Deuteronomy 17:16-17

17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, ¹  for the Lord has said you must never again return that way. 17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many ²  wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold.

Deuteronomy 17:1

17:1 You must not sacrifice to him ³  a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect, because that is considered offensive ⁴  to the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 10:21

10:21 He is the one you should praise; ⁵  he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you have seen.

Deuteronomy 10:2

10:2 I will write on the tablets the same words ⁶  that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark.”

Deuteronomy 9:20-25

9:20 The Lord was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him ⁷  too. 9:21 As for your sinful thing ⁸  that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down, ⁹  ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain. 9:22 Moreover, you continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, ¹⁰  Massah, ¹¹  and Kibroth-Hattaavah. ¹²  9:23 And when he ¹³  sent you from Kadesh-Barnea and told you, “Go up and possess the land I have given you,” you rebelled against the Lord your God ¹⁴  and would neither believe nor obey him. 9:24 You have been rebelling against him ¹⁵  from the very first day I knew you!

Moses’ Plea on Behalf of the Lord’s Reputation

9:25 I lay flat on the ground before the Lord for forty days and nights, ¹⁶  for he ¹⁷  had said he would destroy you.

Jeremiah 5:27-28

5:27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, ¹⁸ 

their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. ¹⁹ 

That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful. ²⁰ 

5:28 That is how ²¹  they have grown fat and sleek. ²² 

There is no limit to the evil things they do. ²³ 

They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.

They do not defend the rights of the poor.

James 5:1-3

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ²⁴  over the miseries that are coming on you. 5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 5:3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! ²⁵ 

Revelation 18:3

18:3 For all the nations ²⁶  have fallen ²⁷  from

the wine of her immoral passion, ²⁸ 

and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her,

and the merchants of the earth have gotten rich from the power of her sensual behavior.” ²⁹ 

Revelation 18:11-17

18:11 Then ³⁰  the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her because no one buys their cargo ³¹  any longer – 18:12 cargo such as gold, silver, ³²  precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, ³³  scarlet cloth, ³⁴  all sorts of things made of citron wood, ³⁵  all sorts of objects made of ivory, all sorts of things made of expensive wood, bronze, iron and marble, 18:13 cinnamon, spice, ³⁶  incense, perfumed ointment, ³⁷  frankincense, ³⁸  wine, olive oil and costly flour, ³⁹  wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and four-wheeled carriages, ⁴⁰  slaves and human lives. ⁴¹ 

18:14 (The ripe fruit ⁴²  you greatly desired ⁴³ 

has gone from you,

and all your luxury ⁴⁴  and splendor ⁴⁵ 

have gone from you –

they will never ever be found again!) ⁴⁶ 

18:15 The merchants who sold ⁴⁷  these things, who got rich from her, will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment. They will weep ⁴⁸  and mourn, 18:16 saying,

“Woe, woe, O great city –

dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet clothing, ⁴⁹ 

and adorned with gold, ⁵⁰  precious stones, and pearls –

18:17 because in a single hour such great wealth has been destroyed!” ⁵¹ 

And every ship’s captain, ⁵²  and all who sail along the coast ⁵³  – seamen, and all who ⁵⁴  make their living from the sea, stood a long way off

[17:16]  ¹ tn Heb “in order to multiply horses.” The translation uses “do so” in place of “multiply horses” to avoid redundancy (cf. NAB, NIV).

[17:17]  ² tn Heb “must not multiply” (cf. KJV, NASB); NLT “must not take many.”

[17:1]  ³ tn Heb “to the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.

[17:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “an abomination”; cf. NAB) describes persons, things, or practices offensive to ritual or moral order. See M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 4:314-18; see also the note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.

[10:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “your praise.” The pronoun is subjective and the noun “praise” is used here metonymically for the object of their praise (the Lord).

[10:2]  ⁶ sn The same words. The care with which the replacement copy must be made underscores the importance of verbal precision in relaying the Lord’s commandments.

[9:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “Aaron.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid redundancy.

[9:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “your sin.” This is a metonymy in which the effect (sin) stands for the cause (the metal calf).

[9:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “burned it with fire.”

[9:22]  ¹⁰ sn Taberah. By popular etymology this derives from the Hebrew verb בָעַר (ba’ar, “to burn”), thus, here, “burning.” The reference is to the Lord’s fiery wrath against Israel because of their constant complaints against him (Num 11:1-3).

[9:22]  ¹¹ sn Massah. See note on this term in Deut 6:16.

[9:22]  ¹² sn Kibroth-Hattaavah. This place name means in Hebrew “burial places of appetite,” that is, graves that resulted from overindulgence. The reference is to the Israelites stuffing themselves with the quail God had provided and doing so with thanklessness (Num 11:31-35).

[9:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord your God,” that is, against the commandment that he had spoken.

[9:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:25]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text includes “when I prostrated myself.” Since this is redundant, it has been left untranslated.

[9:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[5:27]  ¹⁸ tn The words, “that have been caught” are not in the text but are implicit in the comparison.

[5:27]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “are filled with deceit.” The translation assumes a figure of speech of cause for effect (metonymy). Compare the same word in the same figure in Zeph 1:9.

[5:27]  ²⁰ tn Heb “therefore they have gotten great and rich.”

[5:28]  ²¹ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show that this line is parallel with the preceding.

[5:28]  ²² tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. This verb occurs only here. The lexicons generally relate it to the word translated “plate” in Song 5:14 and understand it to mean “smooth, shiny” (so BDB 799 s.v. I עֶשֶׁת) or “fat” (so HALOT 850 s.v. II עֶשֶׁת). The word in Song 5:14 more likely means “smooth” than “plate” (so TEV). So “sleek” is most likely here.

[5:28]  ²³ tn Heb “they cross over/transgress with respect to matters of evil.”

[5:1]  ²⁴ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[5:3]  ²⁵ tn Or “hoarded up treasure for the last days”; Grk “in the last days.”

[18:3]  ²⁶ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[18:3]  ²⁷ tc ‡ Several mss (א A C 1006* 1611 1841 2030 Ï^K), including the best witnesses, read “have fallen” (πεπτώκασιν or πέπτωκαν [peptwkasin or peptwkan]). The singular πέπτωκεν (peptwken), which is better grammatically with the neuter plural subject πάντα τὰ ἔθνη (panta ta eqnh, “all the nations”), is read by 1854 2062 pc; 2042 pc read πεπότικεν (pepotiken). A few mss (1006^c 2329 pc latt sy^h) read “have drunk” (πέπωκαν/πεπώκασιν, pepwkan/pepwkasin); the singular πέπωκεν (pepwken) is read by P 051 1 2053* al. The more difficult reading and that which has the best ms support is “have fallen.” That it is not too difficult is evidenced by the fact that the great majority of Byzantine minuscules, which have a tendency to smooth out problems, left it stand as is. Nonetheless, it is somewhat difficult (TCGNT 683 says that this reading is “scarcely suitable in the context”), and for that reason certain mss seem to have changed it to “have drunk” to agree with the idea of “wine” (οἴνου, oinou). One can understand how this could happen: A scribe coming to the text and seeing the term “wine” expects a verb of drinking. When he sees “have fallen” and knows that in Greek the verbs “have fallen” and “have drunk” are spelled similarly, he concludes that there has been a slip of the pen in the ms he is using, which he then seeks to correct back to the “have drunk” reading. This appears to be more reasonable than to conclude that three early uncials (i.e., א A C) as well as a great number of other witnesses all felt the need to change “have drunk” (πέπωκαν) to “have fallen” (πέπτωκαν), even if “fallen” occurs in the immediate context (“fallen, fallen, [ἔπεσεν ἔπεσεν, epesen epesen] Babylon the great” in the preceding verse). The preferred reading, on both external and internal grounds, is “have fallen,” and thus the Seer intends to focus on the effects of wine, namely, a drunken stupor.

[18:3]  ²⁸ tn See the notes on the words “passion” in Rev 14:8 and “wrath” in 16:19.

[18:3]  ²⁹ tn According to BDAG 949 s.v. στρῆνος and στρηνιάω, these terms can refer either to luxury or sensuality. In the context of Rev 18, however (as L&N 88.254 indicate) the stress is on gratification of the senses by sexual immorality, so that meaning was emphasized in the translation here.

[18:11]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[18:11]  ³¹ tn On γόμος (gomos) BDAG 205 s.v. states, “load, freight…cargo of a ship…Ac 21:3. W. gen. of the owner Rv 18:11. W. gen. of content…γ. χρυσοῦ a cargo of gold vs. 12.”

[18:12]  ³² tn Grk “and silver,” but καί (kai) has not been translated before most of these terms since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more

[18:12]  ³³ tn On this term BDAG 924-25 s.v. σιρικός states, “per. to silk from Ser, subst. τὸ σιρικόν silk cloth or garments w. other costly materials Rv 18:12.”

[18:12]  ³⁴ tn On the translation of κόκκινον (kokkinon) as “scarlet cloth” see L&N 6.170.

[18:12]  ³⁵ tn On the phrase πᾶν ξύλον θύϊνον (pan xulon quinon) L&N 3.63 states, “pertaining to being made or consisting of citron wood (that is, from a citron tree) – ‘of citron wood.’ καὶ πᾶν ξύλον θύϊνον καὶ πᾶν σκεῦος ἐλεφάντινον ‘and all kinds of things made of citron wood and all kinds of objects made of ivory’ Re 18:12. The citron tree belongs to the citrus family of plants, and it produces a pale yellow fruit somewhat larger than a lemon, the rind of which is often candied. In Re 18:12, however, the focus is upon the fine quality of the wood.”

[18:13]  ³⁶ tn On the term ἄμωμον (amwmon) L&N 5.23 states, “a generic term for any kind of spice, though often a specific reference to amomum, an Indian type of spice – ‘spice, amomum.’ κιννάμωμον καὶ ἄμωμον καὶ θυμιάματα ‘cinnamon and spice and incense’ Re 18:13. In most translations ἄμωμον is interpreted as spice in general.”

[18:13]  ³⁷ tn Or “myrrh,” a strong aromatic ointment often used to prepare a body for burial (L&N 6.205).

[18:13]  ³⁸ tn The Greek term λίβανος (libano") refers to the aromatic resin of a certain type of tree (L&N 6.212).

[18:13]  ³⁹ tn On σεμίδαλις (semidali") L&N 5.10 states, “a fine grade of wheat flour – ‘fine flour.’ οἶνον καὶ ἔλαιον καὶ σεμίδαλιν καὶ σῖτον ‘wine and oil and fine flour and wheat’ Re 18:13. In some languages ‘fine flour’ may be best expressed as ‘expensive flour.’ Such a rendering fits well the context of Re 18:13.”

[18:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “and wagons.” On the term ῥέδη (rJedh) see L&N 6.53: “a four-wheeled carriage or wagon used for travel or the transportation of loads – ‘carriage, wagon.’ The term ῥέδη occurs only in Re 18:13 in a list of products bought and sold by merchants.”

[18:13]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “and bodies and souls of men.” This could be understood (1) as a hendiadys (two things mentioned = one thing meant), referring only to slave trade; (2) it could be referring to two somewhat different concepts: slavery (bodies) and the cheapness of human life – some of the items earlier in the list of merchandise were to be obtained only at great cost of human life; or (3) a somewhat related idea, that the trade is in not just physical bodies (slavery) but human souls (people whose lives are destroyed through this trade).

[18:14]  ⁴² tn On ὀπώρα (opwra) L&N 3.34 states, “ἡ ὀπώρα σου τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ψυχῆς ‘the ripe fruit for which you longed’ Re 18:14. In this one occurrence of ὀπώρα in the NT, ‘ripe fruit’ is to be understood in a figurative sense of ‘good things.’”

[18:14]  ⁴³ tn Grk “you desired in your soul.”

[18:14]  ⁴⁴ tn On λιπαρός (liparo") BDAG 597 s.v. states, “luxury Rv 18:14.”

[18:14]  ⁴⁵ tn On τὰ λαμπρά (ta lampra) BDAG 585 s.v. λαμπρός 4 states, “splendor…in which a rich man takes delight (cp. Jos., Ant. 12, 220 δωρεὰς δοὺς λαμπράς) Rv 18:14.”

[18:14]  ⁴⁶ tn Verse 14 is set in parentheses because in it the city, Babylon, is addressed directly in second person.

[18:15]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “the merchants [sellers] of these things.”

[18:15]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “her torment, weeping.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation by supplying the words “They will” here.

[18:16]  ⁴⁹ tn The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.

[18:16]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).

[18:17]  ⁵¹ tn On ἠρημώθη (hrhmwqh) L&N 20.41 states, “to suffer destruction, with the implication of being deserted and abandoned – ‘to be destroyed, to suffer destruction, to suffer desolation.’ ἐρημόομαι: μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἠρημώθη ὁ τοσοῦτος πλοῦτος ‘such great wealth has been destroyed within a single hour’ Re 18:17.”

[18:17]  ⁵² tn On κυβερνήτης (kubernhth") BDAG 574 s.v. 1 states, “one who is responsible for the management of a ship, shipmaster, lit. Rv 18:17.”

[18:17]  ⁵³ tn Or perhaps, “everyone who sails as a passenger.” On πλέων (plewn) BDAG 825 s.v. πλέω states, “πᾶς ὁ ἐπὶ τόπον πλέων everyone who sails to a place = seafarer, sea traveler…Rv 18:17. The vv.ll.…have led to various interpretations. Some render: everyone who sails along the coast…See EbNestle, Einführung in das Griech. NT 1909, 182; AFridrichsen, K. Hum. Vetensk.-Samf. i Upps. Årsb. ’43, 31 note ὁ ἐπίτοπον πλέων=one who sails occasionally, a passenger. – S. also IHeikel, StKr 106, ’34/’35, 317).”

[18:17]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “and as many as.”