Revelation 16 is the sixteenth chapter of the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

or the Apocalypse of John in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. The book is traditionally attributed to

John the Apostle John the Apostle (; ; ), also known as Saint John the Beloved and, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Saint John the Theologian, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he ...

, but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate. This chapter describes the

seven bowls The seven bowls (, ''phialas'' (acc. pl.), nom. sing. φιάλη, ''phialē''; also translated as cups or vials) are a set of plagues mentioned in Revelation 16. They are recorded as apocalyptic events that were seen in the vision of the Reve ...

vial A vial (also known as a phial or flacon) is a small glass or plastic vessel or bottle, often used to store medication in the form of liquids, powders, or capsules. They can also be used as scientific sample vessels; for instance, in autosam ...

s or phials of God's wrath, poured out on the wicked and the followers of the

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...

after the sounding of the

seven trumpets In the Book of Revelation, seven trumpets are sounded, one at a time, to cue apocalyptic events seen by John of Patmos ( Revelation 1:9) in his vision ( Revelation 1:1). The seven trumpets are sounded by seven angels and the events that follow are ...

, on the command of "a loud voice from the temple" heard by the author.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

. This chapter is divided into 21 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are among others: * Papyrus 47 (3rd century; complete) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(330-360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(400-440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum C or 04 in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering of New ...

(ca. 450; extant verse 1-12) * Papyrus 43 (6th/7th century; extant verse 1-2)

Old Testament references

* :

New Testament references

* :

The seven bowls (16:1–21)

Verse 1

:''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."''

NKJV The New King James Version (NKJV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English, working as a revision of the King James Version. Published by Thomas Nelson, the complete NKJV was released in 1982. With regard to its textual basis, the ...

*"From the temple": from the words in , "from the temple", or "from the sanctuary", 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".

The fourth bowl (16:8–9)

Verse 8

:''And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.'' *"Men": from in generic use refers to 'both men and women'.

Verse 9

:''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.'' *"Men": from in generic use refers to 'both men and women'.

The sixth bowl (16:12–16)

Verse 12

:''Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great

river Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syr ...

, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.'' *"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. ; 16:12; ).

Verse 16

: ''And they gathered them together to the place called in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Armageddon Armageddon ( ; ; ; from ) is the prophesied gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, according to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Armageddon is variously interpreted as either a literal or a ...

.'' NKJV *"

": identified with ''Har-megiddo'', "the mountain of Megiddo", which may refer to 'the slaying of

Josiah Josiah () or Yoshiyahu was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE). According to the Hebrew Bible, he instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Until the 1990s, the biblical description of Josiah’s ...

in the valley of

Megiddo Megiddo may refer to: Places and sites in Israel * Tel Megiddo, site of an ancient city in Israel's Jezreel valley * Megiddo Airport, a domestic airport in Israel * Megiddo church (Israel) * Megiddo, Israel, a kibbutz in Israel * Megiddo Juncti ...

', which 'became proverbial for any great sorrow' (; ; ) or 'to the slaughter of Sisera's army at the waters of Megiddo', by Barak, ().''John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible'' - Revelation 16:16
/ref>

Notes

References

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate

''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.) {{Book of Revelation 16 Tel Megiddo