Paragraph 14:8
14:8a
Then a second angel followed: Here the word Then…followed refers to appearing next. In this case, it indicates that the second angel came after the first angel. The word probably implies that the first angel had left. Then the second angel came to the same place where the first angel made his announcement. Other ways to translate this clause are:
A second angel came afterward
-or-
Then a second angel came there
second: The word second refers to the next item after the first one. If counted, this item would be counted as number two. Other ways to translate this word are:
the one after the first
-or-
another
See how you translated this word in 4:7 or 11:14.
14:8b
Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great: The Greek words are literally “The great Babylon fell fell.” The verb “fell” is repeated to emphasize its meaning. The Berean Standard Bible puts the verb first in an English poetic style. Some other ways to emphasize the meaning are:
She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! (Good News Translation)
-or-
Babylon the Great has fallen; she/it has fallen indeed!
Fallen: Here the word Fallen refers to God destroying the city (18:20). Your translation should imply that the city fell because it was destroyed.
In some languages the word Fallen here does not imply being destroyed. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Explain the meaning in your translation. For example:
⌊has been destroyed and so⌋ has fallen
• Translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:
has been destroyed
-or-
is finished/gone
• Translate literally and explain its meaning in a footnote. For example:
The word “fallen” refers to God destroying the city (18:20).
Babylon the great: The city Babylon is called great because it refers to a city of this time that had a vast empire and great influence. For example:
Great Babylon (Good News Translation)
-or-
the famous Babylon
Babylon: This name is probably a symbol of those who oppose God. The king of Babylon conquered Jerusalem about 600 years before Jesus was on earth. The city was well-known for idol worship. It had a vast empire at that time. But at the time of Jesus and John, Babylon had only a few people living there. So it is a symbol here. It may refer to Rome as in John’s time, or it may refer to a future powerful city. You should use the name Babylon here.
14:8c
14:8c contains metaphors of drinking wine and adultery. They refer to people of the nations participating with Babylon in evil deeds. In the Old Testament God often refers figuratively to such evil deeds as adultery, because the people doing them are seeking things other than God.
who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as passion can mean “sexual desire,” “anger,” or even “insanity.” There are several ways to interpret it here. The main interpretations are:
(1) It means strong sexual desire. For example:
She made all peoples drink her wine—the strong wine of her immoral lust (Good News Translation)
(2) It means anger. It refers to God’s anger with Babylon. For example:
She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication (New Revised Standard Version)
(3) It means cause to be insane or make angry. This is the meaning of “maddening” in the New International Version.
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The word should then be understood as describing the adulteries: they were passionate or lustful. People desired to participate in the adulteries. For example:
She who made all nations drink the wine of her passionate unfaithfulness (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
drink the wine: Here this phrase refers figuratively to doing something. The nations participated with Babylon in her adulteries.
In some languages the meaning of the metaphor is not clear. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Explain the meaning of the metaphor in a footnote. An example footnote is:
Here the phrase “drink the wine” is a metaphor for doing something. The nations participated with Babylon in her adulteries.
• Translate the meaning without the metaphor. For example:
participate in the bad deeds
You may then want to give the literal words in a footnote. An example footnote is:
Literally: “drink the wine.”
wine: Wine is made from the juice of grapes, a fruit that grows on a vine. The grape juice is allowed to ferment, so wine is an alcoholic beverage. If people drink a lot of it, they become drunk. Here the word wine refers figuratively to Babylon’s evil ways.
In some languages people are not familiar with wine. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Explain the meaning in your translation. For example:
alcoholic beverage of wine
• Use the common alcoholic beverage in your area. You may then use a footnote to explain the literal word. For example:
Literally: “wine.” Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from grapes.
• Use the word from the major language. If the word is not well known, you may want to explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:
Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from grapes. Here the word “wine” refers figuratively to the bad ways of Babylon that the nations followed.
See how you translated this word in 6:6.
immorality: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as immorality refers to sexual relations with someone to whom a person is not married. Other ways to translate this word are:
adulteries (New International Version)
-or-
fornication (New Revised Standard Version)
The word here refers figuratively to doing things that are immoral. Here it may refer to worshiping someone other than God, committing sexually immoral deeds, enticing people to sin, or misusing authority.
In some languages a literal translation will wrongly refer only to adultery. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Explain the meaning of the metaphor in a footnote. An example footnote is:
Here the word “adultery” is a metaphor for doing things that are immoral. It may refer to worshiping someone other than God, doing sexually immoral deeds, enticing people to sin, or misusing authority.
• Translate the meaning without the metaphor. For example:
immoral deeds
You may then want to give the literal word in a footnote. An example footnote is:
Literally: “adultery.”
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