16:10 Then 1 the fifth angel 2 poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast so that 3 darkness covered his kingdom, 4 and people 5 began to bite 6 their tongues because 7 of their pain.
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
2 tn Grk “the fifth”; the referent (the fifth angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so that” to indicate the implied result of the fifth bowl being poured out.
4 tn Grk “his kingdom became dark.”
5 tn Grk “men,” but this is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") and refers to both men and women.
6 tn On this term BDAG 620 s.v. μασάομαι states, “bite w. acc. τὰς γλώσσας bite their tongues Rv 16:10.”
7 tn The preposition ἐκ (ek) has been translated here and twice in the following verse with a causal sense.
8 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
9 tn Or “of the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
10 tn Grk “fell.”
11 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Babylon’s misdeeds (see Rev 14:8).
12 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”).
13 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.