Revelation 13:12-17

13:12 He ¹  exercised all the ruling authority ²  of the first beast on his behalf, ³  and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. 13:13 He ⁴  performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven in front of people ⁵  13:14 and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told ⁶  those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived. 13:15 The second beast ⁷  was empowered ⁸  to give life ⁹  to the image of the first beast ¹⁰  so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 13:16 He also caused ¹¹  everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave ¹² ) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. 13:17 Thus no one was allowed to buy ¹³  or sell things ¹⁴  unless he bore ¹⁵  the mark of the beast – that is, his name or his number. ¹⁶ 

Revelation 17:1-5

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17:1 Then ¹⁷  one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me. ¹⁸  “Come,” he said, “I will show you the condemnation and punishment ¹⁹  of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, 17:2 with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality and the earth’s inhabitants got drunk with the wine of her immorality.” ²⁰  17:3 So ²¹  he carried me away in the Spirit ²²  to a wilderness, ²³  and there ²⁴  I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 17:4 Now ²⁵  the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing, ²⁶  and adorned with gold, ²⁷  precious stones, and pearls. She held ²⁸  in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things and unclean things from her sexual immorality. ²⁹  17:5 On ³⁰  her forehead was written a name, a mystery: ³¹  “Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.”

Revelation 18:12

18:12 cargo such as gold, silver, ³²  precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, ³³  scarlet cloth, ³⁴  all sorts of things made of citron wood, ³⁵  all sorts of objects made of ivory, all sorts of things made of expensive wood, bronze, iron and marble,

[13:12]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:12]  ² tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:12]  ³ tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”

[13:13]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:13]  ⁵ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both men and women.

[13:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “earth, telling.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek.

[13:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the second beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “it was given [permitted] to it [the second beast].”

[13:15]  ⁹ tn Grk “breath,” but in context the point is that the image of the first beast is made to come to life and speak.

[13:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “of the beast”; the word “first” has been supplied to specify the referent.

[13:16]  ¹¹ tn Or “forced”; Grk “makes” (ποιεῖ, poiei).

[13:16]  ¹² tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[13:17]  ¹³ tn Grk “and that no one be able to buy or sell.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Although the ἵνα (Jina) is left untranslated, the English conjunction “thus” is used to indicate that this is a result clause.

[13:17]  ¹⁴ tn The word “things” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context. In the context of buying and selling, food could be primarily in view, but the more general “things” was used in the translation because the context is not specific.

[13:17]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “except the one who had.”

[13:17]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “his name or the number of his name.”

[17:1]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[17:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “with me.” The translation “with me” implies that John was engaged in a dialogue with the one speaking to him (e.g., Jesus or an angel) when in reality it was a one-sided conversation, with John doing all the listening. For this reason, μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ (met’ emou, “with me”) was translated as “to me.”

[17:1]  ¹⁹ tn Here one Greek term, κρίμα (krima), has been translated by the two English terms “condemnation” and “punishment.” See BDAG 567 s.v. 4.b, “mostly in an unfavorable sense, of the condemnatory verdict and sometimes the subsequent punishment itself 2 Pt 2:3; Jd 4…τὸ κ. τῆς πόρνης the condemnation and punishment of the prostitute Rv 17:1.”

[17:2]  ²⁰ tn This is the same word translated “sexual immorality” earlier in the verse, but here the qualifier “sexual” has not been repeated for stylistic reasons.

[17:3]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation to witness the fate of the prostitute.

[17:3]  ²² tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).

[17:3]  ²³ tn Or “desert.”

[17:3]  ²⁴ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[17:4]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the detailed description of the woman, which is somewhat parenthetical in nature.

[17:4]  ²⁶ tn The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.

[17:4]  ²⁷ tn Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).

[17:4]  ²⁸ tn Grk “pearls, having in her hand.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[17:4]  ²⁹ tc Several mss (including 1611 1854 2053 Ï^K pc) read “sexual immorality on/of the earth” (πορνείας τῆς γῆς, porneia" th" gh") instead of “her sexual immorality.” Other mss (א sy^h** [co]) read “her sexual immorality and the earth’s” (πορνείας αὐτῆς καὶ τῆς γῆς, porneia" aujth" kai th" gh"). The translation is a rendering of πορνείας αὐτῆς, found in {A 1006 2344 al}. It seems that the first reading “sexuality immorality on/of the earth” was a scribal mistake in which letters may have been confused (auths would have been read as thsghs), or was perhaps influenced by the presence of “of the world” (τῆς γῆς) at the end of v. 5. The original wording seems to be “her sexual immorality”; codex א has conflated the two readings.

[17:5]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:5]  ³¹ tn Some translations consider the word μυστήριον (musthrion, “mystery”) a part of the name written (“Mystery Babylon the Great,” so KJV, NIV), but the gender of both ὄνομα (onoma, “name”) and μυστήριον are neuter, while the gender of “Babylon” is feminine. This strongly suggests that μυστήριον should be understood as an appositive to ὄνομα (“a name, i.e., a mystery”).

[18:12]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn On the translation of κόκκινον (kokkinon) as “scarlet cloth” see L&N 6.170.

[18:12]  ³⁵ 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.”