12:5 Shemaiah the prophet visited Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who were assembled in Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have rejected me, so I have rejected you and will hand you over to Shishak.’” 1
ב (Bet)
2:2 The Lord 5 destroyed 6 mercilessly 7
all the homes of Jacob’s descendants. 8
In his anger he tore down
the fortified cities 9 of Daughter Judah.
He knocked to the ground and humiliated
the kingdom and its rulers. 10
ה (He)
2:5 The Lord, 11 like an enemy,
destroyed 12 Israel.
He destroyed 13 all her palaces;
he ruined her 14 fortified cities.
He made everyone in Daughter Judah
mourn and lament. 15
13:1 Then 16 I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It 17 had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, 18 and on its heads a blasphemous name. 19 13:2 Now 20 the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The 21 dragon gave the beast 22 his power, his throne, and great authority to rule. 23 13:3 One of the beast’s 24 heads appeared to have been killed, 25 but the lethal wound had been healed. 26 And the whole world followed 27 the beast in amazement; 13:4 they worshiped the dragon because he had given ruling authority 28 to the beast, and they worshiped the beast too, saying: “Who is like the beast?” and “Who is able to make war against him?” 29 13:5 The beast 30 was given a mouth speaking proud words 31 and blasphemies, and he was permitted 32 to exercise ruling authority 33 for forty-two months. 13:6 So 34 the beast 35 opened his mouth to blaspheme against God – to blaspheme both his name and his dwelling place, 36 that is, those who dwell in heaven. 13:7 The beast 37 was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. 38 He was given ruling authority 39 over every tribe, people, 40 language, and nation,
1 tn Heb “also I have rejected you into the hand of Shishak.”
2 tn Heb “times.”
3 tn Heb “there was peace for the one going out or the one coming in.”
4 tn Heb “for great confusion was upon all the inhabitants of the lands.”
5 tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the
6 tn Heb “has swallowed up.”
7 tc The Kethib is written לֹא חָמַל (lo’ khamal, “without mercy”), while the Qere reads וְלֹא חָמַל (vÿlo’ khamal, “and he has shown no mercy”). The Kethib is followed by the LXX, while the Qere is reflected in many Hebrew
8 tn Heb “all the dwellings of Jacob.”
9 tn Heb “the strongholds.”
10 tn Heb “He brought down to the ground in disgrace the kingdom and its princes.” The verbs חִלֵּל…הִגִּיע (higgi’…khillel, “he has brought down…he has profaned”) function as a verbal hendiadys, as the absence of the conjunction ו (vav) suggests. The first verb retains its full verbal force, while the second functions adverbially: “he has brought down [direct object] in disgrace.”
11 tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the
12 tn Heb “swallowed up.”
13 tn Heb “swallowed up.”
14 tn Heb “his.” For consistency this has been translated as “her.”
15 tn Heb “He increased in Daughter Judah mourning and lamentation.”
16 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
17 tn Grk “having” (a continuation of the previous sentence). All of the pronouns referring to this beast (along with the second beast appearing in 13:11) could be translated as “it” because the word for beast (θηρίον, qhrion) is neuter gender in Greek and all the pronouns related to it are parsed as neuter in the Gramcord/Accordance database. Nevertheless, most interpreters would agree that the beast ultimately represents a human ruler, so beginning at the end of v. 4 the masculine pronouns (“he,” “him,” etc.) are used to refer to the first beast as well as the second beast appearing in 13:11.
18 tn For the translation of διάδημα (diadhma) as “diadem crown” see L&N 6.196.
19 tc ‡ Several
20 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the parenthetical nature of the following description of the beast.
21 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
22 tn Grk “gave it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
23 tn For the translation “authority to rule” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.
24 tn Grk “one of its heads”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
25 tn Grk “killed to death,” an expression emphatic in its redundancy. The phrase behind this translation is ὡς ἐσφαγμένον (Jw" ejsfagmenon). The particle ὡς is used in Greek generally for comparison, and in Revelation it is used often to describe the appearance of what the author saw. In this instance, the appearance of the beast’s head did not match reality, because the next phrase shows that in fact it did not die. This text does not affirm that the beast died and was resurrected, but some draw this conclusion because of the only other use of the phrase, which refers to Jesus in 5:6.
26 tn The phrase τοῦ θανάτου (tou qanatou) can be translated as an attributive genitive (“deathly wound”) or an objective genitive (the wound which caused death) and the final αὐτοῦ (autou) is either possessive or reference/respect.
27 tn On the phrase “the whole world followed the beast in amazement,” BDAG 445 s.v. θαυμάζω 2 states, “wonder, be amazed…Rv 17:8. In pregnant constr. ἐθαυμάσθη ὅλη ἡ γῆ ὀπίσω τ. θηρίου the whole world followed the beast, full of wonder 13:3 (here wonder becomes worship: cp. Ael. Aristid. 13 p. 290 D.; 39 p. 747 of Dionysus and Heracles, οἳ ὑφ᾿ ἡμῶν ἐθαυμάσθησαν. Sir 7:29; Jos., Ant. 3, 65. – The act. is also found in this sense: Cebes 2, 3 θ. τινά = ‘admire’ or ‘venerate’ someone; Epict. 1, 17, 19 θ. τὸν θεόν).”
28 tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.
29 tn On the use of the masculine pronoun to refer to the beast, see the note on the word “It” in 13:1.
30 tn Grk “and there was given to him.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
31 tn For the translation “proud words” (Grk “great things” or “important things”) see BDAG 624 s.v. μέγας 4.b.
32 tn Grk “to it was granted.”
33 tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.
34 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the permission granted to the beast.
35 tn Grk “he” (or “it”); the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
36 tc The reading “and his dwelling place” does not occur in codex C, but its omission is probably due to scribal oversight since the phrase has the same ending as the phrase before it, i.e., they both end in “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou). This is similar to the mistake this scribe made in 12:14 with the omission of the reading “and half a time” (καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ, kai {hmisu kairou).
37 tn Grk “and it was given to him to go to war.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
38 tc Many
39 tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.
40 tn Grk “and people,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here or before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.