Text -- Revelation 16:14-21 (NET)

16:14 For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful. 16:15 (Look! I will come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition be seen.) 16:16 Now the spirits gathered the kings and their armies to the place that is called Armageddon in Hebrew. 16:17 Finally the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying: “It is done!” 16:18 Then there were flashes of lightning, roaring, and crashes of thunder, and there was a tremendous earthquake– an earthquake unequaled since humanity has been on the earth, so tremendous was that earthquake. 16:19 The great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations collapsed. So Babylon the great was remembered before God, and was given the cup filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath. 16:20 Every island fled away and no mountains could be found. 16:21 And gigantic hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people, but they blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it was so horrendous.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Rev 16:14

¹ tn BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 1 states, “the inhabited earth, the world…ὅλη ἡ οἰκ. the whole inhabited earth…Mt 24:14; Ac 11:28; Rv 3:10; 16:14.”

² tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

NET Notes: Rev 16:15

¹ tn Grk “and keeps.” BDAG 1002 s.v. τηρέω 2.c states “of holding on to someth. so as not to give it up or lose it…τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ Rv 16:15 (or else he will have to go naked).”

² tn On the translation of ἀσχημοσύνη (aschmosunh) as “shameful condition” see L&N 25.202. The indefinite third person plural (“and they see”) has been translated as a passive here.

³ sn These lines are parenthetical, forming an aside to the narrative. The speaker here is the Lord Jesus Christ himself rather than the narrator. Many interpreters have seen this verse as so abrupt that it could not be an original part of the work, but the author has used such asides before (1:7; 14:13) and the suddenness here (on the eve of Armageddon) is completely parallel to Jesus’ warning in Mark 13:15-16 and parallels.

NET Notes: Rev 16:16

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the resumption and conclusion of the remarks about the pouring out of the sixth bowl.

² tn Grk “they”; the referent (the demonic spirits, v. 14) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Grk “gathered them”; the referent (the kings and [implied] their armies, v. 14) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tc There are many variations in the spelling of this name among the Greek mss, although ῾Αρμαγεδών (&armagedwn) has the best support. The usual English spelling is Armageddon, used in the translation.

tn Or “Harmagedon” (a literal transliteration of the Greek), or “Har-Magedon” (NASB), meaning “the Mount of Magedon” in Hebrew.

NET Notes: Rev 16:17

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “finally” to indicate the conclusion of the seven bowl judgments.

² tn Grk “the seventh”; the referent (the seventh angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Rev 16:18

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

² tn Or “sounds,” “voices.” It is not entirely clear what this refers to. BDAG 1071 s.v. φωνή 1 states, “In Rv we have ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί (cp. Ex 19:16) 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18 (are certain other sounds in nature thought of here in addition to thunder, as e.g. the roar of the storm?…).”

³ tn The singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used generically here to refer to the human race.

NET Notes: Rev 16:19

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tn Or “of the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

³ tn Grk “fell.”

⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Babylon’s misdeeds (see Rev 14:8).

⁵ tn Grk “the cup of the wine of the anger of the wrath of him.” The concatenation of four genitives has been rendered somewhat differently by various translations (see the note on the word “wrath”).

⁶ tn Following BDAG 461 s.v. θυμός 2, the combination of the genitives of θυμός (qumo") and ὀργή (orgh) in Rev 16:19 and 19:15 are taken to be a strengthening of the thought as in the OT and Qumran literature (Exod 32:12; Jer 32:37; Lam 2:3; CD 10:9). Thus in Rev 14:8 (to which the present passage alludes) and 18:3 there is irony: The wine of immoral behavior with which Babylon makes the nations drunk becomes the wine of God’s wrath for her.

NET Notes: Rev 16:20

¹ tn Grk “And every.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tn Or “vanished.”

³ sn Every island fled away and no mountains could be found. Major geographical and topographical changes will accompany the Day of the Lord.

NET Notes: Rev 16:21

¹ tn Here BDAG 988 s.v. ταλαντιαῖος states, “weighing a talent…χάλαζα μεγάλη ὡς ταλαντιαία a severe hailstorm with hailstones weighing a talent (the talent=125 librae, or Roman pounds of c. 343 gr. or 12 ounces each) (weighing about a hundred pounds NRSV) Rv 16:21.” This means each hailstone would weigh just under 100 pounds or 40 kilograms.

² tn Or “the sky.” Due to the apocalyptic nature of this book, it is probably best to leave the translation as “from heaven,” since God is ultimately the source of the judgment.

³ tn Grk “on men,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a generic sense to refer to people in general (the hailstones did not single out adult males, but would have also fallen on women and children).

⁴ tn Grk “the men”; for stylistic reasons the pronoun “they” is used here.

⁵ tn Grk “the plague of it.”

⁶ tn Grk “since the plague of it was exceedingly great.”