Discovery BoxRevelation 16:19
Context16:19 The 1 great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations 2 collapsed. 3 So 4 Babylon the great was remembered before God, and was given the cup 5 filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath. 6
Revelation 18:2
Context18:2 He 7 shouted with a powerful voice:
“Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great!
She 8 has become a lair for demons,
a haunt 9 for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detested beast. 10
Revelation 18:10
Context18:10 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 11 has come!”
Revelation 18:21
Context18:21 Then 12 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 13
Babylon the great city will be thrown down 14
and it will never be found again!
[16:19] 1 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[16:19] 2 tn Or “of the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
[16:19] 4 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Babylon’s misdeeds (see Rev 14:8).
[16:19] 5 tn 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] 6 tn 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.
[18:2] 7 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style
[18:2] 8 tn Or “It” (the subject is embedded in the verb in Greek; the verb only indicates that it is third person). Since the city has been personified as the great prostitute, the feminine pronoun was used in the translation.
[18:2] 9 tn Here BDAG 1067 s.v. φυλακή 3 states, “a place where guarding is done, prison…Of the nether world or its place of punishment (πνεῦμα 2 and 4c) 1 Pt 3:19 (BReicke, The Disobedient Spirits and Christian Baptism ’46, 116f). It is in a φ. in the latter sense that Satan will be rendered harmless during the millennium Rv 20:7. The fallen city of Babylon becomes a φυλακή haunt for all kinds of unclean spirits and birds 18:2ab.”
[18:2] 10 tc There are several problems in this verse. It seems that according to the ms evidence the first two phrases (i.e., “and a haunt for every unclean spirit, and a haunt for every unclean bird” [καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς πνεύματος ἀκαθάρτου καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς ὀρνέου ἀκαθάρτου, kai fulakh panto" pneumato" akaqartou kai fulakh panto" orneou akaqartou]) are to be regarded as authentic, though there are some ms discrepancies. The similar beginnings (καὶ φυλακὴ παντός) and endings (ἀκαθάρτου) of each phrase would easily account for some
[18:10] 13 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.”
[18:21] 19 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
[18:21] 20 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] 21 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.
