4:4 At that time 1 the sovereign master 2 will wash the excrement 3 from Zion’s women,
he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst, 4
as he comes to judge
and to bring devastation. 5
32:24 They will be starved by famine,
eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; 14
I will send the teeth of wild animals against them,
along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust.
18:9 Then 20 the kings of the earth who committed immoral acts with her and lived in sensual luxury 21 with her will weep and wail for her when they see the smoke from the fire that burns her up. 22
1 tn Heb “when” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); CEV “after”; NRSV “once.”
2 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).
3 tn The word refers elsewhere to vomit (Isa 28:8) and fecal material (Isa 36:12). Many English versions render this somewhat euphemistically as “filth” (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV). Ironically in God’s sight the beautiful jewelry described earlier is nothing but vomit and feces, for it symbolizes the moral decay of the city’s residents (cf. NLT “moral filth”).
4 sn See 1:21 for a related concept.
5 tn Heb “by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.” The precise meaning of the second half of the verse is uncertain. רוּחַ (ruakh) can be understood as “wind” in which case the passage pictures the Lord using a destructive wind as an instrument of judgment. However, this would create a mixed metaphor, for the first half of the verse uses the imagery of washing and rinsing to depict judgment. Perhaps the image would be that of a windstorm accompanied by heavy rain. רוּחַ can also mean “spirit,” in which case the verse may be referring to the Lord’s Spirit or, more likely, to a disposition that the Lord brings to the task of judgment. It is also uncertain if בָּעַר (ba’ar) here means “burning” or “sweeping away, devastating.”
6 tn Or “I also” (see HALOT 76 s.v. אַף 6.b).
7 tn Heb “soul.” These expressions may refer either to the physical effects of consumption and fever as the rendering in the text suggests (e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452, 454, “diminishing eyesight and loss of appetite”), or perhaps the more psychological effects, “which exhausts the eyes” because of anxious hope “and causes depression” (Heb “causes soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] to pine away”), e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 185.
8 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have causal force here.
9 tn That is, “your enemies will eat” the produce that grows from the sown seed.
10 tn Heb “The
11 tn Or perhaps “consumption” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The term is from a verbal root that indicates a weakening of one’s physical strength (cf. NAB “wasting”; NIV, NLT “wasting disease”).
12 tn Heb “hot fever”; NIV “scorching heat.”
13 tn Or “drought” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).
14 tn The Hebrew term קֶטֶב (qetev) is probably metaphorical here for the sting of a disease (HALOT 1091-92 s.v.).
15 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “thus” to indicate the implied result of the bowl poured on the sun.
16 tn Grk “men,” but this is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") and refers to both men and women.
17 tn On this phrase BDAG 536 s.v. καῦμα states, “burning, heat Rv 7:16…καυματίζεσθαι κ. μέγα be burned with a scorching heat 16:9.”
18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
19 tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.
20 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
21 tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”
22 tn Grk “from the burning of her.” For the translation “the smoke from the fire that burns her up,” see L&N 14.63.