Revelation 16

Chapter of the New Testament

Revelation 16

← chapter 15

chapter 17 →

Revelation 13:16-14:4 on Papyrus 47 from the third century.

Book| Book of Revelation
Category| Apocalypse
Christian Bible part| New Testament
Order in the Christian part| 27

Revelation 16 is the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle,[1][2] but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate.[3] This chapter describes the seven bowls, vials[4] or phials[5] of God's wrath,[6] poured out on the wicked and the followers of the Antichrist after the sounding of the seven trumpets,[7] on the command of "a loud voice from the temple" heard by the author.[8]

## Text

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See also: Seven bowls

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 21 verses.

### Textual witnesses

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Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are among others:[9][a]

* Papyrus 47 (3rd century; complete)
* Codex Sinaiticus (330-360)
* Codex Alexandrinus (400-440)
* Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (ca. 450; extant verse 1-12)
* Papyrus 43 (6th/7th century; extant verse 1-2)

### Old Testament references

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* Revelation 16:19: Jeremiah 25:15[11]

### New Testament references

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* Revelation 16:15: Matthew 24:44[11]

## The seven bowls (16:1–21)

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### Verse 1

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Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth."[8]

* "From the temple": from the words in Biblical Greek: ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ, romanized: ek tou naou, "from the temple", or "from the sanctuary",[12] do not appear in some ancient versions, and Tischendorf omitted them from his critical edition. German Protestant theologian Heinrich Meyer argues that the inclusion of these words "is guaranteed by A, C, א, and some other manuscripts, "and is entirely suitable".[13]

## The fourth bowl (16:8–9)

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### Verse 8

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And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.[14]

* "Men": from Biblical Greek: ἄνθρωπος, romanized: anthrōpos in generic use refers to 'both men and women'.[15]

### Verse 9

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And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.[16]

* "Men": from Biblical Greek: ἄνθρωπος, romanized: anthrōpos in generic use refers to 'both men and women'.[17]

## The sixth bowl (16:12–16)

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### Verse 12

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Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.[18]

* "From the east": translated from the Greek phrase with literal meaning "from the rising of the sun" here in the sense of 'a geographical direction' (cf. Revelation 7:2; 16:12; 21:13).[19]

### Verse 16

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And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.[20]

* "Armageddon": identified with Har-megiddo, "the mountain of Megiddo", which may refer to 'the slaying of Josiah in the valley of Megiddo', which 'became proverbial for any great sorrow' (2 Chronicles 35:22; 2 Chronicles 35:25; Zechariah 12:11) or 'to the slaughter of Sisera's army at the waters of Megiddo', by Barak, (Judges 5:19).[21]

## See also

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* Armageddon
* Book of Daniel
* Jesus Christ
* John's vision of the Son of Man
* Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament
* Seven bowls
* Related Bible parts: Zechariah 12, Revelation 4, Revelation 6, Revelation 13, Revelation 14, Revelation 15, Revelation 17

## Notes

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1. ^ The Book of Revelation is missing from Codex Vaticanus.[10]

## References

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1. ^ Davids, Peter H (1982). I Howard Marshall and W Ward Gasque (ed.). New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Epistle of James (Repr. ed.). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans. ISBN 0802823882.
2. ^ Evans, Craig A (2005). Craig A Evans (ed.). Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: John, Hebrews-Revelation. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Victor. ISBN 0781442281.
3. ^ F. L. Cross, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 45
4. ^ Geneva Bible, King James Version
5. ^ Wesley, J., Wesley's Notes on Revelation 16, accessed 21 November 2018
6. ^ Sub-title to Revelation 16:1–21 in the New International Version
7. ^ Revelation 11:15-Revelation 15:8
8. ^ a b Revelation 16:1 NKJV
9. ^ Elliott, J. K. "Revelations from the apparatus criticus of the Book of Revelation: How Textual Criticism Can Help Historians." Union Seminary Quarterly Review 63, no. 3-4 (2012): 1-23.
10. ^ Claremont Coptic Encyclopaedia, Codex Vaticanus, accessed 29 September 2018
11. ^ a b "Biblical concordances of Revelation 16 in the 1611 King James Bible".
12. ^ Revelation 16:1: Young's Literal Translation
13. ^ Meyer, H., Meyer's NT Commentary on Revelation 16, accessed 23 November 2018
14. ^ Revelation 16:8 KJV
15. ^ Note [c] Revelation 16:8 in NET
16. ^ Revelation 16:9 KJV
17. ^ Note [b] Revelation 16:9 in NET
18. ^ Revelation 16:12 NKJV
19. ^ Note [e] Revelation 16:12 in NET
20. ^ Revelation 16:16 NKJV
21. ^ John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible \- Revelation 16:16

## External links

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* Revelation 16 King James Bible - Wikisource
* English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate Archived 2019-06-17 at the Wayback Machine
* Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
* Multiple bible versions at Bible Gateway (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)

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Book of Revelation

Bible chapters
(New Testament)|

* Revelation 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9
* 10
* 11
* 12
* 13
* 14
* 15
* 16
* 17
* 18
* 19
* 20
* 21
* 22

Places|

* Armageddon
* Asia
* Babylon
* Egypt
* Ephesus
* Euphrates
* Jerusalem
* Laodicea
* Patmos
* Pergamum
* Philadelphia
* Sardis
* Smyrna
* Sodom
* Thyatira

Persons|

* Asher
* Balak
* Balaam
* Benjamin
* David
* Gad
* Issachar
* Jesus Christ
* Jezebel
* John
* Joseph
* Judah
* Levi
* Manasseh
* Michael
* Naphtali
* Reuben
* Simeon
* Zebulun

Events/
Terms/ Phrases|

* Abaddon/Apollyon
* Alpha and Omega
* Beast
* Book of Life
* Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
* Four Living Creatures
* Lake of Fire
* Last Judgment
* Millennialism
* New Jerusalem
* Number of the Beast
* Seven bowls
* Seven churches of Asia
* Seven seals
* Seven trumpets
* Son of Man
* Three Angels' Messages
* Whore of Babylon
* Woman of the Apocalypse
* Wormwood

Interpretation|

* Futurist
* Historicist
* Idealist
* Preterist
* by John Foxe

Related|

* Authorship
* John of Patmos
* Textual variants

Manuscripts|

* Papyrus 18
* 24
* 43
* 47
* 85
* 98
* 115
* Crawford Aramaic New Testament manuscript

Sources|

* Greek Text
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* Wycliffe Version
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