Revelation 16:12-21

Context

16:12 Then¹ the sixth angel² poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and dried up its water³ to prepare the way⁴ for the kings from the east.⁵ 16:13 Then⁶ I saw three unclean spirits⁷ that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 16:14 For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth⁸ to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful.⁹

16:15 (Look! I will come like a thief!

Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose¹⁰ his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition¹¹ be seen.)¹²

16:16 Now¹³ the spirits¹⁴ gathered the kings and their armies¹⁵ to the place that is called Armageddon¹⁶ in Hebrew.

16:17 Finally¹⁷ the seventh angel¹⁸ poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying: “It is done!” 16:18 Then¹⁹ there were flashes of lightning, roaring,²⁰ and crashes of thunder, and there was a tremendous earthquake – an earthquake unequaled since humanity²¹ has been on the earth, so tremendous was that earthquake. 16:19 The²² great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations²³ collapsed.²⁴ So²⁵ Babylon the great was remembered before God, and was given the cup²⁶ filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath.²⁷ 16:20 Every²⁸ island fled away²⁹ and no mountains could be found.³⁰ 16:21 And gigantic hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds³¹ each, fell from heaven³² on people,³³ but they³⁴ blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it³⁵ was so horrendous.³⁶

[16:12] ¹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[16:12] ²tn Grk “the sixth”; the referent (the sixth angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:12] ³tn Grk “and its water was dried up.” Here the passive construction has been translated as an active one.

[16:12] ⁴tn Grk “in order that the way might be prepared.” Here the passive construction has been translated as an active one.

[16:12] ⁵tn Grk “from the rising of the sun.” BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατολή 2.a takes this as a geographical direction: “ἀπὸ ἀ. ἡλίου…from the east Rv 7:2; 16:12; simply ἀπὸ ἀ. …21:13.”

[16:13] ⁶tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[16:13] ⁷sn According to the next verse, these three unclean spirits are spirits of demons.

[16:14] ⁸tn BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 1 states, “the inhabited earth, the world…ὅλη ἡ οἰκ. the whole inhabited earth…Mt 24:14; Ac 11:28; Rv 3:10; 16:14.”

[16:14] ⁹tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

[16:15] ¹⁰tn Grk “and keeps.” BDAG 1002 s.v. τηρέω 2.c states “of holding on to someth. so as not to give it up or lose it…τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ Rv 16:15 (or else he will have to go naked).”

[16:15] ¹¹tn On the translation of ἀσχημοσύνη (aschmosunh) as “shameful condition” see L&N 25.202. The indefinite third person plural (“and they see”) has been translated as a passive here.

[16:15] ¹²sn These lines are parenthetical, forming an aside to the narrative. The speaker here is the Lord Jesus Christ himself rather than the narrator. Many interpreters have seen this verse as so abrupt that it could not be an original part of the work, but the author has used such asides before (1:7; 14:13) and the suddenness here (on the eve of Armageddon) is completely parallel to Jesus’ warning in Mark 13:15-16 and parallels.

[16:16] ¹³tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the resumption and conclusion of the remarks about the pouring out of the sixth bowl.

[16:16] ¹⁴tn Grk “they”; the referent (the demonic spirits, v. 14) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:16] ¹⁵tn Grk “gathered them”; the referent (the kings and [implied] their armies, v. 14) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:16] ¹⁶tc There are many variations in the spelling of this name among the Greek mss, although ῾Αρμαγεδών (&armagedwn) has the best support. The usual English spelling is Armageddon, used in the translation.

[16:17] ¹⁷tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “finally” to indicate the conclusion of the seven bowl judgments.

[16:17] ¹⁸tn Grk “the seventh”; the referent (the seventh angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:18] ¹⁹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[16:18] ²⁰tn Or “sounds,” “voices.” It is not entirely clear what this refers to. BDAG 1071 s.v. φωνή 1 states, “In Rv we have ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί (cp. Ex 19:16) 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18 (are certain other sounds in nature thought of here in addition to thunder, as e.g. the roar of the storm?…).”

[16:18] ²¹tn The singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used generically here to refer to the human race.

[16:19] ²²tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:19] ²³tn Or “of the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[16:19] ²⁴tn Grk “fell.”

[16:19] ²⁵tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Babylon’s misdeeds (see Rev 14:8).

[16:19] ²⁶tn Grk “the cup of the wine of the anger of the wrath of him.” The concatenation of four genitives has been rendered somewhat differently by various translations (see the note on the word “wrath”).

[16:19] ²⁷tn Following BDAG 461 s.v. θυμός 2, the combination of the genitives of θυμός (qumo") and ὀργή (orgh) in Rev 16:19 and 19:15 are taken to be a strengthening of the thought as in the OT and Qumran literature (Exod 32:12; Jer 32:37; Lam 2:3; CD 10:9). Thus in Rev 14:8 (to which the present passage alludes) and 18:3 there is irony: The wine of immoral behavior with which Babylon makes the nations drunk becomes the wine of God’s wrath for her.

[16:20] ²⁸tn Grk “And every.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:20] ²⁹tn Or “vanished.”

[16:20] ³⁰sn Every island fled away and no mountains could be found. Major geographical and topographical changes will accompany the Day of the Lord.

[16:21] ³¹tn Here BDAG 988 s.v. ταλαντιαῖος states, “weighing a talent…χάλαζα μεγάλη ὡς ταλαντιαία a severe hailstorm with hailstones weighing a talent (the talent=125 librae, or Roman pounds of c. 343 gr. or 12 ounces each) (weighing about a hundred pounds NRSV) Rv 16:21.” This means each hailstone would weigh just under 100 pounds or 40 kilograms.

[16:21] ³²tn Or “the sky.” Due to the apocalyptic nature of this book, it is probably best to leave the translation as “from heaven,” since God is ultimately the source of the judgment.

[16:21] ³³tn Grk “on men,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a generic sense to refer to people in general (the hailstones did not single out adult males, but would have also fallen on women and children).

[16:21] ³⁴tn Grk “the men”; for stylistic reasons the pronoun “they” is used here.

[16:21] ³⁵tn Grk “the plague of it.”

[16:21] ³⁶tn Grk “since the plague of it was exceedingly great.”