18:14 (The ripe fruit 2 you greatly desired 3
has gone from you,
and all your luxury 4 and splendor 5
have gone from you –
they will never ever be found again!) 6
18:22 And the sound of the harpists, musicians,
flute players, and trumpeters
will never be heard in you 7 again.
No 8 craftsman 9 who practices any trade
will ever be found in you again;
the noise of a mill 10 will never be heard in you again.
18:23 Even the light from a lamp
will never shine in you again!
The voices of the bridegroom and his bride
will never be heard in you again.
For your merchants were the tycoons of the world,
because all the nations 11 were deceived by your magic spells! 12
1 tn An allusion to Isa 49:10. The phrase “burning heat” is one word in Greek (καῦμα, kauma) that refers to a burning, intensely-felt heat. See BDAG 536 s.v.
2 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.’”
3 tn Grk “you desired in your soul.”
4 tn On λιπαρός (liparo") BDAG 597 s.v. states, “luxury Rv 18:14.”
5 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.”
6 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.
7 tn The shift to a second person pronoun here corresponds to the Greek text.
8 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
9 tn On this term BDAG 1001 s.v. τεχνίτης states, “craftsperson, artisan, designer…Of a silversmith Ac 19:24, 25 v.l., 38….Of a potter 2 Cl 8:2 (metaph., cp. Ath. 15:2). πᾶς τεχνίτης πάσης τέχνης Rv 18:22.”
10 tn This is a different Greek word (μύλος, mulos) from the one for the millstone in v. 21 (μύλινος, mulinos). See L&N 7.68.
11 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
12 tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”