to each syllable (Rev.17.15.W19.S1) and character.