OET interlinear REV 16:19

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη

the city ¬the great

John assumes that his readers will understand that by the great city he means Babylon the Great, as he says later in the verse. You can use the name here as well if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: “Babylon the Great”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

αἱ πόλεις

the cities

John is using these cities as a whole to mean the individual parts of them, that is, their buildings. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “the buildings in the cities”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

ἔπεσαν

fell

John is not speaking of these cities or their buildings as if they were living things that could fall down accidentally. He means that the buildings in the cities collapsed. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “collapsed”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη ἐμνήσθη ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, δοῦναι αὐτῇ

Babylon the great /was/_reminded before ¬the God /to/_give ˱to˲_her

If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: “God remembered Babylon the Great to give to her”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη ἐμνήσθη ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, δοῦναι αὐτῇ

Babylon the great /was/_reminded before ¬the God /to/_give ˱to˲_her

John is not suggesting that God had forgotten about Babylon the Great but now remembered the city. He is using a common biblical expression that means that God took action with regard to a person or entity of which he was already aware, either to help or to punish. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “God punished Babylon the Great by giving her”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη ἐμνήσθη

Babylon the great /was/_reminded

John is referring to the people who live in the city of Babylon by association with that city itself. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “the people who lived in the great city of Babylon were remembered”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

δοῦναι αὐτῇ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τῆς ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ

/to/_give ˱to˲_her the cup ˱of˲_the wine ˱of˲_the rage ˱of˲_the wrath ˱of˲_him

John is alluding to what the angel said in 14:10 about the “wine of the wrath” of God’s “anger” that was in his “cup.” It is likely that he is therefore referring symbolically, as the angel was, to God making people and entities experience the just consequences of their actions. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “to make her experience the just consequences of her actions that have made God so angry”