3769. oura
Lexical Summary
oura: Tail

Original Word: οὐρά
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: oura
Pronunciation: oo-rah'
Phonetic Spelling: (oo-rah')
KJV: tail
NASB: tails, tail
Word Origin: [apparently a primary word]

1. a tail

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
tail.

Apparently a primary word; a tail -- tail.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
appar. a prim. word
Definition
a tail
NASB Translation
tail (1), tails (4).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 3769: οὐρά

οὐρά, οὐράς, , a tail: Revelation 9:10, 19; Revelation 12:4. (From Homer down. The Sept. several times for זָנָב.)

Topical Lexicon
Definition and Scope

The term signifies the tail of an animal. While the literal sense is preserved, each New Testament occurrence employs the image as an instrument of destructive power or deceit, inviting reflection on Old Testament precedents where the tail functions as a metaphor for what is base, deceptive, or subordinate.

Occurrences in Revelation

1. Revelation 9:10 – The demonic locusts have “tails with stingers like scorpions, which had the power to injure people for five months”.
2. Revelation 9:19 – The cavalry hordes possess power “in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads with which they inflict harm”.
3. Revelation 12:4 – The great red dragon’s “tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, tossing them to the earth”.

Though the word appears five times, these three scenes trace a single prophetic thread: Satanic or demonic forces exercising deceptive and injurious power in the final judgment era.

Old Testament Foundations

Deuteronomy 28:13–44 contrasts head and tail to describe covenant blessing or curse: obedience makes Israel “the head and not the tail.” Isaiah 9:15 identifies “the prophet who teaches lies” as “the tail.” The tail thus comes to symbolize false guidance that drags others into ruin. These antecedents prepare readers to recognize the tail in Revelation as a figure of deceptive influence.

Symbolic Associations

1. Deception: The dragon’s tail sweeps stars (angelic beings), mirroring the persuasive fall of a third of the heavenly host.
2. Pain and Oppression: Scorpion-like tails inflict prolonged torment (Revelation 9:10), recalling the oppressive sting of sin and judgment.
3. Pseudo-authority: Serpentine tails with heads (Revelation 9:19) mimic genuine authority, underscoring satanic counterfeit.

Eschatological Drama

The three visions progress from demonic torment (Revelation 9) to cosmic rebellion (Revelation 12). Together they portray escalating spiritual warfare culminating in the dragon’s ultimate defeat (Revelation 12:9–11). The tail imagery underscores that Satan’s power is derivative and destined for judgment, reinforcing the sovereignty of God over history.

Historical Reception

Early church commentators (e.g., Hippolytus, Victorinus) saw in the dragon’s tail a reference to the Antichrist’s deceptive miracles. Reformers emphasized the danger of false teaching within the church, applying Isaiah’s metaphor to any doctrine that drags believers from the truth of the gospel.

Practical Ministry Implications

1. Discernment in Teaching: Isaiah’s warning links false prophecy to the tail; faithful ministry must guard the flock from doctrinal “stings.”
2. Spiritual Warfare: Revelation’s imagery calls believers to recognize that present struggles mirror heavenly realities (Ephesians 6:12).
3. Hope amid Judgment: Even while tails inflict harm, their power is time-limited (five months, Revelation 9:10). Divine restraint assures believers that suffering is bounded by God’s redemptive plan.

Christological Perspective

The dragon’s tail cannot outmatch the Lamb. Revelation 12 moves quickly from celestial sweep to the victorious birth of the Messiah, reminding readers that Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection decisively answer every satanic assault.

Summary

Strong’s Greek 3769 gathers the biblical threads of what is low, deceptive, and destructive into a vivid eschatological symbol. The tail in Revelation is Satan’s instrument, yet its every lash only hastens the fulfillment of God’s purpose in Christ. Standing on Scripture’s firm foundation, the church reads these passages not with fear but with confident expectation of the coming triumph of the Lamb.

Forms and Transliterations
ουρα ουρά οὐρὰ ουραγίαν ουραι ουραί οὐραὶ ουραις ουραίς οὐραῖς ουράν ουρας ουράς οὐρὰς oura ourà ourai ouraì ourais ouraîs ouras ouràs
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Englishman's Concordance
Revelation 9:10 N-AFP
GRK: καὶ ἔχουσιν οὐρὰς ὁμοίας σκορπίοις
NAS: They have tails like scorpions,
KJV: they had tails like
INT: and they have tails like scorpions

Revelation 9:10 N-DFP
GRK: ἐν ταῖς οὐραῖς αὐτῶν ἡ
NAS: and stings; and in their tails is their power
KJV: in their tails: and their
INT: in the tails of them the

Revelation 9:19 N-DFP
GRK: ἐν ταῖς οὐραῖς αὐτῶν αἱ
NAS: is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails
KJV: in their tails: for their
INT: in the tails of them the

Revelation 9:19 N-NFP
GRK: αἱ γὰρ οὐραὶ αὐτῶν ὅμοιαι
NAS: and in their tails; for their tails are like
KJV: their tails [were] like
INT: the indeed tails of them [are] like

Revelation 12:4 N-NFS
GRK: καὶ ἡ οὐρὰ αὐτοῦ σύρει
NAS: And his tail swept away a third
KJV: And his tail drew the third part
INT: and the tail of him drags

Strong's Greek 3769
5 Occurrences


οὐρὰ — 1 Occ.
οὐραὶ — 1 Occ.
οὐραῖς — 2 Occ.
οὐρὰς — 1 Occ.

3768
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