Revelation 19:13-17

19:13 He is dressed in clothing dipped ¹  in blood, and he is called ²  the Word of God. 19:14 The ³  armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, ⁴  were following him on white horses. 19:15 From his mouth extends a sharp sword, so that with it he can strike the nations. ⁵  He ⁶  will rule ⁷  them with an iron rod, ⁸  and he stomps the winepress ⁹  of the furious ¹⁰  wrath of God, the All-Powerful. ¹¹  19:16 He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

19:17 Then ¹²  I saw one angel standing in ¹³  the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: ¹⁴ 

“Come, gather around for the great banquet ¹⁵  of God,

[19:13]  ¹ tc It appears that “dipped” (βεβαμμένον, bebammenon), supported by several uncials and other witnesses (A 051 Ï), is the original reading. Due to the lack of the preposition “in” (ἐν, en) after the verb (βεβαμμένον αἵματι, bebammenon {aimati), and also probably because of literary allusions to Isa 63:3, several mss and versions seem to have changed the text to “sprinkled” (either ῥεραντισμένον [rJerantismenon] in P 2329 al; ἐρραντισμένον [errantismenon] in 1006 1841; ἐρραμμένον [errammenon] in 2053 2062; or ῥεραμμένον [rJerammenon] in 1611; or in one case περιρεραμμένον [perirerammenon] in א^[2]). The reading most likely to give rise to the others is “dipped.”

[19:13]  ² tn Grk “the name of him is called.”

[19:14]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:14]  ⁴ tn On the term translated “fine linen,” BDAG 185 s.v. βύσσινος states, “made of fine linen, subst. τὸ β. fine linen, linen garment…Rv 18:12, 16; 19:8, 14.”

[19:15]  ⁵ tn Or “the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[19:15]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “will shepherd.”

[19:15]  ⁸ tn Or “scepter.” The Greek term ῥάβδος (rJabdo") can mean either “rod” or “scepter.”

[19:15]  ⁹ sn He stomps the winepress. See Isa 63:3, where Messiah does this alone (usually several individuals would join in the process), and Rev 14:20.

[19:15]  ¹⁰ tn The genitive θυμοῦ (qumou) has been translated as an attributed genitive. Following BDAG 461 s.v. θυμός 2, the combination of the genitives of θυμός (qumos) 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).

[19:15]  ¹¹ tn 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.”

[19:17]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:17]  ¹³ tn The precise significance of ἐν (en) here is difficult to determine.

[19:17]  ¹⁴ tn On μεσουρανήματι (mesouranhmati) here see L&N 1.10: “high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.” The birds mentioned here are carrion birds like vultures, circling high overhead, and now being summoned to feast on the corpses.

[19:17]  ¹⁵ tn This is the same Greek word (δεῖπνον, deipnon) used in 19:9.