Psalms 116:15

116:15 The Lord values

the lives of his faithful followers. ¹ 

Matthew 23:30-36

23:30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, ²  we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 23:31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 23:32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ³ 

23:34 “For this reason I ⁴  am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, ⁵  some of whom you will kill and crucify, ⁶  and some you will flog ⁷  in your synagogues ⁸  and pursue from town to town, 23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, ⁹  whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 23:36 I tell you the truth, ¹⁰  this generation will be held responsible for all these things! ¹¹ 

Matthew 23:1

Seven Woes

23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,

Matthew 2:15-16

2:15 He stayed there until Herod ¹²  died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” ¹³ 

2:16 When Herod ¹⁴  saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men ¹⁵  to kill all the children in Bethlehem ¹⁶  and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men.

Revelation 6:9-11

6:9 Now ¹⁷  when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed ¹⁸  because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given. 6:10 They ¹⁹  cried out with a loud voice, ²⁰  “How long, ²¹  Sovereign Master, ²²  holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” 6:11 Each ²³  of them was given a long white robe and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached ²⁴  of both their fellow servants ²⁵  and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been.

Revelation 17:6

17:6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. ²⁶  I ²⁷  was greatly astounded ²⁸  when I saw her.

Revelation 18:20-24

18:20 (Rejoice over her, O heaven,

and you saints and apostles and prophets,

for God has pronounced judgment ²⁹  against her on your behalf!) ³⁰ 

18:21 Then ³¹  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 ³² 

Babylon the great city will be thrown down ³³ 

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 ³⁴  again.

No ³⁵  craftsman ³⁶  who practices any trade

will ever be found in you again;

the noise of a mill ³⁷  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 ³⁸  were deceived by your magic spells! ³⁹ 

18:24 The ⁴⁰  blood of the saints and prophets was found in her, ⁴¹ 

along with the blood ⁴²  of all those who had been killed on the earth.”

Revelation 19:2

19:2 because his judgments are true and just. ⁴³ 

For he has judged ⁴⁴  the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,

and has avenged the blood of his servants ⁴⁵  poured out by her own hands!” ⁴⁶ 

[116:15]  ¹ tn Heb “precious in the eyes of the Lord [is] the death of his godly ones.” The point is not that God delights in or finds satisfaction in the death of his followers! The psalmist, who has been delivered from death, affirms that the life-threatening experiences of God’s followers get God’s attention, just as a precious or rare object would attract someone’s eye. See Ps 72:14 for a similar expression of this belief.

[23:30]  ² tn Grk “fathers” (so also in v. 32).

[23:33]  ³ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”

[23:34]  ⁴ tn Grk “behold I am sending.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[23:34]  ⁵ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:34]  ⁶ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[23:34]  ⁷ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

[23:34]  ⁸ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[23:35]  ⁹ sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).

[23:36]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[23:36]  ¹¹ tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”

[2:15]  ¹² sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[2:15]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Hos 11:1.

[2:16]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Note the fulfillment of the prophecy given by the angel in 2:13.

[2:16]  ¹⁵ tn Or “soldiers.”

[2:16]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[6:9]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of a new and somewhat different topic after the introduction of the four riders.

[6:9]  ¹⁸ tn Or “murdered.” See the note on the word “butcher” in 6:4.

[6:10]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:10]  ²⁰ tn Grk “voice, saying”; the participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[6:10]  ²¹ tn The expression ἕως πότε (ews pote) was translated “how long.” Cf. BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 1.b.γ.

[6:10]  ²² tn The Greek term here is δεσπότης (despoths; see L&N 37.63).

[6:11]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:11]  ²⁴ tn Grk “until they had been completed.” The idea of a certain “number” of people is implied by the subject of πληρωθῶσιν (plhrwqwsin).

[6:11]  ²⁵ tn Though σύνδουλος (sundoulos) has been translated “fellow servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[17:6]  ²⁶ tn Or “of the witnesses to Jesus.” Here the genitive ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) is taken as an objective genitive; Jesus is the object of their testimony.

[17:6]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:6]  ²⁸ tn Grk “I marveled a great marvel” (an idiom for great astonishment).

[18:20]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[18:21]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn The shift to a second person pronoun here corresponds to the Greek text.

[18:22]  ³⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:22]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[18:23]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:24]  ⁴¹ tn The shift in pronouns from second to third person corresponds to the Greek text.

[18:24]  ⁴² tn Grk “and of all.” The phrase “along with the blood” has been repeated from the previous clause for stylistic reasons.

[19:2]  ⁴³ tn Compare the similar phrase in Rev 16:7.

[19:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “has punished.” See BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α, describing the OT background which involves both the vindication of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty.

[19:2]  ⁴⁵ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[19:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “from her hand” (referring to her responsibility in causing the blood of God’s followers to be shed).