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Rev_18:21-24. Finally, a mighty angel in representing the impending sudden destruction of the great city, by casting a great stone into the sea, not only in his speech explaining this symbolical act, describes, by individual vivid features, the transformation into desolate silence of the pleasure and magnificence that have hitherto prevailed, but also points definitely to the guilt of the city as the ground of the judgment.
εἰς ἄγγελος ἰσχυοὸς . On εἰς in the indefinite sense, cf. Rev_8:13. The might of the angel is especially emphasized, because this is demanded for his action.[4003]
ΛΊΘΟΝ Ὡς ΜΎΛΙΝΟΝ ΜΈΓΑΝ . By the comparison ῶς ΜΎΛ . ΜΈΓ ., the greatness of the stone is illustrated.[4004] The meaning of the act[4005] is described well by Andr., since he holds to the literal interpretation of the angel: ΚΑΘἈΠΕΡ , ΦΗΣῚΝ , Ὁ ΜΎΛΟς ΚΑΤΑΔΎΕΙ ὉΡΜΉΜΑΤΙ ΕἸς ΤῊΝ ΘΆΛΑΣΣΑΝ , ΟὝΤΩ ΚΑῚ Ἡ Τῆς ΒΑΒΥΛῶΝΟς ΤΑΎΤΗς ἈΘΡΌΟΝ ἜΣΤΑΙ ΚΑΘΑΊΡΕΣΙς , ὬΣΤΕ ΜΉΤΕ ἼΧΝΟς ΑὐΤῆς ΦΥΛΑΧΘῆΝΑΙ ΕἸς ΤῸ ΜΕΤΈΠΕΙΤΑ .[4006] Here it is likewise remarkable that Andr. does not see that he is led to substitute for the expression Ὁ ΜΎΛΟς , which is unusual as a designation of a millstone, that which is ordinarily employed, and how he correctly paraphrases the ὈΡΜΉΜΑΤΙ [4007] by ἈΘΡΌΟΝ .
Concerning Οὐ ΜῊ with aor. subj., Rev_18:21 sqq.,[4008] see Winer, p. 471.
The description, Rev_18:22 sqq., which refers not only to objects of pleasure and luxury, but also to daily wants and natural relations of life, has the model of Eze_26:13, Jer_25:10,[4009] as its foundation; the ἘΡΉΜΩΣΙς of the city (Rev_18:16; Rev_18:19; Rev_17:16)[4010] is illustrated in a concrete way.
Πᾶς ΤΕΧΝΊΤΗς ΠΑΣ . ΤΈΧΝΗς . The exhaustive conclusion of the category, of which several individual examples are mentioned.[4011] ὍΤΙ ΟἹ ἜΜΠΟΡΟΙ ΣΟΥ , Κ . Τ . Λ . Very suitably, the discourse of the angel concludes with a definite presentation of the guilt of the city. This, however, is stated in a threefold way from Rev_18:1 on:[4012] first, the unprecedented luxury in which the city had indulged, because of its wealth;[4013] then the licentiousness into which she had led astray all nations and kings, as she brought all the world thither to her service and to acknowledge her as the divine queen;[4014] finally, her bloody hostility to the saints.[4015] All three points[4016] the angel emphasizes, sealing, as it were, his announcement of judgment with this establishment of guilt; the first, in the words ὍΤΙ ΟἹ ἜΜΠΟΡΟΊ ΣΟΥ ἮΣΑΝ ΟἹ ΜΕΓΙΣΤᾶΝΕς Τῆς Γῆς ,[4017] “because thy merchants were the great men of the earth,” i.e., because they who brought thee the objects of thy luxurious life found in thy wealth and extravagance a source of their own wealth, which made them the great men of the earth;[4018] the second, in the words ὅτι ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου , κ . τ . λ ., which cannot be understood as a foundation of what immediately precedes,[4019] but are co-ordinate with the first expression ὅτι οἱ ἔαποροι , κ . τ . λ ., since here the same object is described as in Rev_17:2; Rev_17:4, and the seductive sorcery[4020] is in fact nothing else than the intoxicating wine of the harlot. The most important third point of the guilt is finally emphasized with especial force, Rev_18:24, by the change in the form of the discourse. Not in an apostrophe to the city, but in a judgment of firm objectivity, it is here finally established that in the city the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all those slain upon earth (for Christ’s sake), “was found.” In an exquisite manner the ΕὐΡΈΘΗ indicates how the blood, which has been shed “upon the earth,” was reckoned “to the city.” The city is the capital of the entire empire, hating and murdering believers; as a matter of fact also, in the Neronian universal persecution, it took the lead of its empire.
In violation of the context, Ew. ii. understands the ΠΆΝΤ . Τ . ἙΣΦ ., Κ . Τ . Λ ., of those not Christians.
[4003] Cf. Rev_5:2, 18.
[4004] Cf. Rev_11:1, Rev_8:8.
[4005] Cf. Jer_51:63 sqq.
[4006] [“Just as, he says, the millstone sinks by its impulse into the sea, so also the destruction of this Babylon shall be all at once, so that not a trace of it shall be preserved for posterity.”]
[4007] Cf. Mat_8:32 with its parallels.
[4008] Also Rev_18:7.
[4009] Cf. Jer_7:34, Jer_14:9, Jer_33:11.
[4010] Cf. Jer_7:34.
[4011] Cf. Rev_18:14; Rev_18:17.
[4012] Cf. ch. 17.
[4013] Rev_18:3; Rev_18:7; Rev_18:11 sqq.
[4014] Cf. Rev_18:3; Rev_18:6 sq., 9, Rev_17:2.
[4015] Cf. Rev_17:6.
[4016] Cf. Ewald.
[4017] Cf. Isa_23:8.
[4018] Cf. Rev_6:15. So Ewald, De Wette, Hengstenb., etc. Eichh. improperly regards the οί ἔμπ . σου as the predicate, as he besides regards “the merchandise” as a figurative designation for “fornication.”
[4019] Against Hengstenb.
[4020] φαρμακεία refers to the love-potions of the harlot. Cf. Isa_47:9; Isa_47:11 sqq. Ewald, De Wette.