Wahyu 2:6

2:6 But you do have this going for you: ¹  You hate what the Nicolaitans ²  practice ³  – practices I also hate.

Wahyu 17:16

17:16 The ⁴  ten horns that you saw, and the beast – these will hate the prostitute and make her desolate and naked. They ⁵  will consume her flesh and burn her up with fire. ⁶ 

Wahyu 2:15

2:15 In the same way, there are also some among you who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ⁷ 

Wahyu 18:2

18:2 He ⁸  shouted with a powerful voice:

“Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great!

She ⁹  has become a lair for demons,

a haunt ¹⁰  for every unclean spirit,

a haunt for every unclean bird,

a haunt for every unclean and detested beast. ¹¹ 

Wahyu 17:5

17:5 On ¹²  her forehead was written a name, a mystery: ¹³  “Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.”

Wahyu 17:4

17:4 Now ¹⁴  the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing, ¹⁵  and adorned with gold, ¹⁶  precious stones, and pearls. She held ¹⁷  in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things and unclean things from her sexual immorality. ¹⁸ 

[2:6]  ¹ tn Grk “But you do have this.” The words “going for you” are supplied to complete the English idiom; other phrases like “in your favor” (NIV) or “to your credit” (NRSV) could also be supplied.

[2:6]  ² sn The Nicolaitans were a sect (sometimes associated with Nicolaus, one of the seven original deacons in the church in Jerusalem according to Acts 6:5) that apparently taught that Christians could engage in immoral behavior with impunity.

[2:6]  ³ tn The expression τὰ ἔργα τῶν Νικολαϊτῶν (ta erga twn Nikolaitwn) has been translated as a subjective genitive.

[17:16]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ⁵ tn A new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ⁶ tn The final clause could also be turned into an adverbial clause of means: “They will consume her flesh by burning her with fire.”

[2:15]  ⁷ tn The term ὁμοίως (Jomoiws, “likewise”) is left untranslated because it is quite redundant.

[2:15]  sn See the note on the term Nicolaitans in 2:6.

[18:2]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style

[18:2]  ⁹ tn Or “It” (the subject is embedded in the verb in Greek; the verb only indicates that it is third person). Since the city has been personified as the great prostitute, the feminine pronoun was used in the translation.

[18:2]  ¹⁰ tn Here BDAG 1067 s.v. φυλακή 3 states, “a place where guarding is done, prison…Of the nether world or its place of punishment (πνεῦμα 2 and 4c) 1 Pt 3:19 (BReicke, The Disobedient Spirits and Christian Baptism ’46, 116f). It is in a φ. in the latter sense that Satan will be rendered harmless during the millennium Rv 20:7. The fallen city of Babylon becomes a φυλακή haunt for all kinds of unclean spirits and birds 18:2ab.”

[18:2]  ¹¹ tc There are several problems in this verse. It seems that according to the ms evidence the first two phrases (i.e., “and a haunt for every unclean spirit, and a haunt for every unclean bird” [καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς πνεύματος ἀκαθάρτου καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς ὀρνέου ἀκαθάρτου, kai fulakh panto" pneumato" akaqartou kai fulakh panto" orneou akaqartou]) are to be regarded as authentic, though there are some ms discrepancies. The similar beginnings (καὶ φυλακὴ παντός) and endings (ἀκαθάρτου) of each phrase would easily account for some mss omitting one or the other phrase. The third phrase (“a haunt for every unclean animal” [καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς θηρίου ἀκαθάρτου, kai fulakh panto" qhriou akaqartou]), however, is more problematic since it is missing in several important mss (א C 051 Ï). The passage as a whole, including the third phrase, seems to be an allusion to Isa 13:21 and 34:11. It seems reasonable, in such a case, to assume that since there is good ms evidence to support the third phrase (A 1611 2329 al), it probably dropped out of certain mss because of its similarity to the two preceding clauses. It is the presence of all three phrases in the original that most likely gave rise to the divergent ms evidence extant today.

[17:5]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:5]  ¹³ tn Some translations consider the word μυστήριον (musthrion, “mystery”) a part of the name written (“Mystery Babylon the Great,” so KJV, NIV), but the gender of both ὄνομα (onoma, “name”) and μυστήριον are neuter, while the gender of “Babylon” is feminine. This strongly suggests that μυστήριον should be understood as an appositive to ὄνομα (“a name, i.e., a mystery”).

[17:4]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the detailed description of the woman, which is somewhat parenthetical in nature.

[17:4]  ¹⁵ tn The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.

[17:4]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).

[17:4]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “pearls, having in her hand.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[17:4]  ¹⁸ tc Several mss (including 1611 1854 2053 Ï^K pc) read “sexual immorality on/of the earth” (πορνείας τῆς γῆς, porneia" th" gh") instead of “her sexual immorality.” Other mss (א sy^h** [co]) read “her sexual immorality and the earth’s” (πορνείας αὐτῆς καὶ τῆς γῆς, porneia" aujth" kai th" gh"). The translation is a rendering of πορνείας αὐτῆς, found in {A 1006 2344 al}. It seems that the first reading “sexuality immorality on/of the earth” was a scribal mistake in which letters may have been confused (auths would have been read as thsghs), or was perhaps influenced by the presence of “of the world” (τῆς γῆς) at the end of v. 5. The original wording seems to be “her sexual immorality”; codex א has conflated the two readings.