Revelation 16:18

16:18 Then ¹  there were flashes of lightning, roaring, ²  and crashes of thunder, and there was a tremendous earthquake – an earthquake unequaled since humanity ³  has been on the earth, so tremendous was that earthquake.

Revelation 16:21

16:21 And gigantic hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds ⁴  each, fell from heaven ⁵  on people, ⁶  but they ⁷  blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it ⁸  was so horrendous. ⁹ 

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

² tn Or “sounds,” “voices.” It is not entirely clear what this refers to. BDAG 1071 s.v. φωνή 1 states, “In Rv we have ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί (cp. Ex 19:16) 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18 (are certain other sounds in nature thought of here in addition to thunder, as e.g. the roar of the storm?…).”

³ tn The singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used generically here to refer to the human race.

⁴ tn Here BDAG 988 s.v. ταλαντιαῖος states, “weighing a talent…χάλαζα μεγάλη ὡς ταλαντιαία a severe hailstorm with hailstones weighing a talent (the talent=125 librae, or Roman pounds of c. 343 gr. or 12 ounces each) (weighing about a hundred pounds NRSV) Rv 16:21.” This means each hailstone would weigh just under 100 pounds or 40 kilograms.

⁵ tn Or “the sky.” Due to the apocalyptic nature of this book, it is probably best to leave the translation as “from heaven,” since God is ultimately the source of the judgment.

⁶ tn Grk “on men,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a generic sense to refer to people in general (the hailstones did not single out adult males, but would have also fallen on women and children).

⁷ tn Grk “the men”; for stylistic reasons the pronoun “they” is used here.

⁸ tn Grk “the plague of it.”

⁹ tn Grk “since the plague of it was exceedingly great.”