Wahyu 17:1-6

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17:1 Then ¹  one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me. ²  “Come,” he said, “I will show you the condemnation and punishment ³  of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, 17:2 with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality and the earth’s inhabitants got drunk with the wine of her immorality.” ⁴  17:3 So ⁵  he carried me away in the Spirit ⁶  to a wilderness, ⁷  and there ⁸  I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 17:4 Now ⁹  the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing, ¹⁰  and adorned with gold, ¹¹  precious stones, and pearls. She held ¹²  in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things and unclean things from her sexual immorality. ¹³  17:5 On ¹⁴  her forehead was written a name, a mystery: ¹⁵  “Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.” 17:6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. ¹⁶  I ¹⁷  was greatly astounded ¹⁸  when I saw her.

Wahyu 18:5-10

18:5 because her sins have piled ¹⁹  up all the way to heaven ²⁰  and God has remembered ²¹  her crimes. ²²  18:6 Repay her the same way she repaid others; ²³  pay her back double ²⁴  corresponding to her deeds. In the cup she mixed, mix double the amount for her. 18:7 As much as ²⁵  she exalted herself and lived in sensual luxury, ²⁶  to this extent give her torment and grief because she said to herself, ²⁷  ‘I rule as queen and am no widow; I will never experience grief!’ 18:8 For this reason, she will experience her plagues ²⁸  in a single day: disease, ²⁹  mourning, ³⁰  and famine, and she will be burned down ³¹  with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is powerful!”

18:9 Then ³²  the kings of the earth who committed immoral acts with her and lived in sensual luxury ³³  with her will weep and wail for her when they see the smoke from the fire that burns her up. ³⁴  18:10 They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment, and will say,

“Woe, woe, O great city,

Babylon the powerful city!

For in a single hour your doom ³⁵  has come!”

Wahyu 18:16

18:16 saying,

“Woe, woe, O great city –

dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet clothing, ³⁶ 

and adorned with gold, ³⁷  precious stones, and pearls –

[17:1]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[17:1]  ² tn Grk “with me.” The translation “with me” implies that John was engaged in a dialogue with the one speaking to him (e.g., Jesus or an angel) when in reality it was a one-sided conversation, with John doing all the listening. For this reason, μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ (met’ emou, “with me”) was translated as “to me.”

[17:1]  ³ tn Here one Greek term, κρίμα (krima), has been translated by the two English terms “condemnation” and “punishment.” See BDAG 567 s.v. 4.b, “mostly in an unfavorable sense, of the condemnatory verdict and sometimes the subsequent punishment itself 2 Pt 2:3; Jd 4…τὸ κ. τῆς πόρνης the condemnation and punishment of the prostitute Rv 17:1.”

[17:2]  ⁴ tn This is the same word translated “sexual immorality” earlier in the verse, but here the qualifier “sexual” has not been repeated for stylistic reasons.

[17:3]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation to witness the fate of the prostitute.

[17:3]  ⁶ tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).

[17:3]  ⁷ tn Or “desert.”

[17:3]  ⁸ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[17:4]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.

[17:4]  ¹¹ tn Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).

[17:4]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.

[17:5]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:5]  ¹⁵ 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”).

[17:6]  ¹⁶ tn Or “of the witnesses to Jesus.” Here the genitive ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) is taken as an objective genitive; Jesus is the object of their testimony.

[17:6]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:6]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “I marveled a great marvel” (an idiom for great astonishment).

[18:5]  ¹⁹ tn On ἐκολλήθησαν (ekollhqhsan) BDAG 556 s.v. κολλάω 2.a.β states, “fig. cling to = come in close contact with (cp. Ps 21:16; 43:26 ἐκολλήθη εἰς γῆν ἡ γαστὴρ ἡμῶν. The act.=‘bring into contact’ PGM 5, 457 κολλήσας τ. λίθον τῷ ὠτίῳ) ἐκολλήθησαν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ἄχρι τ. οὐρανοῦ the sins have touched the heaven = reached the sky (two exprs. are telescoped) Rv 18:5.”

[18:5]  ²⁰ tn Or “up to the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

[18:5]  ²¹ tn That is, remembered her sins to execute judgment on them.

[18:5]  ²² tn Or “her sins.”

[18:6]  ²³ tn The word “others” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[18:6]  ²⁴ tn On this term BDAG 252 s.v. διπλόω states, “to double τὰ διπλᾶ pay back double Rv 18:6.”

[18:7]  ²⁵ tn “As much as” is the translation of ὅσα (Josa).

[18:7]  ²⁶ tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”

[18:7]  ²⁷ tn Grk “said in her heart,” an idiom for saying something to oneself.

[18:8]  ²⁸ tn Grk “For this reason, her plagues will come.”

[18:8]  ²⁹ tn Grk “death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).

[18:8]  ³⁰ tn This is the same Greek word (πένθος, penqo") translated “grief” in vv. 7-8.

[18:8]  ³¹ tn Here “burned down” was used to translate κατακαυθήσεται (katakauqhsetai) because a city is in view.

[18:9]  ³² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[18:9]  ³³ tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”

[18:9]  ³⁴ tn Grk “from the burning of her.” For the translation “the smoke from the fire that burns her up,” see L&N 14.63.

[18:10]  ³⁵ tn Or “judgment,” condemnation,” “punishment.” BDAG 569 s.v. κρίσις 1.a.β states, “The word oft. means judgment that goes against a person, condemnation, and the sentence that follows…ἡ κ. σου your judgment Rv 18:10.”

[18:16]  ³⁶ tn The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.

[18:16]  ³⁷ tn Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).