Sit thou silent
Here the speech is directed again to Babylon, which used to be a
place of noise and hurry, as well as famous and much talked of
all the world over; but now there should be a deep silence in it,
no voice to be heard, the inhabitants being gone, and no
discourse concerning it; no more talked of and celebrated for its
magnificence and authority, trade and riches, but buried in
oblivion. It is represented as sitting in silence, either as a
mourner, or as one that is free among the dead, remembered no
more: and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the
Chaldeans;
meaning either captivity or imprisonment, prison houses being
dark; or into the state of the dead, which is a state of
darkness: for thou shall no more be called the lady of
kingdoms;
the mistress or governess of them, as she had been, having
subdued many kingdoms and nations, and added them to her
monarchy, which now would be at an end. Thus mystical Babylon, or
Rome, has reigned over the kings of the earth, and has been
mistress over many nations; but the time is coming when she will
sit in silence, and no voice will be heard in her; and when the
kingdom of the beast will be full of darkness, ( Revelation
17:15 Revelation
17:18 ) ( Revelation
18:22 Revelation
18:23 ) ( 16:10 ) .