51:6 Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people. 1
Flee to save your lives.
Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins.
For it is time for the Lord to wreak his revenge.
He will pay Babylonia 2 back for what she has done. 3
51:9 Foreigners living there will say, 4
‘We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed.
Let’s leave Babylonia 5 and each go back to his own country.
For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions.
It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.’ 6
51:50 You who have escaped the sword, 7
go, do not delay. 8
Remember the Lord in a faraway land.
Think about Jerusalem. 9
50:8 “People of Judah, 10 get out of Babylon quickly!
Leave the land of Babylonia! 11
Be the first to depart! 12
Be like the male goats that lead the herd.
48:20 Leave Babylon!
Flee from the Babylonians!
Announce it with a shout of joy!
Make this known!
Proclaim it throughout the earth! 13
Say, ‘The Lord protects 14 his servant Jacob.
14:8 A 16 second 17 angel 18 followed the first, 19 declaring: 20 “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great city! 21 She made all the nations 22 drink of the wine of her immoral passion.” 23
14:9 A 24 third angel 25 followed the first two, 26 declaring 27 in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, 14:10 that person 28 will also drink of the wine of God’s anger 29 that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur 30 in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb. 14:11 And the smoke from their 31 torture will go up 32 forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have 33 no rest day or night, along with 34 anyone who receives the mark of his name.”
18:4 Then 35 I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, so you will not take part in her sins and so you will not receive her plagues,
1 tn The words “you foreign people” are not in the text and many think the referent is the exiles of Judah. While this is clearly the case in v. 45 the referent seems broader here where the context speaks of every man going to his own country (v. 9).
2 tn Heb “her.”
3 tn Heb “paying to her a recompense [i.e., a payment in kind].”
4 tn The words “Foreigners living there will say” are not in the text but are implicit from the third line. These words are generally assumed by the commentaries and are explicitly added in TEV and NCV which are attempting to clarify the text for the average reader.
5 tn Heb “Leave/abandon her.” However, it is smoother in the English translation to make this verb equivalent to the cohortative that follows.
6 tn This is an admittedly very paraphrastic translation that tries to make the figurative nuance of the Hebrew original understandable for the average reader. The Hebrew text reads: “For her judgment [or punishment (cf. BDB 1078 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f) = ‘execution of judgment’] touches the heavens, and is lifted up as far as the clouds.” The figure of hyperbole or exaggeration is being used here to indicate the vastness of Babylon’s punishment which is the reason to escape (vv. 6, 9c). For this figure see Deut 1:28 in comparison with Num 13:28 and see also Deut 9:1. In both of the passages in Deut it refers to an exaggeration about the height of the walls of fortified cities. The figure also may be a play on Gen 11:4 where the nations gather in Babylon to build a tower that reaches to the skies. The present translation has interpreted the perfects here as prophetic because it has not happened yet or they would not be encouraging one another to leave and escape. For the idea here compare 50:16.
7 sn God’s exiled people are told to leave doomed Babylon (see v. 45).
8 tn Heb “don’t stand.”
9 tn Heb “let Jerusalem go up upon your heart.” The “heart” is often viewed as the seat of one’s mental faculties and thought life.
10 tn The words “People of Judah” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. They have been supplied in the translation to clarify the subject of the address.
11 tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.
12 tn The words “Be the first to leave” are not in the text but spell out the significance of the simile that follows. They have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Heb “to the end of the earth” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
14 tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.
15 tn Heb “live in [or “with” (cf. NASB), i.e., “among”] the daughter of Babylon” (so NIV; NAB “dwell in daughter Babylon”).
16 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
17 tc There are several different variants comprising a textual problem involving “second” (δεύτερος, deuteros). First, several
18 tn Grk “And another angel, a second.”
19 tn The words “the first” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
20 tn For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.
21 sn The fall of Babylon the great city is described in detail in Rev 18:2-24.
22 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
23 tn Grk “of the wine of the passion of the sexual immorality of her.” Here τῆς πορνείας (th" porneia") has been translated as an attributive genitive. In an ironic twist of fate, God will make Babylon drink her own mixture, but it will become the wine of his wrath in retribution for her immoral deeds (see the note on the word “wrath” in 16:19).
24 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
25 tn Grk “And another angel, a third.”
26 tn Grk “followed them.”
27 tn For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.
28 tn Grk “he himself.”
29 tn The Greek word for “anger” here is θυμός (qumos), a wordplay on the “passion” (θυμός) of the personified city of Babylon in 14:8.
30 tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”
31 tn The Greek pronoun is plural here even though the verbs in the previous verse are singular.
32 tn The present tense ἀναβαίνει (anabainei) has been translated as a futuristic present (ExSyn 535-36). This is also consistent with the future passive βασανισθήσεται (basanisqhsetai) in v. 10.
33 tn The present tense ἔχουσιν (ecousin) has been translated as a futuristic present to keep the English tense consistent with the previous verb (see note on “will go up” earlier in this verse).
34 tn Grk “and.”
35 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.