Isaiah 60:14

60:14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you;

all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet.

They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord,

Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’ ¹ 

Jeremiah 30:16

30:16 But ²  all who destroyed you will be destroyed.

All your enemies will go into exile.

Those who plundered you will be plundered.

I will cause those who pillaged you to be pillaged. ³ 

Daniel 7:18

7:18 The holy ones ⁴  of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will take possession of the kingdom forever and ever.’

Daniel 7:25-27

7:25 He will speak words against the Most High.

He will harass ⁵  the holy ones of the Most High continually.

His intention ⁶  will be to change times established by law. ⁷ 

They will be delivered into his hand

For a time, times, ⁸  and half a time.

7:26 But the court will convene, ⁹  and his ruling authority will be removed –

destroyed and abolished forever!

7:27 Then the kingdom, authority,

and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven

will be delivered to the people of the holy ones ¹⁰  of the Most High.

His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;

all authorities will serve him and obey him.’

Zechariah 14:2-3

14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem ¹¹  to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away. ¹² 

14:3 Then the Lord will go to battle ¹³  and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days. ¹⁴ 

Revelation 3:9

3:9 Listen! ¹⁵  I am going to make those people from the synagogue ¹⁶  of Satan – who say they are Jews yet ¹⁷  are not, but are lying – Look, I will make ¹⁸  them come and bow down ¹⁹  at your feet and acknowledge ²⁰  that I have loved you.

Revelation 11:11-18

11:11 But ²¹  after three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and tremendous fear seized ²²  those who were watching them. 11:12 Then ²³  they ²⁴  heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them: “Come up here!” So the two prophets ²⁵  went up to heaven in a cloud while ²⁶  their enemies stared at them. 11:13 Just then ²⁷  a major earthquake took place and a tenth of the city collapsed; seven thousand people ²⁸  were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

11:14 The second woe has come and gone; ²⁹  the third is coming quickly.

The Seventh Trumpet

11:15 Then ³⁰  the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:

“The kingdom of the world

has become the kingdom of our Lord

and of his Christ, ³¹ 

and he will reign for ever and ever.”

11:16 Then ³²  the twenty-four elders who are seated on their thrones before God threw themselves down with their faces to the ground ³³  and worshiped God 11:17 with these words: ³⁴ 

“We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, ³⁵ 

the one who is and who was,

because you have taken your great power

and begun to reign. ³⁶ 

11:18 The ³⁷  nations ³⁸  were enraged,

but ³⁹  your wrath has come,

and the time has come for the dead to be judged,

and the time has come to give to your servants, ⁴⁰ 

the prophets, their reward,

as well as to the saints

and to those who revere ⁴¹  your name, both small and great,

and the time has come ⁴²  to destroy those who destroy ⁴³  the earth.”

Revelation 18:20-24

18:20 (Rejoice over her, O heaven,

and you saints and apostles and prophets,

for God has pronounced judgment ⁴⁴  against her on your behalf!) ⁴⁵ 

18:21 Then ⁴⁶  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 ⁴⁷ 

Babylon the great city will be thrown down ⁴⁸ 

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 ⁴⁹  again.

No ⁵⁰  craftsman ⁵¹  who practices any trade

will ever be found in you again;

the noise of a mill ⁵²  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 ⁵³  were deceived by your magic spells! ⁵⁴ 

18:24 The ⁵⁵  blood of the saints and prophets was found in her, ⁵⁶ 

along with the blood ⁵⁷  of all those who had been killed on the earth.”

[60:14]  ¹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[30:16]  ² tn For the translation of this particle, which is normally translated “therefore” and often introduces an announcement of judgment, compare the usage at Jer 16:14 and the translator’s note there. Here as there it introduces a contrast, a rather unexpected announcement of salvation. For a similar use see also Hos 2:14 (2:16 HT). Recognition of this usage makes the proposed emendation of BHS of לָכֵן כָּל (lakhen kol) to וְכָל (vÿkhol) unnecessary.

[30:16]  ³ sn With the exception of the second line there is a definite attempt at wordplay in each line to underline the principle of lex talionis on a national and political level. This principle has already been appealed to in the case of the end of Babylonian sovereignty in 25:14; 27:7.

[7:18]  ³ sn The expression holy ones is either a reference to angels or to human beings devoted to God.

[7:25]  ⁴ tn Aram “wear out” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB, NLT “wear down.” The word is a hapax legomenon in biblical Aramaic, but in biblical Hebrew it especially refers to wearing out such things as garments. Here it is translated “harass…continually.”

[7:25]  ⁵ tn Aram “he will think.”

[7:25]  ⁶ tn Aram “times and law.” The present translation is based on the understanding that the expression is a hendiadys.

[7:25]  ⁷ sn Although the word times is vocalized in the MT as a plural, it probably should be regarded as a dual. The Masoretes may have been influenced here by the fact that in late Aramaic (and Syriac) the dual forms fall out of use. The meaning would thus be three and a half “times.”

[7:26]  ⁵ tn Aram “judgment will sit” (KJV similar).

[7:27]  ⁶ tn If the “holy ones” are angels, then this probably refers to the angels as protectors of God’s people. If the “holy ones” are God’s people, then this is an appositional construction, “the people who are the holy ones.” See 8:24 for the corresponding Hebrew phrase and the note there.

[14:2]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[14:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “not be cut off from the city” (so NRSV); NAB “not be removed.”

[14:3]  ⁸ sn The statement the Lord will go to battle introduces the conflict known elsewhere as the “battle of Armageddon,” a battle in which the Lord delivers his people and establishes his millennial reign (cf. Joel 3:12, 15-16; Ezek 38–39; Rev 16:12-21; 19:19-21).

[14:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “as he fights on a day of battle” (similar NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[3:9]  ⁹ tn Grk “behold” (L&N 91.13).

[3:9]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on synagogue in 2:9.

[3:9]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast between what these people claimed and what they were.

[3:9]  ¹² tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew), but in this context it has virtually the same meaning as δίδωμι (didwmi) used at the beginning of the verse. Stylistic variation like this is typical of Johannine literature.

[3:9]  ¹³ tn The verb here is προσκυνήσουσιν (proskunhsousin), normally used to refer to worship.

[3:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “and know,” “and recognize.”

[11:11]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[11:11]  ¹¹ tn Grk “fell upon.”

[11:12]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[11:12]  ¹² tn Though the nearest antecedent to the subject of ἤκουσαν (hkousan) is the people (“those who were watching them”), it could also be (based on what immediately follows) that the two prophets are the ones who heard the voice.

[11:12]  ¹³ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the two prophets) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:12]  ¹⁴ tn The conjunction καί (kai) seems to be introducing a temporal clause contemporaneous in time with the preceding clause.

[11:13]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:13]  ¹³ tn Grk “seven thousand names of men.”

[11:14]  ¹³ tn Grk “has passed.”

[11:15]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[11:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[11:16]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[11:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

[11:17]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “saying.”

[11:17]  ¹⁷ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

[11:17]  ¹⁸ tn The aorist verb ἐβασίλευσας (ebasileusa") has been translated ingressively.

[11:18]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:18]  ¹⁸ tn Or “The Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[11:18]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[11:18]  ²⁰ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[11:18]  ²¹ tn Grk “who fear.”

[11:18]  ²² tn The words “the time has come” do not occur except at the beginning of the verse; the phrase has been repeated for emphasis and contrast. The Greek has one finite verb (“has come”) with a compound subject (“your wrath,” “the time”), followed by three infinitive clauses (“to be judged,” “to give,” “to destroy”). The rhetorical power of the repetition of the finite verb in English thus emulates the rhetorical power of its lone instance in Greek.

[11:18]  ²³ tn Or “who deprave.” There is a possible wordplay here on two meanings for διαφθείρω (diafqeirw), with the first meaning “destroy” and the second meaning either “to ruin” or “to make morally corrupt.” See L&N 20.40.

[18:20]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[18:21]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²⁰ tn The shift to a second person pronoun here corresponds to the Greek text.

[18:22]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:22]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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]  ²¹ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[18:23]  ²² 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]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:24]  ²³ tn The shift in pronouns from second to third person corresponds to the Greek text.

[18:24]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and of all.” The phrase “along with the blood” has been repeated from the previous clause for stylistic reasons.