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Revelation 18

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The Angel Proclaims Babylon's Fall 1–3

1
After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory. ​
2
And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird. ​
3
For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness. ​

A Call to Separate from Babylon 4–8

4
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: ​
5
for her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
6
Render unto her even as she rendered, and double unto her the double according to her works: in the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double. ​
7
How much soever she glorified herself, and waxed wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall in no wise see mourning. ​
8
Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judged her. ​

The Kings and Merchants Lament 9–19

9
And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning, ​
10
standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. ​
11
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more; ​
12
merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble; ​
13
and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and merchandise of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls of men. ​
14
And the fruits which thy soul lusted after are gone from thee, and all things that were dainty and sumptuous are perished from thee, and men shall find them no more at all.
15
The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning;
16
saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearl!
17
for in one hour so great riches is made desolate. And every shipmaster, and every one that saileth any whither, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood afar off, ​
18
and cried out as they looked upon the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like the great city?
19
And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

Heaven Rejoices at God’s Justice 20–24

20
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her. ​
21
And a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all. ​
22
And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more at all in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all in thee; ​
23
and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the princes of the earth; for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived. ​
24
And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Revelation 18

Verse 1

the earth was lightened with his glory — Photizo, to give light. Ezekiel saw the same radiance with the LORD's coming: 'the earth shined with his glory' (Ezek 43:2). 'Another angel' with 'great power' (exousia, authority) 'come down from heaven', as the 'mighty angel' of 10:1 did. Babylon's fall has already been announced in 14:8.

Verse 2

Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen — The words of Isa 21:9, first heard in Rev 14:8. 'Habitation' is katoiketerion, a dwelling-place, found elsewhere only in Eph 2:22, 'an habitation of God through the Spirit'. The wild creatures echo Isa 13:19–22, where Babylon is 'as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah', and Jer 50:39.

Verse 3

committed fornication with her — Kings and merchants are named together, as in 17:2 and 18:9–11. 'Delicacies' (strenos, luxury) is a word found only here. Isa 23:17 says the same of Tyre, that she 'shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world', and Nahum 3:4 speaks of the 'mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms'.

Verse 4

Come out of her, my people — The call is made in Jer 51:45, 'My people, go ye out of the midst of her', and Isa 52:11. Paul quotes the latter, 'come out from among them, and be ye separate' (2 Cor 6:17). 'Partakers' is sunkoinoneo, to share in; it occurs also in Eph 5:11 and Phil 4:14. The warning is also against 'her plagues'.

Verse 6

double unto her double — 'Double' (diploo) is found only here. Jer 16:18 says 'I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double', and Isa 40:2 says Jerusalem 'received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins'. 'Hath filled' is kerannumi, 'mixed', the verb of the cup in 14:10. Ps 137:8 asks that she be rewarded 'as thou hast served us'.

Verse 7

I sit a queen, and am no widow — Her boast takes up Babylon's in Isa 47:7–8, 'I shall be a lady for ever' and 'I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children'. 'Lived deliciously' is streniao, found only here and in v.9. The answer in v.8 is Isa 47:9, 'in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood'.

Verse 8

in one day — The plagues named are 'death, and mourning, and famine', and she is 'utterly burned with fire'. In 17:16 the ten horns burn her; here the verse names 'the Lord God who judgeth her' and calls him strong. Jer 50:34 says likewise, 'Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name'.

Verse 9

the smoke of her burning — The kings who 'lived deliciously with her' (streniao, as in v.7) 'bewail' and 'lament', two verbs of grief. The smoke is seen again in v.18, and in 19:3 'her smoke rose up for ever and ever'. Ezek 26:16 describes the princes of the sea who 'come down from their thrones' when Tyre falls.

Verse 10

in one hour is thy judgment come — 'One hour' is repeated in vv.17 and 19, as 'one day' is in v.8. 'Standing afar off' (makrothen) is said of the kings, then of the merchants in v.15 and the shipmasters in v.17. 'Alas' is ouai, the word rendered 'Woe' in 8:13 and 12:12.

Verse 11

the merchants of the earth shall weep — The merchants grieve over lost trade, 'for no man buyeth their merchandise any more'. Their lament resembles the one over Tyre in Ezek 27, where 'the merchants among the people shall hiss at thee' (Ezek 27:36), and the lists in vv.12–13 resemble the cargoes of that chapter.

Verse 12

all thyine wood — Thuinos, a kind of wood named only here. The list resembles the wares of Tyre in Ezek 27: 'silver, iron, tin, and lead' (v.12), 'horns of ivory and ebony' (v.15), 'purple, and broidered work, and fine linen' (v.16), 'precious stones, and gold' (v.22). 'Purple and scarlet' are also the woman's clothing in 17:4.

Verse 13

slaves, and souls of men — 'Slaves' is literally 'bodies' (somata), and the 'souls of men' follow it as the last item. Ezek 27:13 has the same trade, 'they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market'. The list runs from spices to cattle to chariots, and ends with persons.

Verse 17

every shipmaster, and all the company in ships — The third group of mourners. 'Shipmaster' is kubernetes, the steersman, as in Acts 27:11. Ezek 27:29 has 'the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea' coming down from their ships to stand on the land. All stand 'afar off', and the cry is again 'in one hour' (vv.10, 19).

Verse 20

God hath avenged you on her — Literally, God 'hath judged your judgment on her': the verb is krino with the noun krima. The saints under the altar had asked how long before he would 'judge and avenge our blood' (6:10), and Christ had asked, 'shall not God avenge his own elect?' (Luke 18:7). 'Rejoice' is the verb of 12:12.

Verse 21

a stone like a great millstone — In Jer 51:63–64 a stone bound to a book is cast into the Euphrates with the words, 'Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise'. 'Violence' (hormema) is a word found only here. 'Found no more' uses the verb of 16:20, where the mountains 'were not found'.

Verse 22

the sound of a millstone — The silences are those Jeremiah spoke over Judah and the nations: 'the voice of mirth… the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle' (Jer 25:10). Ezek 26:13 says of Tyre, 'the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard'.

Verse 23

the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride — Taken from Jer 7:34 and 25:10, the silence is set against 19:7, 'the marriage of the Lamb is come', and the bride of 21:9. 'Sorceries' (pharmakeia) is the word of 9:21, and it is the charge that 'all nations' were 'deceived', a verb (planao) used of the dragon in 12:9.

Verse 24

the blood of prophets, and of saints — The same two groups are in 16:6, and 17:6 has the woman 'drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus'. 'All that were slain upon the earth' takes up Jer 51:49, 'so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth'. 19:2 gives the verdict.