OET interlinear REV 18:20

18:20a–b

There are three ways to interpret who spoke this verse:

1. The voice from heaven (18:4–19) continued speaking. The voice stopped telling what the ship captains and the others said in 18:19. For example:

   ¹⁹…in one hour she has been laid waste!’ ²⁰ Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.” (NASB) (NASB, GW, NJB)

2. John spoke. The ship captains and the others stopped speaking in 18:19. For example:

   ¹⁹…And in one hour she has lost everything!”

   ²⁰ Be glad, heaven, because of her destruction! Be glad, God’s people and the apostles and prophets! For God has condemned her for what she did to you! (GNT) (GNT, NLT, NET, REB)

3. The ship captains and the others (18:17b) continued speaking. For example:

   ¹⁹…In one hour she has been laid waste.

   ²⁰ Rejoice over her, O heaven, saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!” (RSV) (BSB, RSV, NIV, NABRE, CEV, NCV, ESV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).Beale (page 915), Smalley (page 460), and Kistemaker (page 500) support interpretation (1). Lenski (page 528) says it is not John. Osbourne (page 634) indicates with punctuation in his translation that it is not the seafarers. For example, in 12:12 a voice from heaven commanded heaven to rejoice. Interpretation (3) is unlikely because it would indicate that the ship captains and the others would weep and mourn the destruction of Babylon and then praise God. Interpretation (2) is unlikely because it is unlikely that John would command heaven to rejoice.

The voice from heaven spoken all of 18:4–20 but John has not referred to it since 18:4. It has also quoted what others have said.

In some languages it is not clear who is speaking here. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Explain who is speaking in your translation. For example:

  The voice from heaven continued and said, “Rejoice…

  The voice from heaven concluded, “Rejoice…

• Explain who is speaking in a footnote. An example footnote is:

  The voice from heaven continued speaking here.

18:20a

Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets: There is a textual issue in 18:20a: (1) Many early Greek manuscripts have the text the saints and the apostles (BSB, RSV, NIV, GNT, NJB, NASB, NLT, GW, CEV, NET, NABRE, REB, ESV, NCV). (2) Some later Greek manuscripts have the text the holy apostles (KJV only). It is recommended that you follow option (1), because the UBS Greek NT supports it. The Greek clause is literally “Rejoice over her, heaven and saints and apostles and prophets!” The phrase telling who is being addressed (heaven…saints and apostles and prophets) occurs after what is said to them. In some languages it is more natural to say who are being spoken to first. For example:

O heaven, saints, apostles, and prophets, rejoice over her!

Rejoice over her: This clause indicates that heaven and the others are to rejoice regarding what happened to Babylon. God has judged her and punished her, which was the right thing to do. Other ways to translate this clause are:

Rejoice over her fate (NLT)

Rejoice about how God has judged her

O heaven: This phrase refers to all those in heaven. In some languages it is not natural to speak directly to a place. If that is true in your language, you may need to refer to the people there. For example:

All those in heaven

Everyone in heaven

saints: The Greek word that the BSB translates as saints means “holy ones.” It refers to all believers. For example:

God’s people (GNT)

See how you translated this word in 5:8 or 17:6.

apostles and prophets: These apostles and prophets are saints/believers who have the gift of apostleship or prophecy.

apostles: In general, the Greek word that the BSB translates as apostles refers to those sent with a message. They are representatives or messengers of a higher authority. Here it refers to those sent to other cities with the gospel of Jesus (as were Barnabas and Saul in Acts 13:1–3).

Some ways to translate this word are:

• Translate the meaning. For example:

  representatives

  special messengers

  sent-people If this word is too general, you may need to add the words “of Jesus Christ” to show from whom they got their authority. An example is:

  representatives of Jesus Christ

• Use the major language word or phrase.

See how you translated this word in 2:2.

prophets: A prophet is a person to whom God gives a message. The message (often called a “prophecy”) may include a vision, as in Ezekiel 1 and Daniel 8. A message, called a prophecy, may reveal something about past events, current events, or future events. The prophet speaks God’s message to the people or writes it down for their use. See how you translated this word in 2:20 or 16:6.

18:20b

because: This conjunction introduces the reason that heaven and God’s people should be glad. For example:

for (RSV)

But in some languages it is necessary or more natural not to translate the conjunction. Do this if the context implies in your language that 18:20b is the reason that heaven and God’s people should be glad.

God has pronounced for you His judgment against her: This clause indicates that God had judged and punished Babylon for persecuting the people of God. Other ways to translate this clause are:

God has condemned her for what she did to you! (GNT)

God has punished her because of what she did to you (NCV)

pronounced…judgment: The words pronounced…judgment indicates that God looked at the facts and then decided that Babylon was guilty of wrongdoing.