7:13 Then 8 one of the elders asked 9 me, “These dressed in long white robes – who are they and where have they come from?”
“You are just 18 – the one who is and who was,
the Holy One – because you have passed these judgments, 19
16:6 because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets,
so 20 you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!” 21
18:14 (The ripe fruit 23 you greatly desired 24
has gone from you,
and all your luxury 25 and splendor 26
have gone from you –
they will never ever be found again!) 27
22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access 28 to the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates.
1 tn The verb ἔμελλον (emellon) is in the imperfect tense.
2 tn The perfect passive participle has been translated as an intensive (resultative) perfect here.
3 tn Or “in the judgment.” BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 3 states, “in the opinion/judgment of…As a rule…of θεός or κύριος; so after…πεπληρωμένος Rv 3:2.”
4 tn Grk “and have become rich.” The semantic domains of the two terms for wealth here, πλούσιος (plousios, adjective) and πλουτέω (ploutew, verb) overlap considerably, but are given slightly different English translations for stylistic reasons.
5 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
6 tn All the terms in this series are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.
7 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
8 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
9 tn Grk “spoke” or “declared to,” but in the context “asked” reads more naturally in English.
10 sn Both the Hebrew Abaddon and the Greek Apollyon mean “Destroyer.”
11 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
12 tn Or “be victorious over”; traditionally, “overcome.”
13 tn Grk “one of its heads”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
14 tn Grk “killed to death,” an expression emphatic in its redundancy. The phrase behind this translation is ὡς ἐσφαγμένον (Jw" ejsfagmenon). The particle ὡς is used in Greek generally for comparison, and in Revelation it is used often to describe the appearance of what the author saw. In this instance, the appearance of the beast’s head did not match reality, because the next phrase shows that in fact it did not die. This text does not affirm that the beast died and was resurrected, but some draw this conclusion because of the only other use of the phrase, which refers to Jesus in 5:6.
15 tn The phrase τοῦ θανάτου (tou qanatou) can be translated as an attributive genitive (“deathly wound”) or an objective genitive (the wound which caused death) and the final αὐτοῦ (autou) is either possessive or reference/respect.
16 tn On the phrase “the whole world followed the beast in amazement,” BDAG 445 s.v. θαυμάζω 2 states, “wonder, be amazed…Rv 17:8. In pregnant constr. ἐθαυμάσθη ὅλη ἡ γῆ ὀπίσω τ. θηρίου the whole world followed the beast, full of wonder 13:3 (here wonder becomes worship: cp. Ael. Aristid. 13 p. 290 D.; 39 p. 747 of Dionysus and Heracles, οἳ ὑφ᾿ ἡμῶν ἐθαυμάσθησαν. Sir 7:29; Jos., Ant. 3, 65. – The act. is also found in this sense: Cebes 2, 3 θ. τινά = ‘admire’ or ‘venerate’ someone; Epict. 1, 17, 19 θ. τὸν θεόν).”
17 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the somewhat parenthetical nature of the remarks that follow.
18 tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.
19 tn Or “because you have judged these things.” The pronoun ταῦτα (tauta) is neuter gender.
20 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that this judgment is the result of what these wicked people did to the saints and prophets.
21 tn Grk “They are worthy”; i.e., of this kind of punishment. By extension, “they got what they deserve.”
22 tn That is, one currently reigns.
23 tn On ὀπώρα (opwra) L&N 3.34 states, “ἡ ὀπώρα σου τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ψυχῆς ‘the ripe fruit for which you longed’ Re 18:14. In this one occurrence of ὀπώρα in the NT, ‘ripe fruit’ is to be understood in a figurative sense of ‘good things.’”
24 tn Grk “you desired in your soul.”
25 tn On λιπαρός (liparo") BDAG 597 s.v. states, “luxury Rv 18:14.”
26 tn On τὰ λαμπρά (ta lampra) BDAG 585 s.v. λαμπρός 4 states, “splendor…in which a rich man takes delight (cp. Jos., Ant. 12, 220 δωρεὰς δοὺς λαμπράς) Rv 18:14.”
27 tn Verse 14 is set in parentheses because in it the city, Babylon, is addressed directly in second person.
sn This verse forms a parenthetical aside in the narrative.
28 tn Grk “so that there will be to them authority over the tree of life.”