Revelation 18 is the eighteenth chapter of the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

or the Apocalypse of John in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. The book is traditionally attributed to

John the Apostle John the Apostle (; ; ), also known as Saint John the Beloved and, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Saint John the Theologian, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he ...

, but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate. This chapter describes the fall of Babylon the Great.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

. This chapter is divided into 24 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are among others: *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(330–360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(400–440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum C or 04 in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering of New ...

(ca. 450; extant verses 3-24)

Old Testament references

* :

New Testament concordances

* :

The fall of Babylon: the voice of an angel (18:1–3)

The cry of the angel about judgement against Babylon is an expansion of the one in Revelation 14:8.

Verse 1

:''After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.'' "Another angel": one of several angels distinguished from each other within the Book of Revelation (cf. Revelation 10:1; 19:6, 15, 17; Revelation 15:1, etc.).Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors)
On "Revelation 18".
In: ''The

Pulpit Commentary The ''Pulpit Commentary'' is a homiletic commentary on the Bible first published between 1880 and 1919

''. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019. , "the Earth shone with the glory of the God of Israel" is here translated rather more literally than in the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in 56 volumes by Cambridge University Press between 1878 and 1918. Many volumes went through multiple reprintings, while some volumes were also revised, usually by ...

Revelation 18
Accessed 28 April 2019.

Verse 2

: ''And he cried mightily with a strong voice saying Babylon the great is fallen is fallen and is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird'' Cross reference: Isaiah 21:9, Revelation 14:8 *"Devils": is translated from , ', "demons", compare to , Luke 11:24, also Isaiah 13:20-22; Isaiah 34:13-15. Vincent, Marvin R. (1886
''Vincent's New Testament Word Studies'', "Revelation 18"
Hendrickson Publishers. Internet Sacred Texts Archive. Biblehub. *"Hold" and "

cage A cage is an enclosure often made of mesh, bars, or wires, used to confine, contain or protect something or someone. A cage can serve many purposes, including keeping an animal or person in captivity, capturing an animal or person, and displayi ...

": are translated from the same Greek word , ',Greek Text Analysis: Revelation 18:2
Biblehub "a strong place", which is more like "

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

" (not a "fortress") as also rendered in .

The fall of Babylon: the voice from heaven (18:4–20)

The part records the words spoken by the voice from heaven referred in verse 4. New Testament scholar James Tabor believes that this passage is a reference to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

, and possibly even based on eyewitness accounts of the event. Similar to Pompeii, a city is destroyed by fire in one hour, with ships in port only able to watch in horror. In context, it threatens a similar event to Babylon (potentially really referring to Rome) that happened to Pompeii.

Verse 8

:''Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.'' *"In one day": denoting "a sudden and overwhelming reverse", such as "at the last judgment day" (cf. ).

Verses 11-16

''11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:'' ''12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,'' ''13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.'' ''14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.'' ''15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,'' ''16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!'' * This "lament of the merchants" is possibly based on a lament for the merchants of Tyre in .

Verse 17

''For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,''

Verse 18

''And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!''

Verse 19

: ''They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’'' NKJV *"They threw dust on their heads": like "the seafaring men on account of Tyre" () the people make a gesture normally used in mourning or 'in afflicted and distressed circumstances, denoting disorder, confusion, and debasement' (cf. ; ). *"Alas, alas! that great city": compared to , ), mourning a city once so great now in flames.''John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible'' - Revelation 18:19
/ref>

Verse 20

''Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.''

The fall of Babylon: the voice of another angel (18:21–24)

The symbolic prophecy of the fall of Babylon is here modeled as in the Book of Jeremiah ().

Notes

References

Sources

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate

''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Book of Revelation 18 Whore of Babylon Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD Pompeii in popular culture