Revelation 18:23

23 and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and ¹the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for ²your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived ³by your sorcery.

Revelation 18:23 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 18:23

And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in
thee
Either for common use, or at feasts, or at marriages, which being kept at night, required candies, lamps, or torches; this shows that Babylon, or Rome, shall be deprived of everything, even of the least thing that is comfortable in life; see ( Jeremiah 25:10 ) this will be a just punishment upon her for her abuse of this blessing of life; so where wax candles in great numbers have been burning in the daytime, there will not be so much as a single candle to give light in the night; and where candles have been lighted up for the dead, there will not be one for the use of the living:

and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no
more at all in thee:
there will be no marrying, nor giving in marriage; no procreation of children, or propagation of posterity, in this place; which denotes the utter extirpation of the inhabitants of it; the phrases are taken from ( Jeremiah 7:34 ) ( 16:19 ) ( Jeremiah 25:10 Jeremiah 25:11 ) and this will be in righteous retaliation for the prohibition of marriage; which God has instituted, and is honourable, ( 1 Timothy 4:2 ) the reasons of Babylon's destruction follow:

for thy merchants were the great men of the earth:
in allusion to the merchants of Tyre, said to be princes, ( Isaiah 23:8 ) for by trading and dealing in the wares and merchandise of Rome, persons of mean extract, and of very low circumstances of life, have grown exceeding rich, and have equalled the princes of the earth; as for instance, Cardinal Wolsey here in England, a butcher's son at Ipswich; and on the other hand, the princes and great men of the earth have become Rome's merchants, and have thought it an high honour to get a cardinal's hat, as the Cardinals Albertus duke of Austria, Bourbon, Pool, and others, mentioned by Brightman:

for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived;
meaning her false doctrines, traditions, idolatry, superstition, and will worship, with which, as another Jezebel, she has bewitched, allured, and deceived the nations of the empire, and the kings thereof, ( Revelation 18:3 ) .

Revelation 18:23 In-Context

21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more;

22 and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more,

23 and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.

24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth."

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 7:34; Jeremiah 16:9; Jeremiah 33:11
• 2. Isaiah 23:8
• 3. Nahum 3:4