And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
11. shall weep and mourn ] Read, weep and mourn (in the present tense).
for no man buyeth &c.] Their sorrow is even more purely selfish than that of the kings.
merchandise ] Strictly, cargo.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the merchants of the earth – Who have been accustomed to traffic with her, and who have been enriched by the traffic. The image is that of a rich and splendid city. Of course, such a city depends much on its merchandise; and when it declines and falls, many who had been accustomed to deal with it, as merchants or traffickers, are affected by it, and have occasion to lament its fall.
Shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise anymore – The merchandise which they were accustomed to take to the city, and by the sale of which they lived. The enumeration of the articles of merchandise which follows, seems to have been inserted for the purpose of filling out the representation of what is usually found in such a city, and to show the desolation which would occur when this traffic was suspended.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. The merchants of the earth] These are represented as mourning over her, because their traffic with her was at an end.
Bishop Bale, who applies all these things to the Church of Rome, thus paraphrases the principal passages:-
“The mighty kinges and potentates of the earth, not havinge afore their eyes the love and feare of God, have committed with this whore moste vile filthynesse; abusinge themselves by many straunge or uncommaunded worshippings, and bynding themselves by othe to observe hyr lawes and customs. At the examples, doctrines, counsels, and perswasions of hyr holy whoremongers, have they broken the covenaunts of peace; battailed, oppressed, spoyled, ravished, tyrannously murthered innocents; yea, for vain foolish causes, and more vaine titles, as though there were neither heaven nor hel, God nor accounts to be made.
“And her mitred marchantes, hyr shorne souldiers, hir massemongers, hyr soulesellers, and hir martbrokers, waxed very riche, through the sale of hir oyles, creme, salt, water, bread, orders, hallowings, houselinges, ashes, palme, waxe, frankensence, beades, crosses, candlesticks, copes, belles, organes, images, reliques, and other pedlary wares.
“They have gotten in unto them pallaces and princely houses, fat pastors and parkes, meadowes and warrens, rivers and pondes, villages and towns, cities and whole provinces, with the divill and all els; besides other men’s wives, daughters, mayde servantes, and children, whom they have abhominably corrupted. What profites they have drawen unto them also by the sale of great bishopricks, prelacies, promocions, benefices, tot quoties, pardons, pilgrymages, confessions, and purgatory; besides the yearely rents of cathedrall churches, abbayes, colleges, covents, for sutes and suche other.-Specially shal they be sore discontented with the matter, which have with hir committed the whordom of the spyrite, by many externe worshipings of drye waffer cakes, oyles, roods, relyques, ladyes, images, sculles, bones, chippes, olde ragges, showes, (shoes,) bootes, spurres, hattes, breches, whodes, night capes, and such like.
“And they that have lived wantonly with hir, (Re 18:9), in following hir idle observacions, in mattenses, houres, and masses; in sensinges, halowings, and font halowing; in going processions with canapye, crosse, and pyx; with banneres, stremers, and torche light; with such other gaudes to folish for children.
“Alas, alas, that great cyty (Re 18:10) that beautiful Babilon, that blessed holy mother the Church, which somtime had so many popes pardons, so many bishoppes blessinges, so many holye stations, so many cleane remissions a pena et culpa, so many good ghostly fathers, so many religious orders, so much holy water for spirites, and Saint John’s gospel, with the five woundes and the length of our Lord for drowning, is nowe decayed for ever!
‘Alas, alas, who shall pray for us now? Who shall singe dirges and trentoles? Who shal spoile us of our sinnes? Who shal give us ashes and palmes? Who shal blesse us with a spade, and singe us out of purgatory when we are deade? If we lacke these things we are like to want heaven. These are the desperate complaints of the wicked.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
As the merchants, Eze 27:27, lamented for Tyre, that they could barter and truck no more there, because all the trade thereof was destroyed; so those ecclesiastical merchants, that were wont to trade with Rome for indulgences, and pardons, and dispensations, and faculties, for cardinals caps, and bishoprics, and prebendaries, and other church preferments, shall lament when the papacy falls, that there will be no more such merchandise to be bought or sold there.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. shallSo. B. But A and Cread the present, “weep and mourn.”
merchandiseGreek,“cargo”: wares carried in ships: ship-lading(compare Re 18:17). Rome wasnot a commercial city, and is not likely from her position to be so.The merchandise must therefore be spiritual, even as theharlot is not literal, but spiritual. She did not witness againstcarnal luxury and pleasure-seeking, the source of the merchants’gains, but conformed to them (Re18:7). She cared not for the sheep, but for the wool. ProfessingChristian merchants in her lived as if this world not heaven, werethe reality, and were unscrupulous as to the means of getting gain.Compare Notes, see on Zec 5:4-11,on the same subject, the judgment on mystical Babylon’smerchants for unjust gain. All the merchandise here mentioned occursrepeatedly in the Roman Ceremonial.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over over her,…. Who these are, [See comments on Re 18:3] and, what their lamentation, Re 18:16 the reason of their weeping and mourning follows: for no man buyeth their merchandise any more; what their merchandise is, is expressed in the two next verses; and this shows that it is not to be understood merely in a literal sense; for such commodities in general as are there mentioned, if they do not sell at one place, they will at another; and the decline of trade in one city does not put a stop to business all the world over; and often so it is, that the ruin of commerce in one place is the rise of it in another; and all the things hereafter spoken of, excepting the last article, are what will be merchandised in one place or another to the end of the world; unless the sense should be, that no man at Rome, and the parts adjacent, will buy of this merchandise any more; but though they should not, this could not be cause of such lamentation as is afterwards expressed, since their goods might be sold elsewhere; but it looks as if this must be understood of such kind of wares as will be disused and despised all the world over, and they will meet with no customers any where to deal with them in them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The merchants ( ). As in Rev 18:3; Rev 18:15; Rev 18:23. The dirge of the merchants follows the wail of the kings.
Weep and mourn ( ). Present active indicatives of and as in verses 9 (for ), Rev 18:15; Rev 18:19.
For no man buyeth their merchandise any more ( ). Reason enough for their sorrow over Rome’s fall. is old word (from to be full) for a ship’s cargo (Ac 21:3) and then any merchandise (Re 18:11f.). Galen, Pliny, Aristides tell of the vastness of the commerce and luxury of Rome, the world’s chief market. Many of the items here are like those in the picture of the destruction of Tyre in Rev 18:26; Rev 18:27. There are twenty-nine items singled out in verses Rev 18:12; Rev 18:13 of this merchandise or cargo (), imports into the port of Rome. Only a few need any comment.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Merchandise [] . Only here, ver. 12, and Act 21:3. From gemw to be full. Hence, literally, lading or cargo. So Rev., in margin. The main features of the following description are taken from that of the destruction of Tyre, Ezekiel 26, 27.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
THE HUMAN VIEW OF BABYLON (v. 11-19)
1) “And the merchants of the earth,” (kai hoi emporoi tes ges) “Even the merchants of the earth,” barterers of exchange of goods of the earth, who waxed rich dealing, trading, consorting with her, Rev 18:3.
2) “Shall weep and mourn over her,” (klaiousin kai penthousin ep’ auten) “Weep and sorrow (mourn) shed tears over her,” Eze 27:27-36, as over Tyrus in ancient days. These are tears for loss of commerce – almost sudden tears for those whose sins have found them out. Num 32:23; Pro 29:1.
3) “For no man buyeth,” (hoti oudeis agorazei) “Because no one (not even one) buys; The market is shut in the street – the stock market of the ages is closed, never to open again to make merchandise of the souls of men through the barter and sale of idols or imaginary gods, Psa 115:3-8.
4) “Their merchandise any more,” (ton gomon auton ouketi) “Their cargo (of merchandise) any more at all; The mourning over this great city, like the prayer of the rich man in hell was, after the fulness of time, for such had past, beyond the days of their repentance, Pro 1:23-30; Pro 29:1; Luk 16:31.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(11-13) And the merchants of the earth . . .Better, The merchants of the earth weep and mourn (not shall weep; the vividness of the description is intensified by the use of the present tense) over her; because their cargo no one buyeth any longerthe cargo of gold, &c. The list of the cargoes and merchandise is not without arrangement. The various goods are placed in groups. The treasures come firstgold, silver, precious stones, and pearls. The soft goods used for raiment are placed nextfine linen, purple, silk and scarlet; in the description of Dives, clothed in purple and fine linen (Byssus, the same word as here), we have a suggestive resemblance. Materials used in giving splendour to the furnishing of houses come next. Thyine wood, and every article (vessel, as in the English version, is hardly wide enough in meaning) of ivory, costly wood, brass, iron, and marble. The thyine wood was derived probably from a kind of citron-tree of African growth; the wood was sweet-scented, and was a favourite wood for doors, panels, and ceilings; its rich brown hue was often relieved by inlaid ivory. To articles used in furniture aromatics succeed. Cinnamon, amomum (this is omitted in the English version, but authority is in favour of its insertion), odours, ointments, and frankincense. Cinnamon, on its use, comp. Exo. 30:2-3; it was one of the perfumes employed to enhance the delight of the voluptuary (Pro. 7:17). It is doubtful whether it is the same as our modern cinnamon. Amomum, a kind of sweet-scented shrub, yielding an ointment much used for the hair. Odours, employed in incense. Next come articles of foodwine, oil, fine meal, wheat, cattle, and sheep. Then come the equipageshorses and chariots. The chariot (rheda) was a vehicle much used in Rome by the wealthy classes. Lastly, the traffic in human beings closes the list. Slaves (literally, bodies, and souls of men. There is perhaps an allusion specially to those slaves who were attached to the chariots or litters used by the rich. The traffic in slaves (persons of men) is mentioned as part of the commerce of Tyre (Eze. 27:13). The number of slaves in Rome was enormous. Souls of men. The climax of wicked worldliness is reached in this last; it gives the finishing touch to the picture of society wholly engrossed in pleasure and indolence and selfishness, which lays every market under tribute to add to its luxuriousness, and sacrifices not only the happiness, but the lives and liberties of their fellow-creatures, to their own enjoyment. It has been said that the general description here does not suit Rome, as Rome never was, and never could be, a commercial centre; but the picture is designed to show the corrupt luxury and voluptuousness of society in great Babylon, not necessarily the accumulated merchandize of a great commercial city. The various wares are for her use and consumption, not for her to sell. All the avenues from every distant spot of the earth found their focus in Rome; her existence, her political supremacy, and her luxuriousness of living, created and sustained all the commercial activity here described; with her fall, the hope of their gains passed from the merchants of the earth. Compare the language of Gibbon:The most remote countries of the ancient world were ransacked to supply the pomp and delicacy of Rome. The forests of Scythia afforded some valuable furs; amber was brought from the shores of the Baltic and the Danube; and the barbarians were astonished at the price which they received for so useless a commodity. There was a considerable demand for Babylonian carpets and other manufactures of the East; but the most important and unpopular branch of foreign trade was carried on with Arabia and India. Every year, about the time of the summer solstice, a fleet of an hundred and twenty vessels sailed from Myos-hormos, a port of Egypt on the Red Sea. The coast of Malabar or the island of Ceylon was the usual term of their navigation, and it was in those markets that the merchants from the more remote countries of Asia expected their arrival. The return of the fleet was fixed to the months of December or January; and as soon as their rich cargo had been transported on the backs of camels, from the Red Sea to the Nile, and had descended that river as far as Alexandria, it was poured without delay into the capital of the Empire. The objects of Oriental traffic were splendid and trifling: silk, a pound of which was esteemed in value not inferior to a pound of gold; precious stones also, among which the pearl claimed the first rank after the diamond, and a variety of aromatics that were consumed in religious worship and the pomp of funerals. The labour and risk of the voyage was rewarded with almost incredible profits; but the profits were made upon Roman subjects, and a few individuals were enriched at the expense of the public (Gibbons Decline and Fall, vol. i., Rev. ii.).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Shall The speaker here adopts the present tense, buyeth, as if detailing what is truly now occurring over the late ruin. At Rev 18:15 the future is resumed; at Rev 18:17 the preterite.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
. ‘And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buys their merchandise any more.’
They weep not for her but for themselves. Their means of profit has gone. Then are outlined in great detail the merchandise in question to bring out both her luxurious living and the loss to the merchants. At first they seem fairly innocent, but they are luxuries traded in a world of poverty, and significantly the list ends with trade in armaments, and trade in slaves and the lives of men. These merchants are not too particular in what they trade. Many great companies today are equally not particular. Yet they should remember that these merchants will shortly themselves face the judgment day of God, and that these merchants could be themselves.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 18:11-16 . The lament of the merchants.
.
By the present, John passes over to the tone of narration; [3961] but does not choose here as yet the preterite, [3962] so that he still does not express the idea that he himself had observed the destruction of the city, or the accompanying lamentations. The easier afterwards is the return to the original course (Rev 18:15 ); but the recent transition to the narrative brings finally with it also the preterites (Rev 18:17 sq.).
. The cargo. [3963]
The entire description of the many precious things, for which the merchants can no more find purchasers, gives a view of the previous necessities of the luxurious [3964] city. The mass of different things are mentioned with suitable grouping
. Silk. [3965]
, . . . The alternation of accusatives and genitives dependent upon the until the close of Rev 18:13 , which is here presented very definitely, may serve as an explanation of the ambiguous construction, Rev 17:4 .
The precious, sweet-scented thyine wood, [3966] the “ citreum ” of the Romans, comes from the tree called , , , which is possibly identical with the white cedar ( cupressus thyioides ). [3967]
The expression . . designates, first of all, the collected precious material; [3968] upon this follows the enumeration of the vessels made from the precious material, under which is . .
. Cinnamon. [3969]
. The precious hair-ointment procured from an Asiatic shrub. [3970]
. Finest wheat-flour, “ simila ” [3971] or “ similago .” [3972]
. The general expression, which includes also horned cattle, [3973] precedes.
. A kind of four-wheeled vehicle. [3974] Alexander Sev. furnished the Roman senators with such vehicles, decorated with silver, “thinking that it pertained to the Roman dignity, that senators of so great a city should be carried therein.” [3975]
, i.e., slaves, [3976] See examples from the LXX. in Biel. [3977] The following expression [3978] also points to the slaves, and because of the difference in the construction the being understood with the genitive it seems that a distinction is intended to be made. [3979] The most probable [3980] explanation is that which understands the . as referring to such slaves as belong to the horses and chariots, and the latter expression, . . , as referring to slaves in general. So, too, in Rev 18:17 , Ew. ii. understands, in the last place, female slaves. Volkm., who gives a false emphasis to the before . . , [3981] finds here the judgment given by the Christian spirit, that transactions in the slave-trade are not concerning the “bodies,” but the “souls,” of men. But it is nevertheless correct, that, according to the heathen view, the slaves are considered only as ; the . . also receives a certain importance from the fact that it concludes a short paragraph. Yet the explanation of Volkmar, with respect to the change of construction, seems to me impossible.
The lamentation in Rev 18:14 [3982] turns to the objects that have served another chief class of the of the great city, daintiness and gluttony; this part of the description, by its description of the punishment, calls to mind the corresponding guilt of sin.
. Excellently, Luther, who also describes, with correct meaning, the genitive limitation to : das Obst, da Deine Seele Lust dran hatte . [3983]
. In the same sense as the parallel . Cf. Psa 142:5 . LXX.
. Properly “the fat,” but its combination with points to the fact that the expression is to be taken [3984] in the ordinary improper sense. [3985] Every thing pre-eminent and glorious, in its class, is finally grouped together.
The two last verses, which refer to the lamentation of the merchants, establish the conformity with Rev 18:9 sqq., which could not as yet be attained because of Rev 18:11-14 ; also in the two points that the merchants appear standing at a distance and raising the express cry of lamentation. The , Rev 18:15 , corresponding to this, refers not only to those of Rev 18:14 , [3986] but to all things mentioned by Rev 18:11 , [3987] so that there is no reason to censure the discourse for inconcinnity. [3988]
. That the scarlet raiment here, [3989] like the purple, indicates the royal glory of the city, is self-evident in the impression of the merchants. By those who neither see nor understand the scarlet beast, only such an idea of the woman is presupposed, as she corresponds in harmonious connection with the view of the luxurious glory of the city granted the prophet in ch. 17.
[3961] De Wette.
[3962] Cf. Rev 11:11 .
[3963] Act 21:3 . Cf. Eustath. in Wetst.: , .
[3964] Rev 18:3 : . .; Rev 18:7 ; Rev 18:9 . Cf. Rev 17:4 .
[3965] Cf. Winer, Rwb ., on this word.
[3966] Luther.
[3967] Cf. Wetst. and Winer, Rwb ., on the word.
[3968] Against De Wette: “All sorts of vessels made therefrom.” Cf. Hengstenb.
[3969] Luth. Cf. Winer, Rwb ., on this word, and Zimmt.
[3970] Plin., H. N ., xii. 28. Cf. Martial, viii. 77: “Assyrio semper tibi crinis amomo splendeat” [May thy hair always shine with the Assyrian amomus ]. See Wetst.
[3971] Vulg.
[3972] Cf. Plin., H. N ., xviii. Revelation 20 : “Similago ex tritico fit laudatissima.”
[3973] See lexicons.
[3974] Isidor., xx. 17.
[3975] Lamprid. in Wetst.
[3976] Pollux, III. 71.
[3977] Cf. Wetst., Wolf, etc.
[3978] Eze 27:13 . Cf. 1Ch 5:21 .
[3979] Cf. Wetst., who refers the . . to gladiators; Zll., who refers . to proper slaves, . . to such as are hired also for lust.
[3980] Cf. Beng., Ewald, Hengstenb.
[3981] “Aye, souls of men.”
[3982] Vitr. has thought, with Beza and Laun., that Rev 18:14 belongs not to this place, but between Rev 18:23-24 . Ew. i. regards the verse as a marginal note of John, who did not immediately find a suitable place for the thought. Ew. ii. concedes it to be possible, that the verse is here derived from an entirely different book; but if it belong to the Apoc., he would introduce it in the midst of Rev 18:23 . Cf. also Volkm. But even though the form of the address giving offence could not be understood as the lament of the merchants, this does not follow until Rev 18:15 sqq., in a manner corresponding to Rev 18:10 , it must be decided, nevertheless, that the interpreting angel (Bleek), or the voices interposed in Rev 18:4 , directly address the city now lamented and threatened. A similar alternation in the form of description occurs also in Rev 18:22 sqq., in comparison with Rev 18:21 ; Rev 18:24 . Cf. also Hos 2:8 .
[3983] [“The fruit in which thy soul had pleasure.”]
[3984] Luther, Bengel, Hengstenb.
[3985] Isa 30:23 . Cf. Hesych., who explains .: , , . . . [beautiful, easy, etc.].
[3986] De Wette.
[3987] Beng.
[3988] Against De Wette.
[3989] Cf., on the other hand, Rev 17:4 .
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
LXXXIII. Rev 18:11-16
Alford suggests a difficulty which he confesses himself unable to answer, that Rome never has been, nor can be, a great commercial city; and that this description, based on the lament over Tyre in Eze 27 , would be better adapted to London than to Rome. Contrast Rome, however, with Jerusalem, and its relative pertinency becomes manifest. In addition, the metropolis may be here regarded as the impersonation of all the luxury of the whole empire. The reading of chapter 1 of Farrar’s Early Days of Christianity will throw light upon this point.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Ver. 11. And the merchants of the earth ] The pope’s indulgencers, and other officers of his exchequer. What huge sums of money did Tecelius and his companions rake together out of Germany. The pope had yearly out of England above nine tons of gold; Polydore Virgil was his collector of the Peter’s pence here. Otto (one of the pope’s muscipulatores , mice catchers, as the story calls him) departing hence, left not so much money in the whole kingdom as he either carried with him or sent to Rome before him. (Job. Manl., loc. com., p. 492.) It was truly and trimly said by Pope Innocent IV, Vere enim hortus deliciarum Papis fuit tum Anglia, et puteus inexhaustus, England was then a gallant garden to the pope, and a wellspring of wealth that could not be drawn dry. (Speed, 1027.) Cardinal Wolsey emptied the land of two hundred and forty thousand pounds, to relieve and ransom Pope Clement VII, imprisoned by the Duke of Bourbon. And being himseff sent ambassador beyond sea for the pope’s release, and coming through Canterbury toward Dover, he was seen to weep tenderly at mass for the pope’s calamity.
For no man buyeth their merchandise ] Men shall see further into their fopperies and knaveries than to endure to be any longer gulled and cheated. William of Malmesbury began to groan long since under the grievance. Romani hodie (saith he) auro trutinant iustitiam, pretio venditant canonum regulam: The Romans today sell justice, sacraments, masses, dispensations, benefices, all. Mantuan comes after, and cries out,
–” venalia nobis
Templa, sacerdotes, altaria, sacra, coronae,
Ignis, thura, preces, caelum est venale, Deusque.
“Temples, priests, altars, rites (I tell no tale),
Crowns, sacrifices, heaven, and God, are set to sale.”
The leaguers here for the liberty of the kingdom in the days of King John, drove Martin, the pope’s publican, out of the land; the king also cursed him grievously at parting, with Diabolus te ad inferos ducat et perducat. (Jac. Revius, lib. iii., de Pont. Rom., cap. xxi.) But now much more than ever these merchants want chapmen, a as Bellarmine sadly complains; their markets are well fallen, their Euphrates much dried up.
a A man whose business is buying and selling; a merchant, trader, dealer. Obs. or arch. D
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11 16 .] Lamentation of the merchants . And the merchants of the earth weep and lament (the construction passes into the graphic present, but resumes the future again below, Rev 18:15 , in speaking of the same thing) over her, because no one any longer buys their cargo (reff.: so Eustath. in Wetst.: , . The description which follows is perhaps drawn, in its poetic and descriptive features, from the relation of Rome to the world which then was, rather than from its relation at the future time depicted in the prophecy. But it must not for a moment be denied, that the character of this lamentation throws a shade of obscurity over the interpretation, otherwise so plain from the explanation given in ch. 17 ult. The difficulty is however not confined to the application of the prophecy to Rome papal, but extends over the application of it to Rome at all , which last is determined for us by the solution given ch. 17 ult. For Rome never has been, and from its very position never could be, a great commercial city. I leave this difficulty unsolved, merely requesting the student to bear in mind its true limits, and not to charge it exclusively on that interpretation which only shares it with any other possible one. The main features of the description are taken from that of the destruction of and lamentation over Tyre in Eze 27 , to which city they were strictly applicable. And possibly it may be said that they are also applicable to the church which has wedded herself to the pride of the earth and its luxuries. But certainly, as has been observed, the details of this mercantile lamentation far more nearly suit London, than Rome at any assignable period of her history), a cargo of gold, and of silver, and of precious stone, and of pearls, and of fine linen manufacture ( is the neut. adj. from ), and of purple, and of silken stuff (in describing Vespasian’s triumph, Jos., B. J. vii. 5. 4, says, , ) and of scarlet stuff, and (the accusative is now taken up instead of the genitive governed by , which latter is however resumed below at , and again dropped at ) all citron wood (the wood of the , , or , the citrus of the Romans (Plin. iii. 29), probably the cupressus thyioides, or the thyia articulata. Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. Rev 18:5 , thus describes it: , , , . . , , . It was used for costly doors, with fittings of ivory, Ath [122] v. 205 B, 207 F, and for tables, Strabo iv. 310 A. It had a sweet smell, Plin. ut supra, “Nota etiam Homero fuit; Grce vocatur, ab aliis thya. Hanc igitur inter odores uri tradit in deliciis Circes magno errore eorum qui odoramenta in eo vocabulo accipiunt, cum prsertim eodem versu cedrum laricemque una tradat: in quo manifestum est de arboribus tantum locutum.” But Pliny is clearly wrong: for Homer’s words are , , Od. . 60. See Wetst. for more illustrations, and Winer, Realw. art. Thinenholz), and every article of ivory, and every article of most costly wood, and of brass, and of iron, and of marble; and cinnamon (it is not certain, whether the or , , of the ancients was the same as our cinnamon. Various accounts are given of its origin (see Winer, Realw. art. Zimmt, and Theophr. plant. ix. 4; Strabo xvi. p. 778; Diod. Sic. ii. 49, iii. 46), but Herodotus, who (iii. 111) ascribes it to the country where Dionysus was born, i. e. to India, seems to give the right statement, if at least it is the modern cinnamon, which comes from Ceylon. In ref. Exod. it is an ingredient in the holy oil for anointing: in Pro 7:17 it is one of the perfumes of the bed of the adulteress: in Son 4:14 it is one of the plants growing in the garden of the beloved) and amomum (a precious ointment made from an Asiatic shrub, and used for the hair: see the numerous citations from Ovid, Martial, &c., in Wetst., and Plin. H. N. xii. 13 (28)), and odours (for incense), and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine meal ( , the simila or similago of the Latins, the finest wheaten meal: see Wetst. and Palm and Rost sub voce), and wheat, and cattle and sheep, and of horses and of chariots (“Rheda genus vehiculi iv. rotarum,” Isidor. xx. 17 in Wetst., who also quotes Lampridius to the effect that Alexander Severus “rhedas senatoribus omnibus ut argentatas haberent permisit: interesse Roman dignitatis putans ut his tant urbis senatores versarentur”. Quintilian, i. 5, ascribes to the word a Gallic origin: “plurima Gallica valuerunt, ut rheda et petorritum, quorum altero Cicero tamen, altero Horatius utitur”) and of bodies (i. e. slaves. The expression is blamed by the Atticists as not used by the ancients: so Pollux, iii. 78, , . And so Phrynichus, p. 378, , , . Lobeck, in his note there, shews that Plato and Demosthenes use for any kind of men indefinitely (Plato, Legg. x. 114: Dem. p. 910), and it is the appropriating it to . alone which constitutes the later usage), and (the accus. here comes in after genitives) persons of men (so the E. V. for , ref. Ezek. which the LXX render as here, . But in Gen 36:6 , for , they have , where also E. V. has persons . It seems vain to attempt to draw a distinction between the and . If any is to be sought, the most obvious is that pointed out by Bengel, and adopted by Ewald, Hengstb, and Dsterd., that the expresses such slaves as belong to the horses and chariots, and . slaves in general).
[122] Athanasius, Bp. of Alexandria, 326 373
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
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 SPECIAL TOPIC: GRIEVING RITES 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).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
shall. Omit.
over. App-104.
no man = no one. Greek. oudeis.
buyeth. Greek. agorazo, rend, “redeemed” in Rev 5:9; Rev 14:3, Rev 14:4; elsewhere always “buy”. First occurance: Mat 13:44.
any = no. App-105.
more = longer. The texts read here ouketi.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11-16.] Lamentation of the merchants. And the merchants of the earth weep and lament (the construction passes into the graphic present, but resumes the future again below, Rev 18:15, in speaking of the same thing) over her, because no one any longer buys their cargo (reff.: so Eustath. in Wetst.: , . The description which follows is perhaps drawn, in its poetic and descriptive features, from the relation of Rome to the world which then was, rather than from its relation at the future time depicted in the prophecy. But it must not for a moment be denied, that the character of this lamentation throws a shade of obscurity over the interpretation, otherwise so plain from the explanation given in ch. 17 ult. The difficulty is however not confined to the application of the prophecy to Rome papal, but extends over the application of it to Rome at all, which last is determined for us by the solution given ch. 17 ult. For Rome never has been, and from its very position never could be, a great commercial city. I leave this difficulty unsolved, merely requesting the student to bear in mind its true limits, and not to charge it exclusively on that interpretation which only shares it with any other possible one. The main features of the description are taken from that of the destruction of and lamentation over Tyre in Ezekiel 27, to which city they were strictly applicable. And possibly it may be said that they are also applicable to the church which has wedded herself to the pride of the earth and its luxuries. But certainly, as has been observed, the details of this mercantile lamentation far more nearly suit London, than Rome at any assignable period of her history), a cargo of gold, and of silver, and of precious stone, and of pearls, and of fine linen manufacture ( is the neut. adj. from ), and of purple, and of silken stuff (in describing Vespasians triumph, Jos., B. J. vii. 5. 4, says, , ) and of scarlet stuff, and (the accusative is now taken up instead of the genitive governed by , which latter is however resumed below at , and again dropped at ) all citron wood (the wood of the , , or , the citrus of the Romans (Plin. iii. 29), probably the cupressus thyioides, or the thyia articulata. Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. Rev 18:5, thus describes it: , , , . . , , . It was used for costly doors, with fittings of ivory, Ath[122] v. 205 B, 207 F, and for tables, Strabo iv. 310 A. It had a sweet smell, Plin. ut supra, Nota etiam Homero fuit; Grce vocatur, ab aliis thya. Hanc igitur inter odores uri tradit in deliciis Circes magno errore eorum qui odoramenta in eo vocabulo accipiunt, cum prsertim eodem versu cedrum laricemque una tradat: in quo manifestum est de arboribus tantum locutum. But Pliny is clearly wrong: for Homers words are , , Od. . 60. See Wetst. for more illustrations, and Winer, Realw. art. Thinenholz), and every article of ivory, and every article of most costly wood, and of brass, and of iron, and of marble; and cinnamon (it is not certain, whether the or , , of the ancients was the same as our cinnamon. Various accounts are given of its origin (see Winer, Realw. art. Zimmt, and Theophr. plant. ix. 4; Strabo xvi. p. 778; Diod. Sic. ii. 49, iii. 46), but Herodotus, who (iii. 111) ascribes it to the country where Dionysus was born, i. e. to India, seems to give the right statement, if at least it is the modern cinnamon, which comes from Ceylon. In ref. Exod. it is an ingredient in the holy oil for anointing: in Pro 7:17 it is one of the perfumes of the bed of the adulteress: in Son 4:14 it is one of the plants growing in the garden of the beloved) and amomum (a precious ointment made from an Asiatic shrub, and used for the hair: see the numerous citations from Ovid, Martial, &c., in Wetst., and Plin. H. N. xii. 13 (28)), and odours (for incense), and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine meal (, the simila or similago of the Latins, the finest wheaten meal: see Wetst. and Palm and Rost sub voce), and wheat, and cattle and sheep, and of horses and of chariots (Rheda genus vehiculi iv. rotarum, Isidor. xx. 17 in Wetst., who also quotes Lampridius to the effect that Alexander Severus rhedas senatoribus omnibus ut argentatas haberent permisit: interesse Roman dignitatis putans ut his tant urbis senatores versarentur. Quintilian, i. 5, ascribes to the word a Gallic origin: plurima Gallica valuerunt, ut rheda et petorritum, quorum altero Cicero tamen, altero Horatius utitur) and of bodies (i. e. slaves. The expression is blamed by the Atticists as not used by the ancients: so Pollux, iii. 78, , . And so Phrynichus, p. 378, , , . Lobeck, in his note there, shews that Plato and Demosthenes use for any kind of men indefinitely (Plato, Legg. x. 114: Dem. p. 910), and it is the appropriating it to . alone which constitutes the later usage),-and (the accus. here comes in after genitives) persons of men (so the E. V. for , ref. Ezek. which the LXX render as here, . But in Gen 36:6, for , they have , where also E. V. has persons. It seems vain to attempt to draw a distinction between the and . If any is to be sought, the most obvious is that pointed out by Bengel, and adopted by Ewald, Hengstb, and Dsterd., that the expresses such slaves as belong to the horses and chariots, and . slaves in general).
[122] Athanasius, Bp. of Alexandria, 326-373
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rev 18:11. etc. ,[199] …) The construction is easy from to , and coheres with these in the same case; but at , , , you may understand afresh : for horses, chariots, and slaves, are serviceable for the conveyance of different kinds of merchandise. There is a mixture of cases, as in Hippocr. de Humoribus, ch. 25. Pricus is very full, in setting forth this enumeration. If you examine the Romish Ceremonial, you may see that all kinds of these wares repeatedly occur in abundance.
[199] But the reading also, ver. 12, is preferred in the margin of each Edition.-E. B.
But the oldest authorities read . Vulg. merces, ver. 11; mercem, ver. 12.-E.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the merchants: Rev 18:3, Rev 18:9, Rev 18:15, Rev 18:20, Rev 18:23, Rev 13:16, Rev 13:17, Isa 23:1-15, Isa 47:15, Eze 26:17-21, Eze 27:27-36, Zep 1:11, Zep 1:18
buyeth: Pro 3:14, Mat 22:5, Joh 2:16, 2Pe 2:3
Reciprocal: Isa 2:7 – land Isa 2:16 – pleasant pictures Isa 14:11 – pomp Isa 23:3 – she is Isa 23:14 – General Isa 43:14 – whose cry Jer 51:13 – abundant Eze 17:4 – into Eze 26:12 – thy merchandise Eze 26:16 – all the princes Eze 27:3 – a merchant Hos 10:5 – for the people Zec 14:21 – no more Act 16:16 – which Act 19:25 – ye know 1Ti 3:3 – not covetous 1Jo 2:16 – and the pride Rev 14:8 – Babylon Rev 16:10 – full Rev 18:16 – Alas Rev 18:17 – And every
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 18:11. The merchants were the prominent leaders in Rome who had been reaping much gain (both political and material) by imposing their false doctrines on them. There will now be no demand for such “wares” for the customers will have learned that they had been defrauded.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 11.
The statement of verse eleven, that the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her was parallel with Rev 1:7 : “Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” This coming referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, as in Zec 14:1-21; and the declaration that every eye shall see him referred to the universal knowledge of what was happening to Jerusalem; and all the kindreds (tribes) of the earth shall wail denoted the mourning of all Jewish families in all parts of the world over the destruction that had befallen their beloved city.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
The second sort of persons who passionately lament and bitterly bewail Babylon’s downfall and destruction, are the merchants who traded in and with Babylon.
Here we have an allusion to the merchants and merchandise of Tyre spoken of, Ezekiel 17 As Tyre was the mart of the earth for temporal things, so was Babylon for spiritual things, making merchandise even of the souls of men, persuading people that they could purchase the redemption of souls out of purgatory by masses.
Here note, That Pagan Rome, though she did traffic for slaves, yet not for souls: but Papal Rome deals for both. She sells also the souls of men, by selling her ecclesiastical benefices, and cure of souls. And I would to God that this piece of spiritual merchandise were only found amongst them, and not heard of elsewhere.
Observe next, The Holy Ghost is pleased to enumerate at last several sorts of wares, and the kinds of merchandise, which Babylon, dealt and trafficked in, namely, gold, silver, precious stones, fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; all things for ornament, necessity, and delight; the pride and sensuality of Rome prompted her to buy up all sorts of commodities, and took off all that the countries round about could bring in; partly to gratify her pride, and partly to serve her idolatry.
Observe farther, What a bitter lamentation is here taken up; but for what? not for their sins, their luxury, or idolatry, but for the loss of their market and merchandise only. Behold in these Babylonians, the spirit and temper of all natural men, they weep not for sin, but for sufferings: for any temporal cross they have tears enough, they refuse to be comforted: but for their sins, which are not their cross, but their curse, their plague, yea, the greatest of all plagues, because spiritual, these they can speak of with dry eyes and unaffected hearts.
Observe lastly, How these merchants here, as the kings before, stand afar off for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing; pitying and condoling one another, greatly affected and sorely afflicted to see the ruin of that polity that sustained them, but not able to help one another.
Behold! how fruitless and helpless the wicked’s friendship is to one another in the day of visitation; they stand afar off for fear of torments, but can afford no succour to each other: they durst not come near to help Babylon or them.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
The merchants, or wholesalers, also weep over the death of the harlot for a selfish reason, there is no one left to buy. Purpole and scarlet were the colors of royalty and the wealthy. It will be remembered that the harlot wore these colors. ( Rev 17:4 ) Silk came from the Far East, so the trade of the wicked city was far-reaching. Hailey says, “Thyine wood was an aromatic wood of beautiful texture, imported from North Africa and prized for its aroma and as a resource for making fine furniture.” Hendriksen tells that it was also used as incense. Wine, oil and fine flour would be used by the wealthy in their feasts. Hendriksen also writes, “These wicked people trade in bodies and souls of slaves as if they constituted mere articles of merchandise.”
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
18:11 {9} And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
(9) The lamentation of those that trade by land, as I distinguished before.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The merchants also lament over the destruction of this system, further indicating that this is a different system than the religious one symbolized in chapter 17. The collapse of economic Babylon results in merchants being unable to buy and sell goods. They sorrow over the loss of customers and profits that its destruction causes. However the city itself is a treasure that they also regret losing (cf. Eze 27:25-31). [Note: Beasley-Murray, p. 267; Wall, p. 216.] The wailing of the merchants is greater than that of the kings and sea people in this context because their loss is greater. They bemoan the loss of customers, but they previously denied the right to buy and sell to anyone who did not have the mark of the beast (Rev 13:17).