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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Rev C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22
Rev 16 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21
OET (OET-LV) And were_scorched the people with_burning great, and they_slandered the name the of_god, the one having the authority over the plagues these, and not they_repented to_give to_him glory.
OET (OET-RV) So people were scorched with incredible heat and they swore at the God who has authority over those plagues, but they did not turn from their disobedience and honour him.
In this section, each of the seven angels in turn poured God’s wrath from his bowl. Each angel caused a different plague to happen on the earth. The people of the earth suffered greatly from the plagues, but they refused to repent.
Other examples of headings for this section are:
The seven angels poured God’s wrath from seven bowls
The seven bowls of God’s anger
And the people were scorched by intense heat,
They were scorched by the great heat,
The fierce heat burned the people,
And the people were scorched by intense heat: This clause indicates that people received severe and painful burns from the sun. The clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:
The intense heat scorched them
scorched: This word refers to burning something quickly. Other ways to translate this word are:
scorched (RSV)
burned (GNT)
intense heat: Here the word intense means “much.” This heat was very hot. For example:
fierce heat (GNT)
and they cursed the name of God,
and they greatly slandered God,
and/but they spoke evil of God,
and: There is some contrast here between the heat burning the people and the people not repenting but instead cursing God. For example:
but (NRSV)
But in some languages it is more natural not to translate the contrast, as in the BSB. In some languages it is more natural to allow the context to indicate the correct connection and not translate the conjunction.
they cursed the name of God: The Greek word that the BSB translates as cursed can also mean “blasphemed.” Here it refers to speaking evil about God. Other ways to translate this clause are:
they blasphemed/dishonored God’s name
they greatly slandered God
See how you translated a similar clause in 13:6 (“blasphemies against God,” BSB).
who had authority over these plagues;
who controlled/caused these disasters,
because he caused them to suffer in so many ways.
who had authority over these plagues: The Greek words are literally “the one having authority over these plagues.” It indicates that God commanded the angels to send these plagues. Other ways to translate these words are:
who had control over these plagues (NIV)
who had the power to cause such plagues (NJB)
This clause tells the reader more about God. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that John was thinking of other gods and only this one had authority over these plagues. If that is true in your language, translate this clause so that it tells more about God. For example:
because he had authority over these plagues
yet they did not repent and give Him glory.
but they refused to repent and glorify him.
But/And they would not turn away from their own evil ways and honor God.
yet: The Greek connects 16:9d to 16:9b with the common conjunction that is often translated as “and.” People in some languages will see no contrast here between cursing God and refusing to repent. For example:
and (RSV)
they did not repent and give Him glory: The BSB literally represents the Greek here. This phrase indicates that the people did not turn away from their worship of false gods. The purpose of turning away from false gods was to honor the one true God. Other ways to translate this clause are:
they did not repent and acknowledge God’s glory
they would not turn from their sins and praise his greatness (GNT)
But no one turned to God and praised him. (CEV)
repent: This word refers to changing one’s mind, heart, and actions. In this case it refers to no longer worshiping the image of the beast. Some other examples are:
turn back to God
change their hearts and lives (NCV)
leave the ways of sin and follow the ways of God
See how you translated this word in 2:5 or 9:20.
give Him glory: This phrase refers to agreeing that God has glory. Other ways to translate this word are:
acknowledge his majesty
praise him that he is awesome
See how you translated similar phrases in 4:9 (“give glory”) or 14:7 (“give him glory”).
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ἐκαυματίσθησαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι καῦμα μέγα
˓were˒_scorched the people ˱with˲_burning great
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: [the sun scorched men greatly]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
ἐβλασφήμησαν τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ
˱they˲_slandered (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐκαυματίσθησαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι καῦμα μέγα καί ἐβλασφήμησαν τό ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἔχοντος τήν ἐξουσίαν ἐπί τάς πληγάς ταύτας καί οὒ μετενόησαν δοῦναι αὐτῷ δόξαν)
Here, name represents the character and reputation of person by association with the way that each person has a name. Alternate translation: [they maligned the character of the God]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
οὐ μετενόησαν δοῦναι αὐτῷ δόξαν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐκαυματίσθησαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι καῦμα μέγα καί ἐβλασφήμησαν τό ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἔχοντος τήν ἐξουσίαν ἐπί τάς πληγάς ταύτας καί οὒ μετενόησαν δοῦναι αὐτῷ δόξαν)
In the Bible, a person giving God glory often means that person acknowledging that he has sinned and that God is justly punishing him. Alternate translation: [they did not repent of their sin and acknowledge that God was punishing them for it justly]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
δοῦναι αὐτῷ δόξαν
˓to˒_give ˱to˲_him glory
If you wish to retain the biblical idiom in your translation but your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of glory, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [and glorify him]
OET (OET-LV) And were_scorched the people with_burning great, and they_slandered the name the of_god, the one having the authority over the plagues these, and not they_repented to_give to_him glory.
OET (OET-RV) So people were scorched with incredible heat and they swore at the God who has authority over those plagues, but they did not turn from their disobedience and honour him.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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