complete verse (Revelation 18:18)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 18:18:

  • Uma: “seeing the smoke that billows from the fire that burns that village. They cry-out/howl, they say: ‘No kidding that big village over there! There is nothing else like it.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “and they wail when they see the smoke from that burning. They say, ‘There is really no other city as famous as that city.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “they will shout saying, ‘There has never been a city greater than that great city!'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “spectating the smoke from her being-burned-up. Upon their seeing that, they will raise their voices saying, ‘Absolutely no city can-equal the greatness of this city!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “They will really cry over that city which is being burned, when they see the smoke which is coming from there. They will be saying, ‘The glory of this city really won’t be able to be equalled.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When they wee the city burning, they will cry out. They will say: ‘Where is there another city like that city there?'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 18:17 – 18:18

In one hour: as in verse 10.

All this wealth has been laid waste: this translates the Greek verb “to make a desert,” that is, to cause to disappear (see its use in 17.16, “make desolate”). A more natural way of saying this in English is “all this wealth has disappeared.” In certain languages this will be expressed as “Babylon has lost all of her possessions.”

Shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea: this list intends to include all people who make their living in maritime trade. Shipmasters can mean “steersmen, pilots,” or as RSV translates it in Acts 27.11, “captain”; here it means the ships’ captains. The “captain” is the one who commands the ship or gives commands to the sailors. The second phrase, translated seafaring men by Revised Standard Version, is a curious one, and no exact parallel to it has been found. Literally it says “everyone who sails to a place.” Most take it to mean, quite generally, “voyagers,” “seafarers,” “all who travel by ship” (Revised English Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version); the specific sense “passengers” is preferred by Good News Translation, Translator’s New Testament, Bible en français courant, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje. Some take it to mean the merchants who went with their goods aboard the ship (the Greek equivalent of the Latin vectores). Either “those who travel on the sea,” “passengers,” or “people who pay to travel on the ship” seems to be the best option. Sailors may be expressed as “people who make the boat go” or “people who work under the captain (or, boss) of the ship.” In land-bound cultures where only small fishing boats are known, it is important to designate “ships” as “large boats that travel on the sea (or, ocean).” The fourth group are “those who earn their living on the sea.” This does not include fishermen; it means people engaged in maritime commerce.

They saw the smoke of her burning: as in Rev. 18.9.

What city was like the great city?: this is a rhetorical question meaning “There has never been a city as great as this one!” See a similar rhetorical question in 13.4.

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 18:18

18:18a

the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her: The phrase the fire that consumes her refers to the beast and the ten kings burning Babylon (17:16). The Greek grammar and the Berean Standard Bible have the focus on Babylon and the event of burning. The focus is not on who burned her. Here are some others way to say this:

the smoke from the fire that burned her
-or-
the smoke as she burned (New Jerusalem Bible)

If possible, keep the focus on her and the event of burning.

18:18b

“What city was ever like this great city?”: This is a rhetorical question. It emphasizes that the people of the sea think that Babylon was the greatest city in all of history. Translate this clause in a way that emphasizes that Babylon was the greatest city. Some ways to do that are:

• Use a rhetorical question. For example:

Has there ever been a city as great as this (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
How could there ever be a city greater than this one?

• Use a statement. For example:

There never has been another city like this great city! (Good News Translation)

great: The city is called great because it had a vast empire and great influence. The word may include the meaning of “large,” but that is not the most important meaning here.

they will exclaim: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as exclaim is usually translated as “cried out” (as in the Revised Standard Version). The Greek word refers to speaking loudly so that many people can hear what was said. For example:

shouted (Contemporary English Version)

See how you translated this word in 6:10 or 7:10, where the Berean Standard Bible translates it as “cried out.”

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