18:21 Then 1 one powerful angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone, threw it into the sea, and said,
“With this kind of sudden violent force 2
Babylon the great city will be thrown down 3
and it will never be found again!
18:22 And the sound of the harpists, musicians,
flute players, and trumpeters
will never be heard in you 4 again.
No 5 craftsman 6 who practices any trade
will ever be found in you again;
the noise of a mill 7 will never be heard in you again.
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
2 tn On ὅρμημα ({ormhma) BDAG 724 s.v. states, “violent rush, onset ὁρμήματι βληθήσεται Βαβυλών Babylon will be thrown down with violence Rv 18:21.” L&N 68.82 refers to the suddenness of the force or violence.
3 sn Thrown down is a play on both the words and the action. The angel’s action with the stone illustrates the kind of sudden violent force with which the city will be overthrown.
4 tn The shift to a second person pronoun here corresponds to the Greek text.
5 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
6 tn On this term BDAG 1001 s.v. τεχνίτης states, “craftsperson, artisan, designer…Of a silversmith Ac 19:24, 25 v.l., 38….Of a potter 2 Cl 8:2 (metaph., cp. Ath. 15:2). πᾶς τεχνίτης πάσης τέχνης Rv 18:22.”
7 tn This is a different Greek word (μύλος, mulos) from the one for the millstone in v. 21 (μύλινος, mulinos). See L&N 7.68.