66:16 For the Lord judges all humanity 1
with fire and his sword;
the Lord will kill many. 2
58:10 The godly 3 will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out;
they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
58:11 Then 4 observers 5 will say,
“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded! 6
Yes indeed, there is a God who judges 7 in the earth!”
39:9 “‘Then those who live in the cities of Israel will go out and use the weapons for kindling 8 – the shields, 9 bows and arrows, war clubs and spears – they will burn them for seven years. 39:10 They will not need to take 10 wood from the field or cut down trees from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons. They will take the loot from those who looted them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them, 11 declares the sovereign Lord.
39:11 “‘On that day I will assign Gog a grave in Israel. It will be the valley of those who travel east of the sea; it will block the way of the travelers. There they will bury Gog and all his horde; they will call it the valley of Hamon-Gog. 12 39:12 For seven months Israel 13 will bury them, in order to cleanse the land. 39:13 All the people of the land will bury them, and it will be a memorial 14 for them on the day I magnify myself, declares the sovereign Lord. 39:14 They will designate men to scout continually 15 through the land, burying those who remain on the surface of the ground, 16 in order to cleanse it. They will search for seven full months. 39:15 When the scouts survey 17 the land and see a human bone, they will place a sign by it, until those assigned to burial duty have buried it 18 in the valley of Hamon-Gog. 39:16 (A city by the name of Hamonah 19 will also be there.) They will cleanse the land.’
14:12 But this will be the nature of the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will decay while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot away in their sockets, and their tongues will dissolve in their mouths.
19:17 Then 20 I saw one angel standing in 21 the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: 22
“Come, gather around for the great banquet 23 of God,
19:18 to eat 24 your fill 25 of the flesh of kings,
the flesh of generals, 26
the flesh of powerful people,
the flesh of horses and those who ride them,
and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, 27
and small and great!”
19:19 Then 28 I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army. 19:20 Now 29 the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf 30 – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. 31 19:21 The 32 others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged 33 themselves with their flesh.
1 tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “upon all men”; TEV “all the people of the world.”
2 tn Heb “many are the slain of the Lord.”
3 tn The singular is representative here, as is the singular from “wicked” in the next line.
4 tn Following the imperfects of v. 10, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates a result or consequence of what precedes.
5 tn Heb “man.” The singular is representative here.
6 tn Heb “surely [there] is fruit for the godly.”
7 tn The plural participle is unusual here if the preceding אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is here a plural of majesty, referring to the one true God. Occasionally the plural of majesty does take a plural attributive (see GKC 428-29 §132.h). It is possible that the final mem (ם) on the participle is enclitic, and that it was later misunderstood as a plural ending. Another option is to translate, “Yes indeed, there are gods who judge in the earth.” In this case, the statement reflects the polytheistic mindset of pagan observers who, despite their theological ignorance, nevertheless recognize divine retribution when they see it.
8 tn Heb “burn and kindle the weapons.”
9 tn Two different types of shields are specified in the Hebrew text.
10 tn Heb “they will not carry.”
11 tn Heb “loot their looters and plunder their plunderers.”
12 tn The name means “horde of Gog.”
13 tn Heb “the house of Israel.”
14 tn Heb “name.”
15 tn Heb “men of perpetuity.”
16 tn Heb “and bury the travelers and those who remain on the surface of the ground.” The reference to “travelers” seems odd and is omitted in the LXX. It is probably an accidental duplication (see v. 11).
17 tn Heb “as the scouts scout.”
18 tn That is, the aforementioned bone.
19 tn This name appears to be a feminine form of the word “horde,” used in the name Hamon-Gog.
20 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
21 tn The precise significance of ἐν (en) here is difficult to determine.
22 tn On μεσουρανήματι (mesouranhmati) here see L&N 1.10: “high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.” The birds mentioned here are carrion birds like vultures, circling high overhead, and now being summoned to feast on the corpses.
23 tn This is the same Greek word (δεῖπνον, deipnon) used in 19:9.
24 tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause, insofar as it is related to the first imperative, has the force of an imperative.
25 tn The idea of eating “your fill” is evident in the context with the use of χορτάζω (cortazw) in v. 21.
26 tn Grk “chiliarchs”; normally a chiliarch was a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).
27 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
28 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
29 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of an unexpected development in the account: The opposing armies do not come together in battle; rather the leader of one side is captured.
30 tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”
31 tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”
32 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
33 tn On the translation of ἐχορτάσθησαν (ecortasqhsan) BDAG 1087 s.v. χορτάζω 1.a states, “of animals, pass. in act. sense πάντα τὰ ὄρνεα ἐχορτάσθησαν ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτῶν all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh Rv 19:21 (cp. TestJud. 21:8).”