ας τῆς ψυχῆς σε ἀπῆλθεν ἀπὸ σᾶ, και πάντα τὰ λιπαρὰ καὶ τὰ λαμπρά · ἀπώλετο ἀπὸ σε, καὶ ἐκέτι ὁ μὴ εὑ15 ρήσης αυτά. Οἱ ἔμποροι τύτων οἱ πλυτήσαντες ἀπ ̓ αὐτῆς, ἀπὸ μακρόθεν ςήσονίαι, διὰ τὸν φόβον το βασανιστ με αὐτῆς, κλαίς φίλες και επενθέντες, 16 [Καὶ] λέγοντες Οὐαὶ, καὶ, ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη, ή περι βεβλημένη βύσσινον καὶ πορφυρῶν καὶ κάκ κικον, καὶ κεχρυσω μένη ἐν χρυσῷ, καὶ λίθω τιμίω, και μας 17 γαρίταις. more shalt thou find 15" them. The dealers "in these things, who "have been enriched "by her, shall stand "afar off for fear of "her torment, weep"ing and wailing, "Οτι | 16" [and] saying, Alas! « alas! that great cily, "which was arrayed μια ώρα ήρης μώθη ὁ τοσᾶτα πλέτω καὶ πᾶς κυβερνήτης, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἐπὶ τόπον πλέων, καὶ ναῦται, καὶ ὅσοι τὴν θάλασσαν ἐργάζονται, ἀπὸ μακρόθεν ἔζησαν, 18 Καὶ ἔκραζον, βλε πόλες τον καπνὸν τῆς πυρώσεως αὐτ τῆς, λέγοντες Τίς ὁμοία τῇ πόλει τῇ 19 μεγάλη; Καὶ ἔβαλον χεν ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὑτῶν, καὶ ἔκραξον κλαίοντες chants of these things which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off, for the fear of her torment, weeping, and 16 wailing, And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was cloathed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, 17 and pearls: For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every ship-master, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, 18 stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this 19 great city ? And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea, by reason of her costliness: for in one hour is she made 20 desolate. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her. καὶ πενθώντες, λέγον τες· Οὐαὶ, καὶ, ἡ πόλις ή μεγάλη, ἐν ᾗ ἐπλέτησαν πάντες οἱ ἔχοντες τὰ πλοῖα ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ, ἐκ τῆς τιμιότητα. αὐτῆς, ὅτι μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἡρη20 μώθη. Εὐφραίνει ἐπ ̓ αὐτὴν, ἐρανέ, καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι καὶ οἱ ἀπότολοι καὶ οἱ προφῆται, ὅτι ἔκρινεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αυτ 21 τῆς. Καὶ ἧςεν εἷς ἄγελα ἰσχυρὸς λίθον, ὡς μύλον μέγαν, καὶ ἔβαλεν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, λέο γων· Οὕτως ὁρμής ματι βληθήσεται Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη πόλις, καὶ ἐμὴ 22 εὑρεθῇ ἔτι. Καὶ φωνὴ κιθαρῳδῶν καὶ μεσικῶν καὶ αὐλητῶν και σαλπιςῶν ἰ μὴ ἀκεσθῇ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι. καὶ πᾶς τεχνίτης πάσης τέχνης ἐ μὴ εὑρεθῆ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι· καὶ φωνὴ μύλα ὲ μὴ ἀκεσθῇ ἐν σοὶ 23 ἔτι· Καὶ φῶς λύχ να ἰ μὴ φωνῇ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι καὶ φωνὴ νυμφίε καὶ νύμφης ἐ μὴ ἀκεσθῇ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι· ὅτι οἱ ἔμποροι 21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. 22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee ; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all 23 in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee; for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all na24 tions deceived : And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. Ver. 1. After these things.] The angel of the Vials having fulfilled the purpose for which he had taken the Prophet apart into the wilderness; to shew him "the harlot," the mystical Babylon, whose fall had been denounced in ch. xiv. 8. xv. 19; the same scenery is renewed, which had attended the exhibition of the warnings and Vials. Heaven is again restored to view, and the angels descend to perform the parts allotted them. The prophecy now to be produced, is connected with ch. xiv. 8, where the same words are used by the angel, who proclaims the fall of Babylon. That which is there said in few words, words, is now particularly described. It is a sequel, also to the seventeenth chapter, in which the angel proposed to shew, not only Babylon, the great harlot, but also her judgment; which is now pronounced. It is connected also with the seventh Vial; for it is here, that" Babylon is remembered," as was promised under that Vial*; her plagues are come, and she is finally destroyed by fire, as, in ch. xvii, it was said she shall be. Ver. 2. An habitation of Dæmons.] The mystical Babylon, like the ancient and literal one its type, is to be utterly destroyed. And when the utter destruction of a city is denounced in Scripture, the site of that city is commonly described as becoming the haunt and habitation of wild beasts, and of such loathsome reptiles, as are found in the forsaken ruins. of a city. (See for examples, Isa. xiii. 20-22; xxxiv. 10-16. Jer. ix. 11; li. 37.) On one of these passages it is observed by Bishop Lowth, that Hebrew words expressive of such animals are translated in the Septuagint by the word Aaovia, which is used here t. Ver. 3. Because all the nations-&c.] The cause of her judgment and fall is assigned. She who, as a Church of Christ, should have been the teacher and preserver of pure Religion and morality, had become the seducer and corrupter of the nations and their kings; and had set the example of that insolent luxury, disposing to irreligion, which it was her duty to oppose. It will be seen clearly from this verse, as well as from other passages of this chapter, that the great harlot of the seventeenth chapter, there called Ch. xvi. 19. + Bp. Lowth on Is. xxxiv. 14.. See Schleusner or Parkhurst in voc. spavos. Babylon, Babylon, and the Babylon whose judgment is here pronounced, are the same. The same intoxicating cup, the same nations and kings are repeated as the causes of the Divine judgments upon her. 'As the destruction of Rome is here compared "to the destruction of Tyre, we easily see how proper it was, to describe the sins of Rome, by figures "taken from the sins of Tyre. The profit of trade "created a commerce between that city, then the "chief mart of the world, and all nations; so that "Tyre spread her luxury and superstition, far and wide, with her trade. Rome, in like manner, "corrupted distant and remote nations, by rewarding her votaries with considerable wealth, encou"raging their ambition and luxury; and thus, like Tyre of old, she made her corruptions general, and "almost universal *. "If," says Bishop Newton, "this fall of Baby"lon was effected by Totilas, king of the Ostrogoths, as Grotius affirms, or by Alaric, king of "the Visigoths, as the Bishop of Meaux contends; "how can Rome be said, ever since, to have been the "habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful "bird; unless they will allow the Popes and Cardi"nals to merit these appellations †?" Ver. 4. Come out of her, my people.] The same commanding call is to be seen in Jer. li. 6, which is again repeated after the fall of the literal Babylon ‡. Of this injunction, great use was made by the Reformers. The sentence of retaliation is to be seen * Lowman on the Revelation, p. 219. + Dissert. on Proph. iii. 312. t 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. also |