The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 392

on !ICllOunt or the beanty of I.ta wood for Yer. 13.-And ili.yi'nlr, AIU, alu that variollt! ornamental purposes. By the great oity! Most authodties omit "and." Ron:µml! the tree was called citrus, the wood Woe, fDGe, the great ciiy I (nominative C1188); citrbm. It is a na1iveof Barbo.ty, and grows exactly a.Ii in ver. 10. That 'wu clothed in to too height of fifteen to twenty-five feet" fine linen, and pnrpl&, and l!lllirlet, and rSmith's 'Dictionary of the Bible'). In decked with gold, and precious 1tonea, and this passage the accusative case is used ; pearls. She that was clothed, etc. Decked; the preeedin~ nouns a.re in the genitive. "gilded," as in the Revised Version lll.argiii., , · Ver. 13.-And cinnamon, and odours, and as in eh. ::s:vii. 4. The idettlity of desorip- 9bi.tments, and frankincbnse; and cinna- titm of the w<1mrm and Bu.1,yloii lh abtithli~ mon, and timomoo, and incllnae, and ointm:ent, ptl>of of the essebtialiy identhiill rill.tote of and /rrtnkincenae. These constitute ·the the tiro (see on eh. xvii, l ; cf. also Val'. H!). tllird clnsa (see ou ver. 12). Oinnamon, an Ver. 17.-lol' in one hour so great tiohe~ Indian tree, was in use in the Levitica.1 1, cofhe to Mught ; became {a-n) iii ~ ritual (Exod. nx. 23). It is referred to.all hriur was lnade deMlrtte lhat io greai u,e4lt1,. a perfnnle in Prov. ni. 17. Amo1non, whieli This ie givliti as tbe reasoli or the "Woe, is omitted In the Textu~ Reeeptus, is w-oe I" or ver.16,and is 'to be coni1ect.ed with found in Mt, A, 0, P, etc. It ia ienclered in the preceding claHes. (On," one. ho!1f_:• the Revised Version by "spiee.1' Its use see ver. 10, where the ~'&me reason ls gi\'eii was tlimilar to the.t of cinnamon. tts eeeds as in thi-. l,,erse.) And eveey 11hip11ui.it~3 are used under the Imme "cardamoms." pilot ; found llnly here and b1 Acts i:s:ni. And wine, and llil, and fine flour, and wbl!at, •. l. And all the oompa.ny in ship■ ; a"d eliety '.l'heea form the fourth class (see on ver. 12; .tmll ti,/io M#eth to a place. Such is probably cf. Lev. H. 1, 2). And bealti, and lllleep, tile correct text, though there. a~ several . and horiles, and cha.riots, and slaves ; and small variations. The Autlidrized Version txittle, etc. The word rentlered "slaves" is has little shppoi't. The Revised Version ,ro,µ.!n,,v, "bodies," i.e. ,lam. At the word renders, A,nd etiery one thill eailetll llny- "horses" tlni nouns are again placed in the whitl.er. And sailors, and llll man, as trail.a ~enitive (sell on ver. 12). These form tl1e by sea.; £14 many as work the ·sea ; 1:a. giiih fifth class (see on ver: 12). "Chal'iots," their living by meaDB uf the sea. Thus life ,1311, is not the word used in eh. ix. 9. It enumerated all who are connected with thb is a word probably of Gaulish origin. And sea in 11ny c&J)8(',ity (cf. Ezek. nvii. 27}. aouls ot men.· The aoou8ative- ag!lin. Not Stood a(a.r off. l.,ike the king& (ver. HJ) in the ordinary acoeptation of the word and the merchants (vcr. 15), and doubtleirs .. so~ls," hut rather "lives ·or men," as the for the same reason; viz. to avoi,I being Revised Version margin; that ii!, " living overwhelmed in _the destruction of the city. men." It is probable that the two expres- sions, " bodies " ( vide ,upra) and "_souls of Ver. 18.-And cried when they smoke of her burning, saying.. The same •w the men," refer to two classes of slavl)S. description as in ver. 9 (which see). '\fkat Ver. 14.-And the fruits that thy sofll -0ity is like unto this great city! (of. Ezelt. lust.d after are departed from thee, and all nvii. 32, "And fament over thee, l!ayibg, things whidh: were dainty and goodly are What ei ty is like Tyrus, like the d.eiJtro.yed departed frolll. thee, &nd thou shlllt find them in the midst of the sea?''). . no more at all; all thlngil t1ult wete dainty Ver. 19.-.And they cast dua& on their an<l splendid are perifhe'll from thee, and heads. 'this continues the descripUorl as '{men) sllaU.ftnd, etc. Th_tl Te::s:tils Reeeptue given in Ezek. nvii. 30, " Sh,ill oost up reads &;,rf;M,,,, "are gone," as in 1; lt.1r,l,J..0111'1> dullt upon their heads." A.nddded, weeinng is found in N, 7, and about twelve oth81'cut- and wailing, nying, AlaS, alas that irl'.9't sives; 3..,,,:,>,.,..-o•issupported hy A,B, C, P,and oity l Weeping and moumirig, sayi'ng, W'at others, besides many versions and Fathers. tD06 J etc. ; an exact repetition of vets. It t,l.'his verse, containing a direct address to 16. Wherein 'lile:re lilade rich all that hltll Babylon, has been thought by Vitrfo.ga and ehlpa in the sea by reason of her co,tlineaii. otl,ers to be mispl1J,oed: but this ill 1inneces- Like the merchants, the men here deseribeli 1ary (cf. the liimilat 1:itonmstanee in V'ets. tegret tl1e 1088 of theft W!lalth (cf, Yel'II. 11, 21~2-l). '• · 1.1, 16). So in E:z~k. x::s:vii. 38, •1 When thy Ver. ,5.-The merohants llt tb'.e•& thing&, "tares wont forth out of the serui, thou whicn were made titlll. by her (of. ver. 11), 611Mst many people; thou didHt enric}i the shall stand ataroif for the tear of her to$ent. kings of the earth with the multitude of thy 'l'he future tense is now ul!ed (800 on ver. 9): riches and of thy me'rohandise." :l'or in tif. ve,1 10, where the aafue thing is relmed one hour is lihe made !111ilolate. Exactly as of. the king& Weeping ~d wailing (ef. in ver. 17; and similarly to tcr. 10. . T!ll'· ~ where, howeyer, we he.ve 1ro,f,0VT.111, Ver. 20..:.,..c:ltejoice over liar, thou heaven. " wail," instead of, as here, nrOovn•:S, ThPse wotds .IU'e best understood aa being " mourn ; " iif, also vGr. l1). uttered bt thii ,mter. as In oh. xii 12 (see REVELATION. z-~ 431 THE REVELATION OJ.I' ST. JOHN THE DIVINB. tOJL xvm. t-H. nn eh. xii. 10). And ye hol1 apostles and shall be heard no more at all hi thee; Aa,pen prophet•; and ye 11aint., and r,, apostle,, and mid mimtrel, and Jluie-player•, etc. (Revi..Kl ye propAeu, ia read in K, A, B, P, et.c., and Version). Cf. the cfescription of the d010latioo u.dopti,d by the Revisers. The Authorized of Tyre in Ezek. x:s:vi. 13 and Isa. :uiv, 8. Veraiou·reading is found. in O, I, 17. Not And no oraftsman, of what1oever oraft be be, only th& henenly inhe.bitants e.re to rejoioo, shall be found any more iD thee. "Every bat also th0110 on ee.rth who have been per- craft " is omitted in lC, A. (On the last ll801lted b1 her, as mentioned in ver. z.i. phraee, see on ver. 21.) And the aolUld of a The tune 18 again described whioh has been millatone llhall he heard no more ai all in already referred to .in former parts of the thee. This paBB&ge, together with the boQk, and eepecially in oh. i:i. 18. Some following venie, is founded on Jer. ::uv. 10. authors have held this verse to prove that Ver. 23.-And the light of a candle shall the writer of the Apocalypse was not the shine no more at all in thee, ; and the voice .Apt!ril,e John; either beoauee (1) he speaks of the bridegroom and of the bride shall i:ia if he were not an apo$1Ze, or (2) beoaose ba heard no more at all in thee ; o/ a lamp they aasume that all the apo,tle, are here (of. Jer. nv. 10, "I will take from them the referred to, and that they are in hee.ven. voice of mirth, and the voice of gladneM, There is no ground for either presumption: the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of (1) A rhapsodioal utterance of this nature the bride, the sound of the millstone&, and cannot be mterpreted literally : (2) the word the light of the candle"). Por thy merohanta "apastlee" oannot be limited to the twelve; were the great men of the earth ; tll6Fe Uaa (S). 88 Diisterdioek justly observes, one princea. The caw,e of this overthrow is might as .well argue that the writer was not th118 again state, I. It i11 a repetition of the a prophet. By the" prophets "are primarily idea in vers. 7, 15, 19, "I sit a queen;" intended, ~rha,Pil, the Chrl,;tian prophets "The meroliants which were made rich by (of. Eph. iii 5): but if Babylon is typical her;"" That great city, wliemin were made of the hos1ile world-power, and the harlot rich all that had ships in the sea" (of. Isa. of lhe fuithleae, .worldly portion of God's xxiii. 8, " WhOl!e merche.nta were princes ; " Church. .1111 we !,ave· seen them to be. the also Ezek. nvii. 20-22). J'or bJ thy 1or- w~s are applicable to the Church of God cerles were all nations deceived. The iii all ages. l'o:t God bath avenged JOU on judgment is the resuU of tl.ie non-repentance her i for God liath judged your jwlg1Mnt on of eh. iL 21. ~- The answer to the prayer of the Ver. 24.-And In her WU found the blood milriyra in eh. vi. 10. 'fhe words, "your of prophet&, and of saints, and of all that judgment," probably mean "that judgment were &lain upon the earth. At first flgh t which .is her due f<•r hn tree.tment of you," it seems difficult to understand that these 88 in the Authorized Ver~iun. Hengsten- words are spoken not only of Babylon. bni berg gives" the doom which ahe pronounced of the faithless portion of the Church, sym- upon you." Wordsworth, laying stresa bolized by the harlot. But we must remem- upon I~. "out of," makes the words mean, ber (l) that he who is gailty in respect of " He has taken your CBuse out of her hands one oommandment, is guilty of the whole into his own." Law; (2) similar wor& are addressed by Ver. 21•.c..-And a mighty angel took up a Jeremiah to Judah (ii. 34): "Also in ltoae like a great millstone, and c,ut it into thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of ihe sea, 1&ying; and one strong angel (cf. the poor innocents" (see on eh: i:vii. 1). the "mighty voice" in Yer. 2 ; also oh. :s:. AuLerlen remarks," Wherever true, faithful 1, and elsewhere). The adjective, of oourse, Christia.us a.re neglected and oppreaaed by refers to the mightiness of the deed wrought the rnlers of the Church, from avowed or (et. Jer. li. 61--64, "Thou sh&lt bind a stone secret antipathy t.o God's truth; where a ~ it,andelllltU into the midt,1ofEuphra.tes; false theology and science robs youth of its and thou shu.lt say, .Thus shall Babylon faith; where a pastor neglect.a, and keeJI' sink,and ahall notrise,"eto.). The- may at a distance, the true living Chri3tians 1n be typical of the n,atione of the earth (see his flock. on acoount of· the ,ignum cruci, oh. :s:iii. 1). Thus with violence ahall that which they bear: wherever we refuse or are ,reat ai1;1 BabJlon be thrown down, and ashumed to bear the repl'Ojl.(lh of J eena lhall be found no more at all ; Thu, tl!llh a Christ, our heavenly Muter, even u he bore mighly /all .1hall Bab)'lon, the great city, b6 it, there we commit murder againat the Cll8t down, etc. (Revised Version). Afford saints of God;" translates " with a rush; " 3pp.7Jp.a. is peculiar Hlll'!I ill concluded the pronouncement· of to this paasage. The complete nature of this the judgment of B/1,bylon; which may be extinction. is indicated by the frequency of th& worda, "no more at all," in Tera. 21-23. said to a.nswer_ the prayer in eh. 1i. 10; Ver. 22.-.And the TOicl of harpen, and and which forms the eonelusioa. of U&e m'IIBioiau. · &114 of »iPers, loD4 trumpoter1, n'Nlatiou ~ u i r at eh. uii .as. i:VIIL 1-24.] THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. '31