Wahyu 16:9-11

16:9 Thus ¹  people ²  were scorched by the terrible heat, ³  yet ⁴  they blasphemed the name of God, who has ruling authority ⁵  over these plagues, and they would not repent and give him glory.

16:10 Then ⁶  the fifth angel ⁷  poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast so that ⁸  darkness covered his kingdom, ⁹  and people ¹⁰  began to bite ¹¹  their tongues because ¹²  of their pain. 16:11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings ¹³  and because of their sores, ¹⁴  but nevertheless ¹⁵  they still refused to repent ¹⁶  of their deeds.

Wahyu 18:3

18:3 For all the nations ¹⁷  have fallen ¹⁸  from

the wine of her immoral passion, ¹⁹ 

and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her,

and the merchants of the earth have gotten rich from the power of her sensual behavior.” ²⁰ 

[16:9]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “thus” to indicate the implied result of the bowl poured on the sun.

[16:9]  ² tn Grk “men,” but this is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") and refers to both men and women.

[16:9]  ³ tn On this phrase BDAG 536 s.v. καῦμα states, “burning, heat Rv 7:16…καυματίζεσθαι κ. μέγα be burned with a scorching heat 16:9.”

[16:9]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[16:9]  ⁵ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[16:10]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[16:10]  ⁷ tn Grk “the fifth”; the referent (the fifth angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:10]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so that” to indicate the implied result of the fifth bowl being poured out.

[16:10]  ⁹ tn Grk “his kingdom became dark.”

[16:10]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “men,” but this is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") and refers to both men and women.

[16:10]  ¹¹ tn On this term BDAG 620 s.v. μασάομαι states, “bite w. acc. τὰς γλώσσας bite their tongues Rv 16:10.”

[16:10]  ¹² tn The preposition ἐκ (ek) has been translated here and twice in the following verse with a causal sense.

[16:11]  ¹³ tn Grk “pains” (the same term in Greek [πόνος, ponos] as the last word in v. 11, here translated “sufferings” because it is plural). BDAG 852 s.v. 2 states, “ἐκ τοῦ π. in pain…Rv 16:10; pl. (Gen 41:51; Jos., C. Ap. 2, 146; Test. Jud. 18:4) ἐκ τῶν π. …because of their sufferings vs. 11.”

[16:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or “ulcerated sores” (see 16:2).

[16:11]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and they did not repent.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but nevertheless” to express the contrast here.

[16:11]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “they did not repent” The addition of “still refused” reflects the hardness of people’s hearts in the context.

[18:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[18:3]  ¹⁸ tc ‡ Several mss (א A C 1006* 1611 1841 2030 Ï^K), including the best witnesses, read “have fallen” (πεπτώκασιν or πέπτωκαν [peptwkasin or peptwkan]). The singular πέπτωκεν (peptwken), which is better grammatically with the neuter plural subject πάντα τὰ ἔθνη (panta ta eqnh, “all the nations”), is read by 1854 2062 pc; 2042 pc read πεπότικεν (pepotiken). A few mss (1006^c 2329 pc latt sy^h) read “have drunk” (πέπωκαν/πεπώκασιν, pepwkan/pepwkasin); the singular πέπωκεν (pepwken) is read by P 051 1 2053* al. The more difficult reading and that which has the best ms support is “have fallen.” That it is not too difficult is evidenced by the fact that the great majority of Byzantine minuscules, which have a tendency to smooth out problems, left it stand as is. Nonetheless, it is somewhat difficult (TCGNT 683 says that this reading is “scarcely suitable in the context”), and for that reason certain mss seem to have changed it to “have drunk” to agree with the idea of “wine” (οἴνου, oinou). One can understand how this could happen: A scribe coming to the text and seeing the term “wine” expects a verb of drinking. When he sees “have fallen” and knows that in Greek the verbs “have fallen” and “have drunk” are spelled similarly, he concludes that there has been a slip of the pen in the ms he is using, which he then seeks to correct back to the “have drunk” reading. This appears to be more reasonable than to conclude that three early uncials (i.e., א A C) as well as a great number of other witnesses all felt the need to change “have drunk” (πέπωκαν) to “have fallen” (πέπτωκαν), even if “fallen” occurs in the immediate context (“fallen, fallen, [ἔπεσεν ἔπεσεν, epesen epesen] Babylon the great” in the preceding verse). The preferred reading, on both external and internal grounds, is “have fallen,” and thus the Seer intends to focus on the effects of wine, namely, a drunken stupor.

[18:3]  ¹⁹ tn See the notes on the words “passion” in Rev 14:8 and “wrath” in 16:19.

[18:3]  ²⁰ tn According to BDAG 949 s.v. στρῆνος and στρηνιάω, these terms can refer either to luxury or sensuality. In the context of Rev 18, however (as L&N 88.254 indicate) the stress is on gratification of the senses by sexual immorality, so that meaning was emphasized in the translation here.