Revelation 18:23

23 The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.

Revelation 18:23 in Other Translations

23 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 nations deceived.

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.

23 The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The happy voices of brides and grooms will never be heard in you again. For your merchants were the greatest in the world, and you deceived the nations with your sorceries.

23 The light from lamps, never again; never again laughter of bride and groom. Her traders robbed the whole earth blind, and by black-magic arts deceived the nations.

23 the light of a lamp will never shine in you again; and the voice of a groom and bride will never be heard in you again. [All this will happen] because your merchants were the nobility of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by 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 picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.

22 The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No worker of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.

23 The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.

24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 7:34; Jeremiah 16:9; Jeremiah 25:10
• 2. ver 3; Isaiah 23:8
• 3. Nahum 3:4