For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
5. have reached ] Lit., have cleaved together.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For her sins have reached unto heaven – So in Jer 51:9, speaking of Babylon, it is said, For her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. The meaning is not that the sins of this mystical Babylon were like a mass or pile so high as to reach to heaven, but that it had become so prominent as to attract the attention of God. Compare Gen 4:10, The voice of thy brothers blood crieth unto me from the ground. See also Gen 18:20.
And God hath remembered her iniquities – He had seemed to forget them, or not to notice them, but now he acted as if they had come to his recollection. See the notes on Rev 16:19.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 5. Her sins have reached unto heaven] They are become so great and enormous that the long-suffering of God must give place to his justice.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For her sins have reached unto heaven; that is, the cry of her sins; according to what is said of Sodom, (one of the types of antichrist), Gen 18:20,21.
And God hath remembered her iniquities; the time is come when God will punish her for her idolatry and persecution, and all the abominable things done and committed by her.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. her sinsas a great heap.
reachedGreek,“reached so far as to come into close contact with, and tocleave unto.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For her sins have reached unto heaven,…. Or “have followed unto heaven”; one after another, in one age after another, until they have been as it were heaped up together, and have reached the heavens; the phrase denotes the multitude of them, God’s knowledge and notice of them, and the cry of them to him; see
Ge 18:20 the Alexandrian copy and Complutensian edition read, “have cleaved”, or “glued”, and so the Syriac and Arabic versions seem to have read; her sins were as it were soldered together, and stuck fast to her, and being joined and linked together, made a long chain, and reached to heaven, and cleaved to that, and cried for vengeance:
and God hath remembered her iniquities; and is about to punish her for them; for as forgiveness of sin is signified by a non-remembrance of it, so punishment of sin by a remembrance of it, and of the persons that commit it; see Re 16:19.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Have reached (). First aorist passive (deponent) indicative of , old verb (from , gluten, glue), to cleave to, to join one another in a mass “up to heaven” ( ). Cf. Jer 51:9; Zech 14:5.
Hath remembered (). First aorist (prophetic) active indicative of , here with the accusative (, iniquities) instead of the genitive (Col 4:18).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Have reached [] . Lit., followed. But the best texts read ejkollhqhsan clave. Compare Jer 51:9. For different applications of the verb see on Mt 19:5; Luk 14:15; Act 5:13. Compare the classical phrase for following up closely a fleeing foe, hoerere in terga hostium, to cleave to the backs of the enemy. See also Zec 14:5 (Sept.), “The valley of the mountains shall reach [] unto Azal.” The radical idea of the metaphor is that of following or reaching after so as to be joined to.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For her sins have reached unto heaven,” (hoti ekolethesan autes hai hamartia-achri tou ouranou) “Because her sins are linked together (continuously connected) aII the way up to heaven; Gen 6:5; Gen 18:20-21; Jer 51:9; linked to the Devil, Satan, the Serpent, that old Dragon who initiated war in Heaven, was cast out, from where he once appeared before the throne of heaven, accusing the brethren day and night; Jer 51:9; Jon 1:2; This wicked harlot city is linked to Satan, inseparably; Rev 12:7-14.
2) “And God hath remembered,” (kai emnemoneusen ho theos) “And God remembered,” called to mind, more accurately than a memorex (recorded recall) system of man; Rev 16:19; Luk 16:25; And God will remember every act and. thought of obstinate impenitence and heart hardening against him, Ecc 12:13-14; Rom 2:4-5.
3) “Her iniquities,” (ta adikemata autes) “The wrong (unrighteous deeds) of her which she had committed. The cities of Rome, Babylon, and ancient Babel seem to be assimilated in a one (final) Gentile world Empire presided over by the Dragon-empowered beast or antichrist in consort with a religio-state mistress called The Mystery Babylon the Great, Mother of harlots, with illicit offspring, worshipping at different altars, different gods, etc. Psa 115:1-8; 1Co 10:20-21; 1Ti 4:1-3; Rev 16:13-14; Joh 5:43. God calls his people – both Israel and the Church, to come or to abide outside of her corporate being, her organizations and her degraded forms of worship, Heb 13:10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(5) For her sins have reached . . .Better, For her sins have reached as far as heaven. The idea is of a great heap firmly fastened, and towering, like another Babel, as far as heaven. (Comp. 2Ch. 28:9, and Ezr. 9:6.) The idea is more than that of the cry of sin reaching heaven, as in the case of Sodom (Gen. 18:20-21); the sins themselves, many and imperial, have touched the face of heaven. God hath remembered her. (Comp. Rev. 16:19). Sometimes the oppressed have thought that God had forgotten the voice of the enemy (Psa. 74:10-23); but the long-suffering of the Lord is salvation (2Pe. 3:8-18.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Reached unto heaven Not merely in their “cry,” or rumor, but in their accumulating heap, rising, like the tower of Babel, with a “top unto heaven.” Gen 11:4.
Remembered A clear reference to Rev 16:19; another reference to the past event.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Ver. 5. For her sins have reached ] Gr. , have followed thick or been thwacked one upon another, thick and threefold, as they say: there hath been a concatenation, or a continued series of them, . Others read, Her sins are glued and soldered together; or they cleave and are glued to heaven. Matthew Paris speaking of the court of Rome, saith, Huius foetor usque ad nubes fumum teterrimum exhalabat: Her filthiness hath sent up a most noisome stench to the very clouds of heaven, as Sodom’s did; therefore shall Babel (the glory of kingdoms) be as the destruction of God in Sodom and Gomorrha,Isa 13:19Isa 13:19 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 18:5 . Plutarch ( de sera uindict . 15) is strong upon the solidarity of a city, which is liable to be punished at any time for past offences. (“Heaped up to the sky are her sins”) in the familiar sense of haerere = to follow close upon, or to cleave, the idea being that the mass of sins actually presses on the roof of heaven. The figure would be different if, as Holtzm. conjectures, . referred to the gluing together of the leaves composing a roll; the record of Rome’s sins would form so immense a volume that when unrolled it would reach the very heavens. “Etascendit contumelia tua ad altissimum, et superbia tua ad fortem” (4 Esd. 11:43).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
have, hath. Omit.
reached. The texts read “joined” or “built together”.
unto = up to.
God. App-98.
iniquities. App-128.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 18:5. [197] ) Wolf says, this reading is suspected by me.[198] For the verb is said only of those, who adhere to any object or person, as pleasing to themselves; but I do not perceive how this can be said of sins, and moreover of sinners, with reference to the heavens. But the verb is used in a wider sense, Zec 14:5, . Lam 2:2, () . Passages might be added, in which and correspond with each other. But the two former passages prove the matter: for and in them, and in the Apocalypse, render the expression altogether similar; and the word is found in them, which word is used, 2Ch 28:9, to denote a slaughter reaching to the heaven: LXX., . The Apocalyptic phrase answers to that passage of Jeremiah 51 (in the Greek 28) 9, (); in Hebr. it is , of which word John undoubtedly had an idea in his mind. But is never used to express this word; the synonymous words, , , , are used. The MSS., with general consent, have : Erasmus, , from mere conjecture, as it seems; for not even does Andreas thus read it. Whether here denote sins, or rather punishments, the passage in Ap. ch. Rev 16:13 is different; for the works follow with those who die in the Lord the sins do not follow with Babylon even to the heaven.
[197] Ver. 4. , come out) This coming out will be enjoined immediately before the infliction of the plagues of Babylon.-V. g.
[198] ABC read . Vulg. h Cypr. 316 have pervenerunt: Rec. Text. , without good authority.-E.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
sins
Sin
(See Scofield Rom 3:23).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
reached: Gen 18:20, Gen 18:21, 2Ch 28:9, Ezr 9:6, Jer 51:9, Jon 1:2
and: Rev 16:19
Reciprocal: Gen 8:1 – God remembered Jdg 20:13 – would not Psa 16:4 – Their Psa 79:8 – remember Isa 1:4 – Ah sinful Isa 14:4 – How Isa 47:3 – I will take Jer 44:21 – did Jer 51:6 – for this Jer 51:49 – As Babylon Jer 51:56 – the Lord Eze 24:8 – I have set Dan 4:22 – thy greatness Zec 5:2 – the length Act 2:40 – Save
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 18:5. Sins have reached unto heaven means the corruptions of Rome were an offense to heaven, and also had become notoriously public so that God remembered (took unfavorable notice of) her iniquities.
Rev 18:6. The pronoun you refers to “my people” in the preceding verse. Human beings cannot bring judgment upon a universal body of corruption by mere human strength. But if they will come out and then use their influence to expose the harlot (which many people did as shown in various histories of the Reformation), they will bring about a chastisement of her that is figuratively described as making her drink a double measure of her own wine.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verses 5-6.
The enormity of Jerusalem’s sins which reached unto heaven are underlined in verses five and six in the exercise of the prerogatives that belongs only to God–“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord”–He remembered her iniquities, and rendered due reward double unto double, according to her works. Again, it was Lord’s answer to the altar cry of martyrs in Rev 6:10, “how long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth.”
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 18:5. So multiplied were her sins that they were heaped together as a mass reaching even unto heaven. The figure is taken from Jer 51:9 (comp. Gen 18:20).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. The reason assigned why Almighty God inflicted such severe punishments upon Babylon, because her sins, that is, the cry and clamour of her sins, had reached up to heaven, the measure of her sins was filled up, and God had remembered her iniquities, that is, manifested his rememberance of them, by inflicting on her so great, so just, a punishment for them, viz. for her idolatry and persecution.
Learn hence, That although sins be transient actions, yet they have a permanent pleading before the Lord’s tribunal, to bring down judgments upon incorrigible sinners.
And, 2. That although the justice of God may be thought to be asleep, and he may seem to be forgetful of sin and sinners, yet he will take his own time to manifest that he remembers them, by inflicting the heaviest of his judgments upon obdurate sinners: Her sins reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Observe, 2. The injunction and command given by God unto his people, to every one of them in their place and station, to contribute regularly all they can towards Babylon’s downfall and destruction, Reward her as she rewarded you, yea, double; this is required, not from a private spirit of revenge, which Christianity expressly forbids, but as a public work, in an authoritative way and manner, out of an ardent zeal for the glory of God, and from a just indignation against her tyranny and idolatry; and the command to double unto her double, implies that a double punishment is due unto her, yea, a just one, according to her works.
Behold here! what bloody persecutors may at length expect, namely, to receive at the Lord’s hand double for all their sins. Babylon’s punishment shall be double, respecting what she has acted, but not double in respect of what she has deserved; if possible, let her have as much blood again to drink as ever she spilt, for one drop of the blood of Sion is more worth than an ocean of the blood of Babylon: give her therefore double, for though it be more in quantity, it is nothing so much in value.
Observe, 3. How suitable and unanswerable Babylon’s punishment inflicted will be to her sin committed; her sins were pride and insolence, luxury and voluptuousness.
Note, 1. Her pride; she said in her heart, I sit as a queen.
Mark, she did not barely say, I am a queen, but I sit as a queen; as if she had said, “I am not only in a high place, but in a sure place: I have a warm and a firm seat, I am well settled, I have a great command, yea, an uncontrollable command, I am no widow; no desolate widow, no disconsolate widow, for I have many children to comfort me, many sons and daughters to support me; I shall see no sorrow, I neither feel nor fear any.” Behold how worldly men fancy to themselves an everlastingness in worldly things; they fancy themselves sitting as upon down pillows for ease and softness, and as upon rocks of adamant for sureness and unmovableness, I sit as a queen, and shall see no sorrow.
Note, 2. Her luxury and voluptuousness, she lived deliciously, in pompous palaces, pleasantly situated, plentifully furnished, and her judgment bears a strict proportion to her sin, How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her; the justice of God will exact all the arrears of abused mercy. Sinners that now fare deliciously every day, shall pass from their good things here, to the flames which live by the breath of God’s revenging wrath. Ah! doleful exchange! one hour’s feeling of that fire will be more tormenting than an age’s enjoyment of this world’s delight can be pleasing.
Observe, 4. The equity, the celerity, and multiplicity of Babylon’s punishments; their equity is intimated in the illative particle therefore, that is, because of her former sins her plagues shall come; the celerity and swiftness of her punishment is intimated, they shall come upon her in one day, as did Sodom’s plagues, suddenly and unexpectedly; and the multiplicity and variety of her plagues is particularly here expressed; death, for putting the saints to death; mourning, for her former rejoicing; famine, for famishing God’s people; and burning, for having burnt so many of the bodies of the holy martyrs to a coal. Righteous art thou, O Lord, and just are thy judgments.
Observe lastly, The reason here assigned for the unavoidableness of all these plagues coming upon Babylon– for strong is the Lord who judgeth her. True, Babylon has all natural power and all civil strength on her side; but the strong God is against her, it is his controversy with her, and he is able to effect what he pleaseth, how incredible soever the thing may seem to us: sooner may the ark and Dagon be reconciled, and cease to be adverse, than God can be at peace with Babylon; Strong is the Lord who judgeth her.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
18:5 For her sins have {a} reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
(a) He uses a word which signifies the following of sins one after another, and rising one of another in such sort, that they grow at length to such a heap, that they come up even to heaven.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Another reason for abandoning Babylon and Babylonianism is that God is about to judge her. Her sins, like the bricks used to build the tower of Babel (Gen 11:3-4), have accumulated so they finally reach heaven. She has exhausted God’s patience (cf. Jer 51:9). God has noticed and remembered her sins, and because He is righteous, He must judge them.