6:9 Now 1 when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed 2 because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given.
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of a new and somewhat different topic after the introduction of the four riders.
2 tn Or “murdered.” See the note on the word “butcher” in 6:4.
3 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the second beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Grk “it was given [permitted] to it [the second beast].”
5 tn Grk “breath,” but in context the point is that the image of the first beast is made to come to life and speak.
6 tn Grk “of the beast”; the word “first” has been supplied to specify the referent.
5 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
6 tn Or “of the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
7 tn Grk “fell.”
8 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Babylon’s misdeeds (see Rev 14:8).
9 tn Grk “the cup of the wine of the anger of the wrath of him.” The concatenation of four genitives has been rendered somewhat differently by various translations (see the note on the word “wrath”).
10 tn Following BDAG 461 s.v. θυμός 2, the combination of the genitives of θυμός (qumo") and ὀργή (orgh) in Rev 16:19 and 19:15 are taken to be a strengthening of the thought as in the OT and Qumran literature (Exod 32:12; Jer 32:37; Lam 2:3; CD 10:9). Thus in Rev 14:8 (to which the present passage alludes) and 18:3 there is irony: The wine of immoral behavior with which Babylon makes the nations drunk becomes the wine of God’s wrath for her.