Discovery BoxHabakkuk 2:8
Context2:8 Because you robbed many countries, 1
all who are left among the nations 2 will rob you.
You have shed human blood
and committed violent acts against lands, cities, 3 and those who live in them.
Psalms 55:23
Context55:23 But you, O God, will bring them 4 down to the deep Pit. 5
Violent and deceitful people 6 will not live even half a normal lifespan. 7
But as for me, I trust in you.
Psalms 137:8
Context137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! 8
How blessed will be the one who repays you
for what you dished out to us! 9
Proverbs 28:17
Context28:17 The one who is tormented 10 by the murder 11 of another will flee to the pit; 12
let no one support him.
Revelation 18:20-24
Context18:20 (Rejoice over her, O heaven,
and you saints and apostles and prophets,
for God has pronounced judgment 13 against her on your behalf!) 14
18:21 Then 15 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 16
Babylon the great city will be thrown down 17
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 18 again.
No 19 craftsman 20 who practices any trade
will ever be found in you again;
the noise of a mill 21 will never be heard in you again.
18:23 Even the light from a lamp
will never shine in you again!
The voices of the bridegroom and his bride
will never be heard in you again.
For your merchants were the tycoons of the world,
because all the nations 22 were deceived by your magic spells! 23
18:24 The 24 blood of the saints and prophets was found in her, 25
along with the blood 26 of all those who had been killed on the earth.”
[2:8] 3 tn Heb “because of the shed blood of humankind and violence against land, city.” The singular forms אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”) and קִרְיָה (qiryah, “city”) are collective, referring to all the lands and cities terrorized by the Babylonians.
[55:23] 4 tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).
[55:23] 5 tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4).
[55:23] 6 tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.”
[55:23] 7 tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”
[137:8] 8 tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.
[137:8] 9 tn Heb “O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.”
[28:17] 10 tn The form is the Qal passive participle. The verb means “to oppress; to wrong; to extort”; here the idea of being “oppressed” would refer to the burden of a guilty conscience (hence “tormented”; cf. NAB, NRSV “burdened”). Some commentators have wanted to emend the text to read “suspected,” or “charged with,” or “given to,” etc., but if the motive is religious and not legal, then “oppressed” or “tormented” is preferred.
[28:17] 11 sn The text has “the blood of a life”; blood will be the metonymy of effect for the murder, the shedding of blood.
[28:17] 12 tn The verse is cryptic; it simply says that he will “flee to the pit.” Some have taken the “pit” to refer to the place of detention for prisoners, but why would he flee to that place? It seems rather to refer to death. This could mean that (1) since there is no place for him to go outside of the grave, he should flee to the pit (cf. TEV, NLT), or (2) he will be a fugitive until he goes to the grave (cf. NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV). Neither one of these options is easily derived from the text. The verse seems to be saying that the one who is guilty of murder will flee, and no one should assist him. The meaning of “the pit” is unresolved.
[18:20] 13 tn On the phrase “pronounced judgment” BDAG 567 s.v. κρίμα 4.b states, “The OT is the source of the expr. κρίνειν τὸ κρ. (cp. Zech 7:9; 8:16; Ezk 44:24) ἔκρινεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς God has pronounced judgment for you against her or God has pronounced on her the judgment she wished to impose on you (HHoltzmann, Hdb. 1893 ad loc.) Rv 18:20.”
[18:20] 14 tn Grk “God has judged a judgment of you of her.” Verse 20 is set in parentheses because in it the saints, etc. are addressed directly in the second person.
[18:21] 15 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
[18:21] 16 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.
[18:21] 17 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.
[18:22] 18 tn The shift to a second person pronoun here corresponds to the Greek text.
[18:22] 19 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[18:22] 20 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.”
[18:22] 21 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.
[18:23] 22 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
[18:23] 23 tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”
[18:24] 24 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[18:24] 25 tn The shift in pronouns from second to third person corresponds to the Greek text.
[18:24] 26 tn Grk “and of all.” The phrase “along with the blood” has been repeated from the previous clause for stylistic reasons.
