Revelation 6:15-17

6:15 Then ¹  the kings of the earth, the ²  very important people, the generals, ³  the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave ⁴  and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 6:16 They ⁵  said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ⁶  6:17 because the great day of their ⁷  wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” ⁸ 

Revelation 18:15-19

18:15 The merchants who sold ⁹  these things, who got rich from her, will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment. They will weep ¹⁰  and mourn, 18:16 saying,

“Woe, woe, O great city –

dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet clothing, ¹¹ 

and adorned with gold, ¹²  precious stones, and pearls –

18:17 because in a single hour such great wealth has been destroyed!” ¹³ 

And every ship’s captain, ¹⁴  and all who sail along the coast ¹⁵  – seamen, and all who ¹⁶  make their living from the sea, stood a long way off 18:18 and began to shout ¹⁷  when they saw the smoke from the fire that burned her up, ¹⁸  “Who is like the great city?” 18:19 And they threw dust on their heads and were shouting with weeping and mourning, ¹⁹ 

“Woe, Woe, O great city –

in which all those who had ships on the sea got rich from her wealth –

because in a single hour she has been destroyed!” ²⁰ 

Matthew 24:30

24:30 Then ²¹  the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, ²²  and ²³  all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They ²⁴  will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven ²⁵  with power and great glory.

Luke 23:28-30

23:28 But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, ²⁶  do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves ²⁷  and for your children. 23:29 For this is certain: ²⁸  The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’ ²⁹  23:30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ³⁰  ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ ³¹ 

[6:15]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[6:15]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated; nor is it translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[6:15]  ³ tn Grk “chiliarchs.” A chiliarch was normally a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).

[6:15]  ⁴ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[6:16]  ⁵ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:16]  ⁶ tn It is difficult to say where this quotation ends. The translation ends it after “withstand it” at the end of v. 17, but it is possible that it should end here, after “Lamb” at the end of v. 16. If it ends after “Lamb,” v. 17 is a parenthetical explanation by the author.

[6:17]  ⁷ tc Most mss (A Ï bo) change the pronoun “their” to “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou) in order to bring the text in line with the mention of the one seated on the throne in the immediately preceding verse, and to remove the ambiguity about whose wrath is in view here. The reading αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”) is well supported by א C 1611 1854 2053 2329 2344 pc latt sy. On both internal and external grounds, it should be regarded as original.

[6:17]  ⁸ tn The translation “to withstand (it)” for ἵστημι (Jisthmi) is based on the imagery of holding one’s ground in a military campaign or an attack (BDAG 482 s.v. B.4).

[18:15]  ⁹ tn Grk “the merchants [sellers] of these things.”

[18:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “her torment, weeping.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation by supplying the words “They will” here.

[18:16]  ¹¹ tn The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.

[18:16]  ¹² tn Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).

[18:17]  ¹³ tn On ἠρημώθη (hrhmwqh) L&N 20.41 states, “to suffer destruction, with the implication of being deserted and abandoned – ‘to be destroyed, to suffer destruction, to suffer desolation.’ ἐρημόομαι: μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἠρημώθη ὁ τοσοῦτος πλοῦτος ‘such great wealth has been destroyed within a single hour’ Re 18:17.”

[18:17]  ¹⁴ tn On κυβερνήτης (kubernhth") BDAG 574 s.v. 1 states, “one who is responsible for the management of a ship, shipmaster, lit. Rv 18:17.”

[18:17]  ¹⁵ tn Or perhaps, “everyone who sails as a passenger.” On πλέων (plewn) BDAG 825 s.v. πλέω states, “πᾶς ὁ ἐπὶ τόπον πλέων everyone who sails to a place = seafarer, sea traveler…Rv 18:17. The vv.ll.…have led to various interpretations. Some render: everyone who sails along the coast…See EbNestle, Einführung in das Griech. NT 1909, 182; AFridrichsen, K. Hum. Vetensk.-Samf. i Upps. Årsb. ’43, 31 note ὁ ἐπίτοπον πλέων=one who sails occasionally, a passenger. – S. also IHeikel, StKr 106, ’34/’35, 317).”

[18:17]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and as many as.”

[18:18]  ¹⁷ tn Here the imperfect ἔκραζον (ekrazon) has been translated ingressively.

[18:18]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “from the burning of her, saying.” For the translation “the smoke from the fire that burned her up,” see L&N 14.63. Here the participle λέγοντες (legontes, “saying”) has not been translated because it is redundant in contemporary English.

[18:19]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “with weeping and mourning, saying.” Here the participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated because it is redundant in contemporary English.

[18:19]  ²⁰ tn On ἡρημώθη (Jhrhmwqh) L&N 20.41 states, “to suffer destruction, with the implication of being deserted and abandoned – ‘to be destroyed, to suffer destruction, to suffer desolation.’ ἐρημόομαι: μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἠρημώθη ὁ τοσοῦτος πλοῦτος ‘such great wealth has been destroyed within a single hour’ Re 18:17.”

[24:30]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[24:30]  ²² tn Or “in the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.

[24:30]  ²³ tn Here τότε (tote, “then”) has not been translated to avoid redundancy in English.

[24:30]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[24:30]  ²⁵ sn An allusion to Dan 7:13. Here is Jesus returning with full authority to judge.

[23:28]  ²⁶ sn The title Daughters of Jerusalem portrays these women mourning as representatives of the nation.

[23:28]  ²⁷ sn Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves. Judgment now comes on the nation (see Luke 19:41-44) for this judgment of Jesus. Ironically, they mourn the wrong person – they should be mourning for themselves.

[23:29]  ²⁸ tn Grk “For behold.”

[23:29]  ²⁹ tn Grk “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts that have not nursed!”

[23:30]  ³⁰ sn The figure of crying out to the mountains ‘Fall on us!’ (appealing to creation itself to hide them from God’s wrath), means that a time will come when people will feel they are better off dead (Hos 10:8).

[23:30]  ³¹ sn An allusion to Hos 10:8 (cf. Rev 6:16).