Wahyu 8:9-12

8:9 and a third of the creatures ¹  living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were completely destroyed. ² 

8:10 Then ³  the third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star burning like a torch fell from the sky; ⁴  it landed ⁵  on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 8:11 (Now ⁶  the name of the star is ⁷  Wormwood.) ⁸  So ⁹  a third of the waters became wormwood, ¹⁰  and many people died from these waters because they were poisoned. ¹¹ 

8:12 Then ¹²  the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. And there was no light for a third of the day ¹³  and for a third of the night likewise.

Wahyu 13:1-3

The Two Beasts

13:1 Then ¹⁴  I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It ¹⁵  had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, ¹⁶  and on its heads a blasphemous name. ¹⁷  13:2 Now ¹⁸  the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The ¹⁹  dragon gave the beast ²⁰  his power, his throne, and great authority to rule. ²¹  13:3 One of the beast’s ²²  heads appeared to have been killed, ²³  but the lethal wound had been healed. ²⁴  And the whole world followed ²⁵  the beast in amazement;

Wahyu 16:10

16:10 Then ²⁶  the fifth angel ²⁷  poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast so that ²⁸  darkness covered his kingdom, ²⁹  and people ³⁰  began to bite ³¹  their tongues because ³²  of their pain.

Wahyu 16:19

16:19 The ³³  great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations ³⁴  collapsed. ³⁵  So ³⁶  Babylon the great was remembered before God, and was given the cup ³⁷  filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath. ³⁸ 

[8:9]  ¹ tn Or “a third of the living creatures in the sea”; Grk “the third of the creatures which were in the sea, the ones having life.”

[8:9]  ² tn On the term translated “completely destroyed,” L&N 20.40 states, “to cause the complete destruction of someone or something – ‘to destroy utterly.’ τὸ τρίτον τῶν πλοίων διεφθάρησαν ‘a third of the ships were completely destroyed’ Re 8:9.”

[8:10]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[8:10]  ⁴ tn Or “from heaven” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

[8:10]  ⁵ tn Grk “fell.”

[8:11]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” in keeping with the parenthetical nature of this remark.

[8:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “is called,” but this is somewhat redundant in contemporary English.

[8:11]  ⁸ sn Wormwood refers to a particularly bitter herb with medicinal value. According to L&N 3.21, “The English term wormwood is derived from the use of the plant as a medicine to kill intestinal worms.” This remark about the star’s name is parenthetical in nature.

[8:11]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the star falling on the waters.

[8:11]  ¹⁰ tn That is, terribly bitter (see the note on “Wormwood” earlier in this verse).

[8:11]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and many of the men died from these waters because they were bitter.”

[8:12]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[8:12]  ¹³ tn Grk “the day did not shine [with respect to] the third of it.”

[13:1]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[13:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “having” (a continuation of the previous sentence). All of the pronouns referring to this beast (along with the second beast appearing in 13:11) could be translated as “it” because the word for beast (θηρίον, qhrion) is neuter gender in Greek and all the pronouns related to it are parsed as neuter in the Gramcord/Accordance database. Nevertheless, most interpreters would agree that the beast ultimately represents a human ruler, so beginning at the end of v. 4 the masculine pronouns (“he,” “him,” etc.) are used to refer to the first beast as well as the second beast appearing in 13:11.

[13:1]  ¹⁶ tn For the translation of διάδημα (diadhma) as “diadem crown” see L&N 6.196.

[13:1]  sn Diadem crowns were a type of crown used as a symbol of the highest ruling authority in a given area, and thus often associated with kingship.

[13:1]  ¹⁷ tc ‡ Several mss (A 051 1611 1854 2053 2344 2351 Ï^K) read the plural ὀνόματα (onomata, “[blasphemous] names”), while the singular ὄνομα (onoma, “name”) has somewhat better support (Ì⁴⁷ א C 1006 1841 2329 Ï^A). The plural reading seems motivated by the fact that what is written is written “on its heads.” In the least, it is a clarifying reading. NA²⁷ puts the plural in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[13:1]  sn Whether this means a single name on all seven heads or seven names, one on each head, is not clear.

[13:2]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the parenthetical nature of the following description of the beast.

[13:2]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “gave it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:2]  ²¹ tn For the translation “authority to rule” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:3]  ²² 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.

[13:3]  ²³ 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.

[13:3]  ²⁴ 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.

[13:3]  ²⁵ 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).”

[16:10]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[16:10]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the fifth”; the referent (the fifth angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:10]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so that” to indicate the implied result of the fifth bowl being poured out.

[16:10]  ²⁹ tn Grk “his kingdom became dark.”

[16:10]  ³⁰ tn Grk “men,” but this is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") and refers to both men and women.

[16:10]  ³¹ tn On this term BDAG 620 s.v. μασάομαι states, “bite w. acc. τὰς γλώσσας bite their tongues Rv 16:10.”

[16:10]  ³² tn The preposition ἐκ (ek) has been translated here and twice in the following verse with a causal sense.

[16:19]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:19]  ³⁴ tn Or “of the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[16:19]  ³⁵ tn Grk “fell.”

[16:19]  ³⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Babylon’s misdeeds (see Rev 14:8).

[16:19]  ³⁷ tn 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”).

[16:19]  ³⁸ tn 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.