9And the kings of the earth, who engaged in sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning;
The Greek that is translated as “sexual immorality” or “fornication” or similar is translated much more specifically in some languages. Morelos Nahuatl has “let a man not yield himself to another woman except only to his wife. Also let a woman not yield herself to another man except only to her husband” or in Lalana Chinantec as “not proper for them to mix themselves with other women. The same is true of women for other men also.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Low German as Hurenkram or “things related to prostitution (and/or sleeping around)” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006) and in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) typically as Sexgier or “sex cravings” (exceptions: Acts 15:10 and 15:29).
Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 18:9:
Uma: “The kings of the world follow the unseemly behavior of the Babel people and do their own desire like the Babel people. So when they saw the smoke that billowed from the fire that burned that village of Babel, they wailed weeping over its destruction.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Then the kings on earth who had done bad things indulging their desires with that woman, they will weep and wail when they see the smoke coming out of that burning city.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the kings on earth who joined her in her evil which is her idol worship, they will weep and wail when they see the smoke of her burning.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Therefore those who rule on the earth who have joined-in-sleeping-with her and shared-in-enjoying her wealth, extreme will be their sorrow and they will mourn-for her when they see-from-a-distance the smoke from her being-burned.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “The kings here under the heavens will really wail with abandon who caused themselves to be involved in the evil and greedy nature/ways of those people of Babilonia. They will wail who will see the smoke of this burning city.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Concerning the rulers all over the world who committed fornication just like she did and felt proud of their wealth, these will mourn and cry when they see the smoke arising from the burning of the city.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
Who committed fornication … with her: see Rev. 18.3; for were wanton with her see Rev. 18.7. One may also say “who committed evil sexual practices with her and indulged their lust (or, sexual passion).”
Will weep and wail over her: for these two verbs see 5.4, 5 and 1.7. It may be better to restructure the verse and translate “When the kings … see the city being consumed by flames, they will cry and weep over her.” The phrase the smoke of her burning indicates that Babylon is being destroyed by fire, and the smoke that rises from the burning city is visible a long way off. Another way of expressing this phrase is “the smoke from the fire that is burning Babylon up.”
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 .
The Greek does not clearly indicate when the voice from heaven (18:4a) stopped speaking. There are two ways to interpret who spoke or wrote 18:9–20:
(1) The voice continued to speak here. The voice continued describing what will happen.
(2) The voice stopped speaking at the end of 18:8d. John then saw the events of 18:9–20 and wrote about them.
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the future tense continues from 18:8. So 18:9–20 are events that the voice told John about, just like 18:4–8.
Indicate that the voice continues speaking. In some languages introducing the quote again is necessary or more clear. For example:
⌊The voice continued,⌋ “When the kings… -or-
⌊That person in heaven spoke further saying,⌋ “When the kings… -or-
⌊That person’s voice continued speaking from heaven, saying,⌋ “When the kings…
18:9a–b
Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her: The kings’ actions are described in two ways here:
(a) they committed sexual immorality…with her,
(b) they lived in luxury with her.
What the kings actually did at the sight of the smoke is not written until after these descriptions. Your translation should make it clear that (a) and (b) above describe the customary deeds of the kings. You should not translate it as something they only did at this time. For example:
Regarding the kings of the earth who had committed adultery with her and shared her luxury, when they see the smoke -or-
When the kings of the earth who had been committing adultery with her and sharing her luxury now see the smoke
18:9a
the kings of the earth: This phrase refers to the leaders of nations around the earth.
who committed sexual immorality: This clause probably symbolizes the kings as joining Babylon in sinning against God. See how you translated this clause at 17:2 or 18:3.
In some languages a literal translation would not indicate the symbolic meaning of committed sexual immorality. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain in a footnote. For example:
This saying is probably symbolic of joining Babylon in sinning against God.
But if you already have a footnote at 17:2a or 18:3b, you may not want to repeat the footnote here.
18:9b
lived in luxury with her: The Berean Standard Bible literally represents the Greek here. The kings satisfied their sensual desires together with her. This would include things like rare perfumes, wearing expensive clothing, and eating fancy foods.
luxury: The Greek word here refers to things that satisfy sensual desires. See how you translated this word in 18:7.
18:9c
weep: This word refers to tears that flow from the eyes because of great sadness. Here the word may also refer to the sounds people make when crying. But it probably does not refer to the loud noise of wailing here.
wail: This word refers to sounds people make when they are grieving. The kings will mourn because they will no longer be able to enjoy Babylon’s luxury and immoral life. Other ways to translate this word are:
grieve -or-
have great sorrow
the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her: This phrase refers to the enemies of Babylon setting fire to her (18:8c). In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that she was burning something. If that is true in your language, make the correct meaning clear. For example:
the smoke from the fire that burns her (NET Bible) -or-
the smoke from the flames that consume her (Good News Translation)
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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