Revelation 14:18–20

14:18 Another53 angel, who was in charge of54 the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to the angel55 who had the sharp sickle, “Use56 your sharp sickle and gather57 the clusters of grapes58 off the vine of the earth,59 because its grapes60 are now ripe.”61 14:19 So62 the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard63 of the earth and tossed them into the great64 winepress of the wrath of God. 14:20 Then65 the winepress was stomped66 outside the city, and blood poured out of the winepress up to the height of horses’ bridles67 for a distance of almost two hundred miles.68

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53	tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
54	tn Grk “who had authority over.” This appears to be the angel who tended the fire on the altar.
55	tn Grk “to the one having the sharp sickle”; the referent (the angel in v. 17) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
56	tn Grk “Send.”
57	tn On this term BDAG 1018 s.v. τρυγάω states: “ ‘gather in’ ripe fruit, esp. harvest (grapes) w. acc. of the fruit (POslo. 21, 13 [71 ad]; Jos., Ant. 4, 227) Lk 6:44; Rv 14:18 (in imagery, as in the foll. places) … W. acc. of that which bears the fruit gather the fruit of the vine … or the vineyard (s. ἄμπελος a) Rv 14:19.”
58	tn On this term BDAG 181 s.v. βότρυς states, “bunch of grapes Rv 14:18 … The word is also found in the Phrygian Papias of Hierapolis, in a passage in which he speaks of the enormous size of the grapes in the new aeon (in the Lat. transl. in Irenaeus 5, 33, 2f.): dena millia botruum Papias (1:2). On this see Stephan. Byz. s.v. Εὐκαρπία: Metrophanes says that in the district of Εὐκαρπία in Phrygia Minor the grapes were said to be so large that one bunch of them caused a wagon to break down in the middle.”
59	tn The genitive τῆς γῆς (tēs gēs), taken symbolically, could be considered a genitive of apposition.
60	tn Or perhaps, “its bunches of grapes” (a different Greek word from the previous clause). L&N 3.38 states, “the fruit of grapevines (see 3.27)—‘grape, bunch of grapes.’ τρύγησον τοὺς βότρυας τῆς ἀμπέλου τῆς γῆς, ὄτι ἤκμασαν αἱ σταφυλαὶ αὐτῆς ‘cut the grapes from the vineyard of the earth because its grapes are ripe’ Re 14:18. Some scholars have contended that βότρυς means primarily a bunch of grapes, while σταφυλή designates individual grapes. In Re 14:18 this difference might seem plausible, but there is scarcely any evidence for such a distinction, since both words may signify grapes as well as bunches of grapes.”
61	tn On the use of ἤκμασαν (ēkmasan) BDAG 36 s.v. ἀκμάζω states, “to bloom … of grapes … Rv 14:18.”
62	tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s directions.
63	tn Or “vine.” BDAG 54 s.v. ἄμπελος a states, “τρυγᾶν τοὺς βότρυας τῆς ἀ. τῆς γῆς to harvest the grapes fr. the vine of the earth (i.e. fr. the earth, symbol. repr. as a grapevine) Rv 14:18f; but ἀ may be taking on the meaning of ἀμπελών, as oft. in pap., possibly PHib. 70b, 2 [III bc].” The latter alternative has been followed in the translation (ἀμπελών = “vineyard”).
64	tn Although the gender of μέγαν (megan, masc.) does not match the gender of ληνόν (lēnon, fem.) it has been taken to modify that word (as do most English translations).
65	tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
66	sn The winepress was stomped. See Isa 63:3, where Messiah does this alone (usually several individuals would join in the process).
67	tn L&N 6.7 states, “In Re 14:20 the reference to a bit and bridle is merely an indication of measurement, that is to say, the height of the bit and bridle from the ground, and one may reinterpret this measurement as ‘about a meter and a half’ or ‘about five feet.’ ”
68	tn Grk “1,600 stades.” A stade was a measure of length about 607 ft (185 m). Thus the distance here would be 184 mi or 296 km.

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