For in an hour such great riches are made desolate.’ Every ship master, and everyone who sails anywhere, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood far away,
Parallel Translations
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For in an hour such great riches are made desolate.’ Every ship master, and everyone who sails anywhere, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood far away,
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for at one houre so great ryches ys come to nought. And every shippe governer and all they that occupied shippes and shippmen which worke in the see stode a farre of
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For in one houre so great riches are come to desolation. And euery shipmaster, and all the people that occupie shippes, and shipmen, and whosoeuer traffike on the sea, shall stand a farre off,
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Revelation 18:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 23:14 Howl, you ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste!
- Ezekiel 27:27-36 Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners, your pilots, your repairers of ship seams, the dealers in your merchandise, and all your men of war, who are in you, with all your company which is among you, will fall into the heart of the seas in the day of your ruin. At the sound of the cry of your pilots, the pasture lands will shake. All who handle the oars, the mariners and all the pilots of the sea, will come down from their ships. They will stand on the land, and will cause their voice to be heard over you, and will cry bitterly. They will cast up dust on their heads. They will wallow in the ashes. They will make themselves bald for you, and clothe themselves with sackcloth. They will weep for you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning. In their wailing they will take up a lamentation for you, and lament over you, saying, ‘Who is there like Tyre, like her who is brought to silence in the middle of the sea?’ When your wares went out of the seas, you filled many peoples. You enriched the kings of the earth with the multitude of your riches and of your merchandise. In the time that you were broken by the seas, in the depths of the waters, your merchandise and all your company fell within you. All the inhabitants of the islands are astonished at you, and their kings are horribly afraid. They are troubled in their face. The merchants among the peoples hiss at you. You have become a terror, and you will be no more.” ’ ”
- Revelation 17:16 The ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute, will make her desolate, will strip her naked, will eat her flesh, and will burn her utterly with fire.
- Jeremiah 51:8 Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed! Wail for her! Take balm for her pain. Perhaps she may be healed.
- Jonah 1:6 So the ship master came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God! Maybe your God will notice us, so that we won’t perish.”
- Revelation 18:10-11 standing far away for the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For your judgment has come in one hour.’ The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more:
- Revelation 18:19 They cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her great wealth!’ For she is made desolate in one hour.
- Isaiah 47:9 But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day, the loss of children and widowhood. They will come on you in their full measure, in the multitude of your sorceries, and the great abundance of your enchantments.
- Lamentations 4:6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown as in a moment. No hands were laid on her.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The manner of mourning used by them that trade…
The manner of mourning used by them that trade by sea.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 17 For in one hour so great riches is…
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,
Ver. 17. So great riches come to nought] Gr. ηρημωθη, is desolated, or become a wilderness. Petrarch writeth, that in the treasury of Pope John XXII were found by his heirs two hundred and fifty tons of gold. And of Boniface VIII it is recorded that he was able to show more money than all the kings in Christendom.
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And every ship master] i.e. Cardinal, patriarch, archbishop, though but titular and imaginary, without jurisdiction, as are the patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria, which the pope successively consecrates, ever since the Holy Land and the provinces about it were in the hands of Christian princes, A.D. 1100, so loth is the pope to lose the remembrance of any superiority or title that he hath once compassed. (Spec. Europ.)
And all the company] The cardinals and archbishops’ train and retinue, those in office especially. What a pompous family kept Wolsey, consisting of one earl, nine barons, very many knights and esquires, and others, to the number of four hundred. (Rex Platen., p. 26.)
And sailors] Bishops, abbots, priors, &c. In a parliament holden here at Leicester, A.D. 1413, in the reign of Henry V, a complaint was exhibited against the Popish clergy’s excess. This bill (saith E. Hall the chronicler) made the fat abbots to sweat, the proud priors to frown, the poor friars to curse, the silly nuns to weep, and all her merchants to fear that Babel would then down. But God’s time was not yet.
And as many as trade by the sea] All the clergy, the Jesuits especially, without whose lusty help (saith Mr Brightman) St Peter’s fishing boat had stuck in the sand, and had rushed against the rocks long since.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain In one hour; that is, suddenly. The term denotes…
In one hour; that is, suddenly. The term denotes rather the surprisal of this judgment, than the short space of time within which it should be effected.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain The last sort of mourners for Babylon’s ruin are…
The last sort of mourners for Babylon’s ruin are sailors and seamen; all spiritual seamen that have an oar in St. Peter’s boat shall lament greatly, whose life and livelihood did depend upon the merchant trade of that great city; these, though they stuck close to her, and trafficked with her in the day of her prosperity, yet now with the rest they stand afar off from her, lamenting her ruin, and their own loss, in the day when her desolation cometh.
And, as an evidence of the greatness of their sorrow and mourning, they are here said to cast dust on their heads; which amongst the ancients was used as a special token of extraordinary grief and sorrow, Job 2:13. In a time of deep affliction we may express our outward sorrows by our outward gestures: those mourners for Babylon express their sorrow for her and themselves, by casting dust upon their heads.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And cried when they saw the smoke of her…
And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning,.... See Gill on Rev 18:9.
saying, what city is like unto this great city? as before for magnificence and grandeur, so now for sorrow, desolation, and ruin; nor was any city like it for power and authority, for pride and luxury, for idolatry and superstition, blasphemy and impenitence; the like the sailors say of Tyre, Eze 27:30 from whence this and other expressions are borrowed in this lamentation.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. Every shipmaster] Captains of vessels; some think…
Verse 17. Every shipmaster] Captains of vessels; some think pilots are meant, and this is most likely to be the meaning of the original word κυβερνητης. This description appears to be at least partly taken from Eze 27:26-28.
And all the company in ships] Και πας επι των πλοιων ὁ ὁμιλος· The crowd or passengers aboard. But the best MSS, and versions have και πας ὁ επι τοπον πλεων, those who sail from place to place, or such as stop at particular places on the coast, without performing the whole voyage. This sufficiently marks the traffic on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Some might debark (in sailing from Rome) at the island of Sicily, others at different ports in Greece; some at Corinth, others at Crete, or the various islands of the AEgean Sea; some at Rhodes, Pamphylia, c., &c. as in those times in which the compass was unknown, every voyage was performed coastwise, always keeping, if possible, within sight of the land.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For in one hour - In a very brief…
For in one hour - In a very brief period - so short, that it seemed to them to be but one hour. In the prediction Rev 18:8, it is said that it would be “in one day” (see the notes on that place); here it is said that, to the on-lookers, it seemed to be but an hour. There is no inconsistency, therefore, between the two statements.
So great riches is come to nought - All the accumulated wealth of so great and rich a city. This should have been united with Rev 18:16, as it is a part of the lamentation of the merchants, and as the lamentation of the mariners commences in the other part of the verse. It is so divided in the Greek Testaments.
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And every ship-master - This introduces the lamentation of the mariners, who would, of course, be deeply interested in the destruction of a city with which they had been accustomed to trade, and by carrying merchandise to which they had been enriched. The word “ship-master” - κυβερνήτης kubernētēs - means, properly, a “governor”; then a governor of a ship - the “steersman” or “pilot,” Act 27:11.
And all the company in ships - Prof. Stuart renders this “coasters.” There is here, however, an important difference in the reading of the text. The commonly received text is, πᾶς ἐπὶ τῶν πλοίων ὁ ὅμιλος pas epi tōn ploiōn ho homilos - “the whole company in ships,” as in our common version; the reading which is now commonly adopted, and which is found in Griesbach, Hahn, and Tittmann, is ὁ ἐπὶ τόπον πλέων ho epi topon pleōn - “he who sails to a place”; that is, he who sails from one place to another along the coast, or who does not venture out far to sea; and thus the phrase would denote a secondary class of sea-captains or officers - those less venturesome, or experienced, or bold than others. There can be little doubt that this is the correct reading (compare Wetatein, in loco); and hence the class of seamen here referred to is “coasters.” Such seamen would naturally be employed where there was a great and luxurious maritime city, and would have a deep interest in its fall.
And sailors - Common seamen.
And as many as trade by sea - In any kind of craft, whether employed in a near or a remote trade.
Stood afar off - notes on Rev 18:10.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain is come to naught--Greek, "is desolated."
is come to naught--Greek, "is desolated."
shipmaster--Greek, "steersman," or "pilot."
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all the company in ships--A, C, Vulgate, and Syriac read, "Every one who saileth to a place" (B has ". . . to the place"), every voyager. Vessels were freighted with pilgrims to various shrines, so that in one month (A.D. 1300) two hundred thousand pilgrims were counted in Rome [D'AAUBIGNE, Histoire de la Reformation]: a source of gain, not only to the Papal see, but to shipmasters, merchants, pilots, &c. These latter, however, are not restricted to those literally "shipmasters," &c., but mainly refer, in the mystical sense, to all who share in the spiritual traffic of apostate Christendom.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 17. Enumeration of the various marine mourners.
17. Enumeration of the various marine mourners.
Shipmaster—The helmsman who steered, and was, generally, also the ship captain.
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Company in ships—Literal Greek, every one sailing to a place; rendered by Alford, “Who saileth any whither.” Stuart renders the phrase, “Every coaster,” understanding those who do not put out to broad sea, but ply from place to place on the coast. They gathered, perhaps, the commodities to be shipped in larger craft to the metropolitan market.
Trade by sea— Literal Greek, whoever work the sea; as if taking care, comprehensively, that all should be included.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. is come to nought] Lit., is made desolate.
17. is come to nought] Lit., is made desolate.
all the company in ships] Read with R. V., and everyone that saileth any whither. The words will probably stand for the merchants travelling in ships with their own goods, which they intend to sell on arriving at their destination—Lat. vectores.
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sailors] Cf. Eze_27:29 sqq.
trade by sea] Lit., work the sea. The sense is more general than the A. V.: it will include all three classes, shipmasters, sailing merchants, and sailors.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain THE LAMENT OF THE SHIPMASTERS (Rev_18:17-19).—On the whole passage…
THE LAMENT OF THE SHIPMASTERS (Rev_18:17-19).—On the whole passage read Eze_27:32, &c.
(17, 18) And every shipmaster. . . .—Or, better, And every shipmaster, and every one who sails for a place, and sailors, and all who work the sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, Who is like the great city? With this expression compare the similar one applied to the beast (Rev_13:4). It is the outcry of those who call to mind, with pain, a glory that was great, but now is gone. It is not to be taken as meaning “what city has suffered as she has?” but rather is it the recollection of her former splendour—“how great she was.” This lingering of the mind over delights now vanished is one subtle element of misery. So the hapless Francesca thought—
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“There is no greater woe,
Than to remember days of happiness
Amid affliction.” Inf. v. 121-3.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For in one hour so great riches is come…
For in one hour so great riches is come to nought; because (oti) in one hour was made desolate that so great wealth. This is given as the reason of the "Woe, woe!" of ver. 16, and is to be connected with the preceding clauses. (On "one hour," see ver. 10, where the same reason is given as in this verse) And every shipmaster; pilot; found only here and in Act_27:11. And all the company in ships; and every one who saileth to a place. Such is probably the correct text, though there are several small variations. The Authorized Version has little support. The Revised Version renders, And every one that saileth anywhither. And sailors, and as many as trade by sea; as many as work the sea; i.e. gain their living by means of the sea. Thus are enumerated all who are connected with the sea in any capacity. (cf. Eze_27:27) Stood afar off. Like the kings (ver. 10) and the merchants (ver. 15), and doubtless for the same reason; viz. to avoid being overwhelmed in the destruction of the city.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 18:17-19 all the captains: Seafarers sing the third lament…
18:17-19 all the captains: Seafarers sing the third lament (see study note on 18:9-19). Their mourning focuses on the breakdown of communication and transportation. During the reign of Julius Caesar, the Mediterranean was cleared of pirates and trade blossomed under the region’s Roman law enforcement. The swift loss of Roman authority would upset the system of trade.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.