Translation commentary on Revelation 19:2

His judgments are true and just: see 16.7.

He has judged the great harlot: for the verb judged see 6.10; here it means “he has condemned (the infamous prostitute)” or “he has decided how he will punish.”

Who corrupted the earth with her fornication: the writer is talking about idolatry but continues to use the language of sexual immorality. The verb corrupted means “to ruin,” here in a moral and spiritual sense of leading into sin, specifically the sin of idolatry. For fornication see 17.2. An alternative translation model for this clause is “who caused the people of the earth to do evil by committing evil sexual practices with her.”

He has avenged on her the blood of his servants: see the same language in 6.10, where the same Greek verb “to avenge” is used. Here the blood means the slaughter, the killing of God’s servants. For servants see 1.1.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Revelation 19:2

19:2a

For: This conjunction introduces the basis for declaring that salvation, glory, and power belong to God (19:1c).

His judgments are true and just: This clause indicates that God always judges fairly. He always judges the wrongdoer to be guilty. Some English versions have the description before what was described. This is an English poetic style. For example:

true and just are his judgments (New International Version)

However, in some languages it is more natural to have the description afterward, as the Berean Standard Bible models. See how you translated this clause in 16:7.

judgments: This word refers to decisions that God makes about whether someone is guilty of sin or not. God judged Babylon as guilty of many sins. In some languages it is necessary or more natural to translate this noun as a verb. For example:

He judges/decides

true: Here the word true refers to God’s judgments being accurate. They are not mistaken or wrong.

just: Here the word just refers to judging rightly. Other ways to translate this word are:

right
-or-
proper

19:2b

19:2b begins with the Greek conjunction that means “because” or “in that.” It indicates that 19:2b is either a second reason for acknowledging God’s salvation (19:1c), glory, and power, or a basis for saying that God’s judgments are true and just (19:2a). Translate this word so that it allows either of these connections. For example, the New American Standard Bible says:

for

In some languages it is necessary or more natural not to translate the conjunction. Do this if the context will imply the correct connection in your language.

judged: The Greek word here implies that God has judged the prostitute to be guilty, and he has punished her. For example:

punished (New Living Translation (2004))

great: This word means “important” or “well-known” here. The word does not refer to a large or fat woman. Other ways to translate this word are:

notorious (God’s Word)
-or-
famous
-or-
infamous

See how you translated this in 17:1.

prostitute: This word refers to the symbolic woman who is named “Babylon” in 17:5. A prostitute often entices men to have sexual relations with her. Translate this word as you did in 17:1 or 17:15.

19:2c

who corrupted the earth with her immorality: This clause tells the reader more about the great prostitute. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that there are other great prostitutes and only this one corrupted the earth with her immorality. If that is true in your language, translate this clause so that it tells more about the great prostitute. One way to do that is to start a new sentence here. For example:

She corrupted the earth with her immorality.

corrupted the earth with her immorality: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as corrupted refers to ruining someone’s morals or to seducing a virgin. The word earth refers to mankind here. The great prostitute, Babylon, encouraged and enticed the people of the world to sin against God. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

made the earth evil with her sexual sin (New Century Version)
-or-
ruined the morals of people over the whole earth by her adulteries

immorality: This word refers to sexual immorality of all kinds. This word probably refers to sinning against God in many ways. In particular, it refers to being unfaithful to him by worshiping idols. See how you translated this word in 17:2.

19:2d

avenged: This word refers to giving the proper penalty for wrongdoing. Here God destroyed Babylon because Babylon had killed his servants. Other ways to translate this word are:

taken revenge (God’s Word)
-or-
taken vengeance (Revised English Bible)
-or-
paid…back (New Century Version)

See how you translated this word in 6:10.

the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand: This phrase refers to God’s people being killed. For example:

because she killed his servants (Good News Translation)

His servants: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as servants can also be translated as “slaves.” Here the phrase refers to believers serving God. The difference between “slave” and “servant” is not important here. See how you translated the word servants in 2:20 or 11:18.

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