Revelation 11:9

For three and a half days all peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will view their bodies and will not permit them to be laid in a tomb.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The narrator records a vision given to John concerning the two witnesses after their execution. The text describes a global spectacle where every group watches their corpses without burial for three and a half days.

The words — The Greek verb βλέπουσιν (blepousin) literally means "gaze," emphasizing deliberate public observation. The phrase ἐκ τῶν λαῶν καὶ φυλῶν (ek tōn laōn kai phulōn) specifies that viewers are drawn from "peoples and tribes," indicating a comprehensive, cross-cultural audience.

The thread — The universal scope of observers echoes Revelation 10:11, which lists "peoples and nations and tongues," and Revelation 17:15, where "peoples and multitudes and nations" represent the waters where the prostitute sits. The public display of corpses parallels Psalm 79:2, which describes God's servants' bodies given as food to birds and beasts.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that the witnesses' humiliation is publicly verified by the entire world, leaving no ambiguity about their death. It requires the reader to acknowledge that divine judgment operates through visible, historical events that the world observes and mocks before God's intervention.

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The Greek words

King James Version

And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

Cross-references

Psalms 79:2 They have given the corpses of Your servants as food to the birds of the air, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
Revelation 17:15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
Revelation 10:11 And they told me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”
Revelation 11:2 But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.
Revelation 11:11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered the two witnesses, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw them.
Ecclesiastes 6:3 A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
Matthew 7:2 For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Revelation 13:7 Then the beast was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them, and it was given authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation.
Isaiah 33:1 Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.
Jeremiah 7:33 The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away.