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The evidence beneath the English

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The published library was developed through direct Greek analysis, lexical work, and manuscript comparison. Where surviving witnesses materially disagree, the competing Greek readings and their effect on English remain open to the reader.

6,497

chapter-level decision records generated from the live translation registry

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public provenance schema, designed to remain machine-readable and auditable

SBLGNT

standardized inspectable Greek reference edition

Textual basis

SBL Greek New Testament

Edited by Michael W. Holmes. The project's standardized, publicly inspectable Greek reference edition. It is not presented as retroactive proof that every existing chapter originated from one uniform printed edition.

This is an honest reference claim, not a retroactive claim that all completed work began from one uniform printed edition. Material manuscript forks remain independently documented at the reading they affect.

SBLGNT project · Text and apparatus · License

Translation record

Revelation 17

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revelation.17.rev179SevenHeads

ἑπτὰ κεφαλαὶ ἑπτὰ ὄρη

TRANSLATIONmoderate confidence

What wisdom is required for the seven heads?

The seven heads signify seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they also signify seven kings.

Why this default

The default keeps both interpretations in sequence—seven mountains and seven kings—without prematurely identifying either symbol with a specific historical scheme.

Evidence

ExternalNo separate external-evidence note is recorded for this stable-text decision.

InternalThe decision record relies on the stated lexical, grammatical, or translation rationale.

Project defaultHere is the wise mind: seven heads are seven mountains where the woman sits, and seven kings

Project default

AlternativeThis calls for wisdom: seven heads mean seven hills supporting the woman and seven rulers

Alternate rendering

AlternativeHere is the mind with wisdom: seven heads are seven mountains where the woman sits and seven kings

Makes the double referent explicit without reducing ὄρη to the narrower English ‘hills.’

Reference roleStandardized inspectable reference; manuscript forks are independently reopened.

Revision historyNo decision-level revision has been recorded since the provenance ledger was introduced.

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Record integrity

One registry drives both the reader and this record.

The manifest is regenerated from the translation source before every production build. Its source digest is 7c4cbee907fbc0e84976d6e78a615134e2288f8197ce8abcf67b0452155ddc84.

Decision-level revision history begins with this ledger. Earlier development is not reconstructed into false precision; future material changes can be appended to the relevant record with their reason and date.