Revelation 13:17

13:17 Thus no one was allowed to buy or sell things unless he bore the mark of the beast – that is, his name or his number.

Revelation 17:5

17:5 On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.”

Revelation 18:1

Babylon is Destroyed

18:1 After these things I saw another angel, who possessed great authority, coming down out of heaven, and the earth was lit up by his radiance.

Revelation 19:1

19:1 After these things I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a vast throng in heaven, saying,

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,


tn Grk “and that no one be able to buy or sell.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Although the ἵνα (Jina) is left untranslated, the English conjunction “thus” is used to indicate that this is a result clause.

tn The word “things” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context. In the context of buying and selling, food could be primarily in view, but the more general “things” was used in the translation because the context is not specific.

tn Grk “except the one who had.”

tn Grk “his name or the number of his name.”

tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

tn Some translations consider the word μυστήριον (musthrion, “mystery”) a part of the name written (“Mystery Babylon the Great,” so KJV, NIV), but the gender of both ὄνομα (onoma, “name”) and μυστήριον are neuter, while the gender of “Babylon” is feminine. This strongly suggests that μυστήριον should be understood as an appositive to ὄνομα (“a name, i.e., a mystery”).

tn Grk “glory”; but often in the sense of splendor, brightness, or radiance (see L&N 14.49).