The term John uses means to carry off, steal
(Matthew 12:29; John 10:12), or even to snatch, take away forcibly
(Matthew 13:19; John 6:15). Given the ravenous intent of the dragon as he stands before the labouring woman, the idea of snatch
is fitting. The verb snatch
(or caught up
) appears here in passive form, indicating that we are not told who did the snatching. Yet, as happens so often with the passive in Scripture, God himself is understood to be the one who caught up this child to heaven—safely away from the jaws of the dragon.
5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,