Isaiah 24:17-18

24:17 Terror, pit, and snare

are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth! ¹ 

24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror

will fall into the pit; ² 

the one who climbs out of the pit,

will be trapped by the snare.

For the floodgates of the heavens ³  are opened up ⁴ 

and the foundations of the earth shake.

Amos 5:19

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ⁵ 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ⁶  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

Amos 9:1-3

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ⁷  standing by the altar ⁸  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ⁹  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ¹⁰ 

and I will kill the survivors ¹¹  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ¹² 

no one will be able to escape. ¹³ 

9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ¹⁴ 

my hand would pull them up from there.

Even if they could climb up to heaven,

I would drag them down from there.

9:3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,

I would hunt them down and take them from there.

Even if they tried to hide from me ¹⁵  at the bottom of the sea,

from there ¹⁶  I would command the Sea Serpent ¹⁷  to bite them.

Luke 17:34-37

17:34 I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. ¹⁸  17:35 There will be two women grinding grain together; ¹⁹  one will be taken and the other left.”

17:36 [[EMPTY]] ²⁰ 

17:37 Then ²¹  the disciples ²²  said ²³  to him, “Where, ²⁴  Lord?” He replied to them, “Where the dead body ²⁵  is, there the vultures ²⁶  will gather.” ²⁷ 

Revelation 6:15-17

6:15 Then ²⁸  the kings of the earth, the ²⁹  very important people, the generals, ³⁰  the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave ³¹  and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 6:16 They ³²  said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ³³  6:17 because the great day of their ³⁴  wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” ³⁵ 

[24:17]  ¹ tn Heb “[are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” The first line of v. 17 provides another classic example of Hebrew wordplay. The names of the three instruments of judgment (פָח,פַחַת,פַּחַד [pakhad, fakhat, fakh]) all begin with the letters פח (peh-khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ת/ד, tet/dalet). Once again the repetition of sound draws attention to the statement and contributes to the theme of the inescapability of judgment. As their similar-sounding names suggest, terror, pit, and snare are allies in destroying the objects of divine wrath.

[24:18]  ² tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[24:18]  ³ tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”

[24:18]  ⁴ sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).

[5:19]  ⁵ tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).

[9:1]  ⁷ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ⁸ sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ⁹ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”

[9:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.

[9:1]  ¹² tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”

[9:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”

[9:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “from before my eyes.”

[9:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:3]  ¹⁷ sn If the article indicates a definite serpent, then the mythological Sea Serpent, symbolic of the world’s chaotic forces, is probably in view. See Job 26:13 and Isa 27:1 (where it is also called Leviathan). Elsewhere in the OT this serpent is depicted as opposing the Lord, but this text implies that even this powerful enemy of God is ultimately subject to his sovereign will.

[17:34]  ¹⁸ sn There is debate among commentators and scholars over the phrase one will be taken and the other left about whether one is taken for judgment or for salvation. If the imagery is patterned after the rescue of Noah from the flood and Lot from Sodom, as some suggest, the ones taken are the saved (as Noah and Lot were) andthose left behind are judged. The imagery, however, is not directly tied to theidentification of the two groups. Its primary purposein context is topicture the sudden, surprisingseparation of the righteous and the judged (i.e., condemned) at the return of the Son of Man.

[17:35]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “at the same place.” According to L&N 46.16, this refers to a hand mill normally operated by two women.

[17:36]  ²⁰ tc Several mss (D ˹³ [579] 700 al lat sy) add (with several variations among these witnesses) 17:36 “There will be two in the field; one will be taken and the other left.” It is not well enough attested to be original. Further, it is an assimilation to the parallel in Matt 24:40, which marks the addition as secondary. The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations.

[17:37]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[17:37]  ²² tn Grk “they”; the referent (the disciples, v. 22) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:37]  ²³ tn Grk “answering, they said to him.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:37]  ²⁴ sn The question “Where, Lord?” means, “Where will the judgment take place?”

[17:37]  ²⁵ tn Or “corpse.”

[17:37]  ²⁶ tn The same Greek term can refer to “eagles” or “vultures” (L&N 4.42; BDAG 22 s.v. ἀετός), but in this context it must mean vultures, because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed by scavengers.

[17:37]  ²⁷ tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.

[6:15]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[6:15]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated; nor is it translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[6:15]  ³⁰ tn Grk “chiliarchs.” A chiliarch was normally a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).

[6:15]  ³¹ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[6:16]  ³² tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:16]  ³³ tn It is difficult to say where this quotation ends. The translation ends it after “withstand it” at the end of v. 17, but it is possible that it should end here, after “Lamb” at the end of v. 16. If it ends after “Lamb,” v. 17 is a parenthetical explanation by the author.

[6:17]  ³⁴ tc Most mss (A Ï bo) change the pronoun “their” to “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou) in order to bring the text in line with the mention of the one seated on the throne in the immediately preceding verse, and to remove the ambiguity about whose wrath is in view here. The reading αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”) is well supported by א C 1611 1854 2053 2329 2344 pc latt sy. On both internal and external grounds, it should be regarded as original.

[6:17]  ³⁵ tn The translation “to withstand (it)” for ἵστημι (Jisthmi) is based on the imagery of holding one’s ground in a military campaign or an attack (BDAG 482 s.v. B.4).