Revelation 3:20

3:20 Listen!¹ I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home² and share a meal with him, and he with me.

Revelation 13:10

13:10 If anyone is meant for captivity,

into captivity he will go.

If anyone is to be killed by the sword,³

then by the sword he must be killed.

This⁴ requires steadfast endurance⁵ and faith from the saints.

Revelation 14:19

14:19 So⁶ the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard⁷ of the earth and tossed them into the great⁸ winepress of the wrath of God.

Revelation 16:3

16:3 Next,⁹ the second angel¹⁰ poured out his bowl on the sea and it turned into blood, like that of a corpse, and every living creature that was in the sea died.

Revelation 16:19

16:19 The¹¹ great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations¹² collapsed.¹³ So¹⁴ Babylon the great was remembered before God, and was given the cup¹⁵ filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath.¹⁶

Revelation 17:17

17:17 For God has put into their minds¹⁷ to carry out his purpose¹⁸ by making¹⁹ a decision²⁰ to give their royal power²¹ to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.²²

Revelation 20:10

20:10 And the devil who deceived²³ them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur,²⁴ where the beast and the false prophet are²⁵ too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever.

Revelation 21:27

21:27 but²⁶ nothing ritually unclean²⁷ will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable²⁸ or practices falsehood,²⁹ but only those whose names³⁰ are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

¹tn Grk “Behold.”

²tn Grk “come in to him.”

sn The expression in Greek does not mean entrance into the person, as is popularly taken, but entrance into a room or building toward the person. See ExSyn 380-82. Some interpreters understand the door here to be the door to the Laodicean church, and thus a collective or corporate image rather than an individual one.

³tc Many mss (C 051* 2351 Ï^A pc) read “if anyone will kill with the sword, it is necessary for him to be killed with the sword” (εἴ τις ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτενεῖ, δεῖ αὐτὸν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι). Other mss (א 1006 1611* 1854 al) are similar except that they read a present tense “kills” (ἀποκτείνει, apokteinei) in this sentence. Both of these variants may be regarded as essentially saying the same thing. On the other hand, codex A reads “if anyone is to be killed by the sword, he is to be killed by the sword” (εἴ τις ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι). Thus the first two variants convey the idea of retribution, while the last variant, supported by codex A, does not. (There are actually a dozen variants here, evidence that scribes found the original text quite difficult. Only the most important variants are discussed in this note.) The first two variants seem to be in line with Jesus’ comments in Matt 26:52: “everyone who takes up the sword will die by the sword.” The last variant, however, seems to be taking up an idea found in Jer 15:2: “Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.” Though G. B. Caird, Revelation (HNTC), 169-70, gives four arguments in favor of the first reading (i.e., “whoever kills with the sword must with the sword be killed”), the arguments he puts forward can be read equally as well to support the latter alternative. In the end, the reading in codex A seems to be original. The fact that this sentence seems to be in parallel with 10a (which simply focuses on God’s will and suffering passively and is therefore akin to the reading in codex A), and that it most likely gave rise to the others as the most difficult reading, argues for its authenticity.

⁴tn On ὧδε (Jwde) here, BDAG 1101 s.v. 2 states: “a ref. to a present event, object, or circumstance, in this case, at this point, on this occasion, under these circumstances…in this case moreover 1 Cor 4:2. ὧδε ἡ σοφία ἐστίν…Rv 13:18; cf. 17:9. ὧδέ ἐστιν ἡ ὑπομονή…13:10; 14:12.”

⁵tn Or “perseverance.”

⁶tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s directions.

⁷tn Or “vine.” BDAG 54 s.v. ἄμπελος a states, “τρυγᾶν τοὺς βότρυας τῆς ἀ. τῆς γῆς to harvest the grapes fr. the vine of the earth (i.e. fr. the earth, symbol. repr. as a grapevine) Rv 14:18f; but ἀ may be taking on the meaning of ἀμπελών, as oft. in pap., possibly PHib. 70b, 2 [III bc].” The latter alternative has been followed in the translation (ἀμπελών = “vineyard”).

⁸tn Although the gender of μέγαν (megan, masc.) does not match the gender of ληνόν (lhnon, fem.) it has been taken to modify that word (as do most English translations).

⁹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “next” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

¹⁰tn Grk “the second”; the referent (the second angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹²tn Or “of the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

¹³tn Grk “fell.”

¹⁴tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Babylon’s misdeeds (see Rev 14:8).

¹⁵tn 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”).

¹⁶tn 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.

¹⁷tn Grk “hearts.”

¹⁸tn Or “his intent.”

¹⁹tn The infinitive ποιῆσαι (poihsai) was translated here as giving the logical means by which God’s purpose was carried out.

²⁰tn On this term BDAG 203 s.v. γνώμη 4 states, “declaration, decision, resolution…of God Rv 17:17.”

²¹tn For this translation see BDAG 168 s.v. βασιλεία 1.a, “kingship, royal power, royal rule.”

²²tn Or “completed.”

²³tn Or “misled.”

²⁴tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

²⁵tn The verb in this clause is elided. In keeping with the previous past tenses some translations supply a past tense verb here (“were”), but in view of the future tense that follows (“they will be tormented”), a present tense verb was used to provide a transition from the previous past tense to the future tense that follows.

²⁶tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

²⁷tn Here BDAG 552 s.v. κοινός 2 states, “pert. to being of little value because of being common, common, ordinary, profane…b. specifically, of that which is ceremonially impure: Rv 21:27.”

²⁸tn Or “what is abhorrent”; Grk “who practices abominations.”

²⁹tn Grk “practicing abomination or falsehood.” Because of the way βδέλυγμα (bdelugma) has been translated (“does what is detestable”) it was necessary to repeat the idea from the participle ποιῶν (poiwn, “practices”) before the term “falsehood.” On this term, BDAG 1097 s.v. ψεῦδος states, “ποιεῖν ψεῦδος practice (the things that go with) falsehood Rv 21:27; 22:15.” Cf. Rev 3:9.

³⁰tn Grk “those who are written”; the word “names” is implied.