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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Revelation 18:11 - 18:20
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_18:11-20
11"And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more— 12cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, 13and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. 14The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them. 15The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, 16saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; 17for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!' And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, 18and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What city is like the great city?' 19And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!' 20Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her."
Rev_18:11-19 "the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her" This is similar to Ezekiel 27 :
1. Rev_18:11 – Eze_27:31; Eze_27:36
2. Rev_18:12-13 – Eze_27:12-13; Eze_27:22
3. Rev_18:15 – Eze_27:31; Eze_27:36
4. Rev_18:17 – Eze_27:26-30
5. Rev_18:18 – Eze_27:32
6. Rev_18:19 – Eze_27:30-34
It describes international trade:
1. silver from Spain
2. fine linen from Egypt
3. silk from China
4. citron wood from North Africa
5. ivory from Africa
6. iron from Spain or the Black Sea
7. cinnamon from India
8. the universal practice of slave trading
Rev_18:13
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV, NJB "chariots"
TEV "carriages"
This refers to private, four-wheeled, luxury chariots, not war chariots.
Rev_18:14 "luxurious and splendid" This is a word play on the Greek terms lipara (luxury) and lampra (splendid).
Rev_18:17 This is an allusion to Ezekiel 26-28 (city of Tyre), where those employed in the transportation of these luxuries mourned because their own livelihoods had been affected.
Rev_18:19 "threw dust on their heads" See hyperlink at Rev_1:7.
Rev_18:20 "Rejoice over her" This is an allusion to Jer_51:48, although some see it as referring to Deu_32:43 (in the Septuagint) as the economic partners' grief over the fall of Babylon, so believers rejoice!
▣ "God has pronounced judgment for you against her" Throughout the book, God's judgments are connected with the prayers of His children (cf. Rev_6:10).