Joel 3:3

3:3 and they cast lots for my people.

They traded ¹  a boy for a prostitute;

they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink. ² 

Revelation 18:13

18:13 cinnamon, spice, ³  incense, perfumed ointment, ⁴  frankincense, ⁵  wine, olive oil and costly flour, ⁶  wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and four-wheeled carriages, ⁷  slaves and human lives. ⁸ 

[3:3]  ¹ tn Heb “gave.”

[3:3]  ² sn Heb “and they drank.” Joel vividly refers to a situation where innocent human life has little value; its only worth is its use in somehow satisfying selfish appetites of wicked people who have control over others (cf. Amos 2:6 and 8:6).

[18:13]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Or “myrrh,” a strong aromatic ointment often used to prepare a body for burial (L&N 6.205).

[18:13]  ⁵ tn The Greek term λίβανος (libano") refers to the aromatic resin of a certain type of tree (L&N 6.212).

[18:13]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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).