Revelation 6:6 – Harm, Injure, Damage, Use, or Waste?
In the NIV, the verse says:
‘…Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!‘
What does this mean?
- The Greek word is αδικησης (adikeses) which means ‘you will harm/injure/do wrong/do injustice’.
- The Aramaic text agrees, using a word which literally means ‘harm’, inflected to mean ‘you cause harm’.
The context describes a time in which food becomes very expensive; this suggests that the ‘harm’ is simply using these foodstuffs. In our language, though, we don’t talk of ‘harming’ something in short supply when we use it, instead we may say something like ‘use it sparingly’, or ‘don’t waste it’.
So instead of translating the literal expression (which is confusing today), we update it to say:
‘you shouldn’t waste any olive oil or wine.’