Revelation 11:18

11:18 The ¹  nations ²  were enraged,

but ³  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, ⁴ 

the prophets, their reward,

as well as to the saints

and to those who revere ⁵  your name, both small and great,

and the time has come ⁶  to destroy those who destroy ⁷  the earth.”

Revelation 18:10-15

18:10 They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment, and will say,

“Woe, woe, O great city,

Babylon the powerful city!

For in a single hour your doom ⁸  has come!”

18:11 Then ⁹  the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her because no one buys their cargo ¹⁰  any longer – 18:12 cargo such as gold, silver, ¹¹  precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, ¹²  scarlet cloth, ¹³  all sorts of things made of citron wood, ¹⁴  all sorts of objects made of ivory, all sorts of things made of expensive wood, bronze, iron and marble, 18:13 cinnamon, spice, ¹⁵  incense, perfumed ointment, ¹⁶  frankincense, ¹⁷  wine, olive oil and costly flour, ¹⁸  wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and four-wheeled carriages, ¹⁹  slaves and human lives. ²⁰ 

18:14 (The ripe fruit ²¹  you greatly desired ²² 

has gone from you,

and all your luxury ²³  and splendor ²⁴ 

have gone from you –

they will never ever be found again!) ²⁵ 

18:15 The merchants who sold ²⁶  these things, who got rich from her, will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment. They will weep ²⁷  and mourn,

[11:18]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:18]  ² tn Or “The Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[11:18]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[11:18]  ⁴ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[11:18]  ⁵ tn Grk “who fear.”

[11:18]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[18:10]  ⁸ tn Or “judgment,” condemnation,” “punishment.” BDAG 569 s.v. κρίσις 1.a.β states, “The word oft. means judgment that goes against a person, condemnation, and the sentence that follows…ἡ κ. σου your judgment Rv 18:10.”

[18:11]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[18:11]  ¹⁰ tn On γόμος (gomos) BDAG 205 s.v. states, “load, freight…cargo of a ship…Ac 21:3. W. gen. of the owner Rv 18:11. W. gen. of content…γ. χρυσοῦ a cargo of gold vs. 12.”

[18:12]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and silver,” but καί (kai) has not been translated before most of these terms since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more

[18:12]  ¹² tn On this term BDAG 924-25 s.v. σιρικός states, “per. to silk from Ser, subst. τὸ σιρικόν silk cloth or garments w. other costly materials Rv 18:12.”

[18:12]  ¹³ tn On the translation of κόκκινον (kokkinon) as “scarlet cloth” see L&N 6.170.

[18:12]  ¹⁴ tn On the phrase πᾶν ξύλον θύϊνον (pan xulon quinon) L&N 3.63 states, “pertaining to being made or consisting of citron wood (that is, from a citron tree) – ‘of citron wood.’ καὶ πᾶν ξύλον θύϊνον καὶ πᾶν σκεῦος ἐλεφάντινον ‘and all kinds of things made of citron wood and all kinds of objects made of ivory’ Re 18:12. The citron tree belongs to the citrus family of plants, and it produces a pale yellow fruit somewhat larger than a lemon, the rind of which is often candied. In Re 18:12, however, the focus is upon the fine quality of the wood.”

[18:13]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Or “myrrh,” a strong aromatic ointment often used to prepare a body for burial (L&N 6.205).

[18:13]  ¹⁷ tn The Greek term λίβανος (libano") refers to the aromatic resin of a certain type of tree (L&N 6.212).

[18:13]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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).

[18:14]  ²¹ tn On ὀπώρα (opwra) L&N 3.34 states, “ἡ ὀπώρα σου τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ψυχῆς ‘the ripe fruit for which you longed’ Re 18:14. In this one occurrence of ὀπώρα in the NT, ‘ripe fruit’ is to be understood in a figurative sense of ‘good things.’”

[18:14]  ²² tn Grk “you desired in your soul.”

[18:14]  ²³ tn On λιπαρός (liparo") BDAG 597 s.v. states, “luxury Rv 18:14.”

[18:14]  ²⁴ tn On τὰ λαμπρά (ta lampra) BDAG 585 s.v. λαμπρός 4 states, “splendor…in which a rich man takes delight (cp. Jos., Ant. 12, 220 δωρεὰς δοὺς λαμπράς) Rv 18:14.”

[18:14]  ²⁵ tn Verse 14 is set in parentheses because in it the city, Babylon, is addressed directly in second person.

[18:15]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the merchants [sellers] of these things.”

[18:15]  ²⁷ tn Grk “her torment, weeping.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation by supplying the words “They will” here.