2 and he did cry in might -- a great voice, saying, `Fall, fall did Babylon the great, and she became a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird,
And another messenger did follow, saying, `Fall, fall, did Babylon, the great city, because of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom she hath given to all nations to drink.'
And Babylon hath been for heaps, A habitation of dragons, An astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
Therefore dwell do Ziim with Iim, Yea, dwelt in her have daughters of the ostrich, And it is not inhabited any more for ever, Nor dwelt in unto all generations. As overthrown by God with Sodom, And with Gomorrah, and with its neighbours, An affirmation of Jehovah, none doth dwell there, Nor sojourn in her doth a son of man.
And have made it for a possession of a bittern, And ponds of waters, And daubed it with the mire of destruction, The affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts!
And one strong messenger did take up a stone as a great millstone, and did cast `it' to the sea, saying, `Thus with violence shall Babylon be cast, the great city, and may not be found any more at all;
from afar having stood because of the fear of her torment, saying, Wo, wo, the great city! Babylon, the strong city! because in one hour did come thy judgment.
and upon her forehead was a name written: `Secret, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whores, and the Abominations of the earth.'
And it came -- the great city -- into three parts, and the cities of the nations did fall, and Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the wrath of His anger,
and another messenger did come forth out of the sanctuary crying in a great voice to him who is sitting upon the cloud, `Send forth thy sickle and reap, because come to thee hath the hour of reaping, because ripe hath been the harvest of the earth;'
`And these ye do abominate of the fowl; they are not eaten, an abomination they `are': the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, and the vulture, and the kite after its kind, every raven after its kind, and the owl, and the night-hawk, and the cuckoo, and the hawk after its kind, and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, and the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the stork, the heron after its kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.
and his feet like to fine brass, as in a furnace having been fired, and his voice as a sound of many waters,
and he having gone forth upon the land, there met him a certain man, out of the city, who had demons for a long time, and with a garment was not clothed, and in a house was not abiding, but in the tombs, and having seen Jesus, and having cried out, he fell before him, and with a loud voice, said, `What -- to me and to thee, Jesus, Son of God Most High? I beseech thee, mayest thou not afflict me!'
who had his dwelling in the tombs, and not even with chains was any one able to bind him, because that he many times with fetters and chains had been bound, and pulled in pieces by him had been the chains, and the fetters broken in pieces, and none was able to tame him, and always, night and day, in the mountains, and in the tombs he was, crying and cutting himself with stones.
And crouched in her midst have droves, Every beast of the nation, Both pelican and hedge-hog in her knobs lodge, A voice doth sing at the window, `Destruction `is' at the threshold, For the cedar-work is exposed.'
And Jehovah from Zion doth roar, And from Jerusalem giveth forth His voice, And shaken have the heavens and earth, And Jehovah `is' a refuge to his people, And a stronghold to sons of Israel.
and Jeremiah writeth all the evil that cometh unto Babylon on one book -- all these words that are written concerning Babylon. And Jeremiah saith unto Seraiah, `When thou dost enter Babylon, then thou hast seen, and hast read all these words, and hast said: Jehovah, Thou, Thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that there is none dwelling in it, from man even unto cattle, for it is a desolation age-during. And it hath come to pass, when thou dost finish reading this book, thou dost bind to it a stone, and hast cast it into the midst of Phrat, and said, Thus sink doth Babylon, and it doth not arise, because of the evil that I am bringing in against it, and they have been weary.' Hitherto `are' words of Jeremiah.
And thou, thou dost prophesy unto them all these words, and hast said unto them: Jehovah from the high place doth roar, And from His holy habitation giveth forth His voice, He surely roareth for His habitation, A shout as of treaders down, God answereth all the inhabitants of the land,
And possess her do pelican and hedge-hog, And owl and raven dwell in her, And He hath stretched out over her A line of vacancy, and stones of emptiness. `To' the kingdom her freemen they call, But there are none there, And all her princes are at an end. And gone up her palaces have thorns, Nettle and bramble `are' in her fortresses, And it hath been a habitation of dragons, A court for daughters of an ostrich. And met have Ziim with Aiim, And the goat for its companion calleth, Only there rested hath the night-owl, And hath found for herself a place of rest. There made her nest hath the bittern, Yea, she layeth, and hath hatched, And hath gathered under her shadow, Only there gathered have been vultures, Each with its companion.
And he crieth -- a lion, `On a watch-tower my lord, I am standing continually by day, And on my ward I am stationed whole nights. And lo, this, the chariot of a man is coming, A couple of horsemen.' And he answereth and saith: `Fallen, fallen hath Babylon, And all the graven images of her gods He hath broken to the earth.
And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, The glory, the excellency of the Chaldeans, Hath been as overthrown by God, With Sodom and with Gomorrah. She doth not sit for ever, Nor continueth unto many generations, Nor doth Arab pitch tent there, And shepherds lie not down there. And Ziim have lain down there, And full have been their houses of howlings, And dwelt there have daughters of an ostrich, And goats do skip there. And Aiim have responded in his forsaken habitations, And dragons in palaces of delight, And near to come `is' her time, And her days are not drawn out!
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Revelation 18
Commentary on Revelation 18 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 18
We have here,
Rev 18:1-8
The downfall and destruction of Babylon form an event so fully determined in the counsels of God, and of such consequence to his interests and glory, that the visions and predictions concerning it are repeated.
Rev 18:9-24
Here we have,