Revelation 14:17-20

14:17 Then ¹  another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 14:18 Another ²  angel, who was in charge of ³  the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to the angel ⁴  who had the sharp sickle, “Use ⁵  your sharp sickle and gather ⁶  the clusters of grapes ⁷  off the vine of the earth, ⁸  because its grapes ⁹  are now ripe.” ¹⁰  14:19 So ¹¹  the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard ¹²  of the earth and tossed them into the great ¹³  winepress of the wrath of God. 14:20 Then ¹⁴  the winepress was stomped ¹⁵  outside the city, and blood poured out of the winepress up to the height of horses’ bridles ¹⁶  for a distance of almost two hundred miles. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 63:2-6

63:2 Why are your clothes red?

Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat? ¹⁸ 

63:3 “I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself;

no one from the nations joined me.

I stomped on them ¹⁹  in my anger;

I trampled them down in my rage.

Their juice splashed on my garments,

and stained ²⁰  all my clothes.

63:4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance,

and then payback time arrived. ²¹ 

63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help;

I was shocked because there was no one offering support. ²² 

So my right arm accomplished deliverance;

my raging anger drove me on. ²³ 

63:6 I trampled nations in my anger,

I made them drunk ²⁴  in my rage,

I splashed their blood on the ground.” ²⁵ 

[14:17]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[14:18]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:18]  ³ tn Grk “who had authority over.” This appears to be the angel who tended the fire on the altar.

[14:18]  ⁴ tn Grk “to the one having the sharp sickle”; the referent (the angel in v. 17) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:18]  ⁵ tn Grk “Send.”

[14:18]  ⁶ tn On this term BDAG 1018 s.v. τρυγάω states: “‘gather in’ ripe fruit, esp. harvest (grapes) w. acc. of the fruit (POslo. 21, 13 [71 ad]; Jos., Ant. 4, 227) Lk 6:44; Rv 14:18 (in imagery, as in the foll. places)…W. acc. of that which bears the fruit gather the fruit of the vine…or the vineyard (s. ἄμπελος a) Rv 14:19.”

[14:18]  ⁷ tn On this term BDAG 181 s.v. βότρυς states, “bunch of grapes Rv 14:18…The word is also found in the Phrygian Papias of Hierapolis, in a passage in which he speaks of the enormous size of the grapes in the new aeon (in the Lat. transl. in Irenaeus 5, 33, 2f.): dena millia botruum Papias (1:2). On this see Stephan. Byz. s.v. Εὐκαρπία: Metrophanes says that in the district of Εὐκαρπία in Phrygia Minor the grapes were said to be so large that one bunch of them caused a wagon to break down in the middle.”

[14:18]  ⁸ tn The genitive τῆς γῆς (ths ghs), taken symbolically, could be considered a genitive of apposition.

[14:18]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps, “its bunches of grapes” (a different Greek word from the previous clause). L&N 3.38 states, “the fruit of grapevines (see 3.27) – ‘grape, bunch of grapes.’ τρύγησον τοὺς βότρυας τῆς ἀμπέλου τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἤκμασαν αἱ σταφυλαὶ αὐτῆς ‘cut the grapes from the vineyard of the earth because its grapes are ripe’ Re 14:18. Some scholars have contended that βότρυς means primarily a bunch of grapes, while σταφυλή designates individual grapes. In Re 14:18 this difference might seem plausible, but there is scarcely any evidence for such a distinction, since both words may signify grapes as well as bunches of grapes.”

[14:18]  ¹⁰ tn On the use of ἥκμασαν (hkmasan) BDAG 36 s.v. ἀκμάζω states, “to bloom…of grapes…Rv 14:18.”

[14:19]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s directions.

[14:19]  ¹² tn Or “vine.” BDAG 54 s.v. ἄμπελος a states, “τρυγᾶν τοὺς βότρυας τῆς ἀ. τῆς γῆς to harvest the grapes fr. the vine of the earth (i.e. fr. the earth, symbol. repr. as a grapevine) Rv 14:18f; but ἀ may be taking on the meaning of ἀμπελών, as oft. in pap., possibly PHib. 70b, 2 [III bc].” The latter alternative has been followed in the translation (ἀμπελών = “vineyard”).

[14:19]  ¹³ tn Although the gender of μέγαν (megan, masc.) does not match the gender of ληνόν (lhnon, fem.) it has been taken to modify that word (as do most English translations).

[14:20]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[14:20]  ¹⁵ sn The winepress was stomped. See Isa 63:3, where Messiah does this alone (usually several individuals would join in the process).

[14:20]  ¹⁶ tn L&N 6.7 states, “In Re 14:20 the reference to a bit and bridle is merely an indication of measurement, that is to say, the height of the bit and bridle from the ground, and one may reinterpret this measurement as ‘about a meter and a half’ or ‘about five feet.’”

[14:20]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “1,600 stades.” A stade was a measure of length about 607 ft (185 m). Thus the distance here would be 184 mi or 296 km.

[63:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and your garments like one who treads in a vat?”

[63:3]  ¹⁹ sn Nations, headed by Edom, are the object of the Lord’s anger (see v. 6). He compares military slaughter to stomping on grapes in a vat.

[63:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and I stained.” For discussion of the difficult verb form, see HALOT 170 s.v. II גאל. Perhaps the form is mixed, combining the first person forms of the imperfect (note the alef prefix) and perfect (note the תי- ending).

[63:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my revenge came.” The term גְּאוּלַי (gÿ’ulai) is sometimes translated here “my redemption,” for the verbal root גאל often means “deliver, buy back.” A גֹּאֵל (go’el, “kinsman-redeemer”) was responsible for protecting the extended family’s interests, often by redeeming property that had been sold outside the family. However, the responsibilities of a גֹּאֵל extended beyond financial concerns. He was also responsible for avenging the shed blood of a family member (see Num 35:19-27; Deut 19:6-12). In Isa 63:4, where vengeance is a prominent theme (note the previous line), it is probably this function of the family protector that is in view. The Lord pictures himself as a blood avenger who waits for the day of vengeance to arrive and then springs into action.

[63:5]  ²² sn See Isa 59:16 for similar language.

[63:5]  ²³ tn Heb “and my anger, it supported me”; NIV “my own wrath sustained me.”

[63:6]  ²⁴ sn See Isa 49:26 and 51:23 for similar imagery.

[63:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and I brought down to the ground their juice.” “Juice” refers to their blood (see v. 3).