Revelation 18:11
New International Version
“The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore—

New Living Translation
The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods.

English Standard Version
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore,

Berean Standard Bible
And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo—

Berean Literal Bible
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, because no one buys their cargo any longer--

King James Bible
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

New King James Version
“And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore:

New American Standard Bible
“And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more—

NASB 1995
“And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more—

NASB 1977
“And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more;

Legacy Standard Bible
“And the merchants of the earth cry and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore—

Amplified Bible
“And merchants of the earth will weep and grieve over her, because no one buys their cargo (goods, merchandise) anymore—

Christian Standard Bible
The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any longer—

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The merchants of the earth will also weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their merchandise any longer—

American Standard Version
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the merchants of The Earth will weep and grieve over her, and there is no one buying their cargo again:

Contemporary English Version
Every merchant on earth will mourn, because there is no one to buy their goods.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the merchants of the earth shall weep, and mourn over her: for no man shall buy their merchandise any more.

English Revised Version
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"The merchants of the earth cry and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore.

Good News Translation
The merchants of the earth also cry and mourn for her, because no one buys their goods any longer;

International Standard Version
The world's businesses cry and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore—

Literal Standard Version
And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore;

Majority Standard Bible
And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo—

New American Bible
The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her, because there will be no more markets for their cargo:

NET Bible
Then the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her because no one buys their cargo any longer--

New Revised Standard Version
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore,

New Heart English Bible
The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more;

Webster's Bible Translation
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

Weymouth New Testament
And the merchants of the earth weep aloud and lament over her, because now there is no sale for their cargoes--

World English Bible
The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more:

Young's Literal Translation
'And the merchants of the earth shall weep and sorrow over her, because their lading no one doth buy any more;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Lament over Babylon
10In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.” 11And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo— 12cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;…

Cross References
Isaiah 13:19
And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.

Isaiah 47:15
This is what they are to you--those with whom you have labored and traded from youth--each one strays in his own direction; not one of them can save you.

Ezekiel 27:9
The elders of Gebal were aboard as shipwrights, repairing your leaks. All the ships of the sea and their sailors came alongside to barter for your merchandise.

Ezekiel 27:27
Your wealth, wares, and merchandise, your sailors, captains, and shipwrights, your merchants and all the warriors within you, with all the other people on board, will sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your downfall.

Revelation 18:3
All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury."

Revelation 18:15
The merchants who sold these things and grew their wealth from her will stand at a distance, in fear of her torment. They will weep and mourn,


Treasury of Scripture

And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buys their merchandise any more:

the merchants.

Revelation 18:3,9,15,20,23
For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies…

Revelation 13:16,17
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: …

Isaiah 23:1-15
The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them…

buyeth.

Proverbs 3:14
For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.

Matthew 22:5
But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:

John 2:16
And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.

Jump to Previous
Aloud Buy Buyeth Buys Cargo Cargoes Crying Desire Earth Goods Grieve Lament Merchandise Merchants Mourn Sale Sorrow Traders Weep Weeping
Jump to Next
Aloud Buy Buyeth Buys Cargo Cargoes Crying Desire Earth Goods Grieve Lament Merchandise Merchants Mourn Sale Sorrow Traders Weep Weeping
Revelation 18
1. Babylon is fallen.
4. People commanded to depart out of her.
9. The kings of the earth, with the merchants and mariners, lament over her.
20. The saints rejoice for the judgments of God upon her.














(11-13) And the merchants of the earth . . .--Better, The merchants of the earth weep and mourn (not "shall weep;" the vividness of the description is intensified by the use of the present tense) over her; because their cargo no one buyeth any longer--the cargo of gold, &c. The list of the cargoes and merchandise is not without arrangement. The various goods are placed in groups. The treasures come first--gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls. The soft goods used for raiment are placed next--fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet; in the description of Dives, clothed in purple and fine linen (Byssus, the same word as here), we have a suggestive resemblance. Materials used in giving splendour to the furnishing of houses come next. Thyine wood, and every article (vessel, as in the English version, is hardly wide enough in meaning) of ivory, costly wood, brass, iron, and marble. The thyine wood was derived probably from a kind of citron-tree of African growth; the wood was sweet-scented, and was a favourite wood for doors, panels, and ceilings; its rich brown hue was often relieved by inlaid ivory. To articles used in furniture aromatics succeed. Cinnamon, amomum (this is omitted in the English version, but authority is in favour of its insertion), odours, ointments, and frankincense. Cinnamon, on its use, comp. Exodus 30:2-3; it was one of the perfumes employed to enhance the delight of the voluptuary (Proverbs 7:17). It is doubtful whether it is the same as our modern cinnamon. Amomum, a kind of sweet-scented shrub, yielding an ointment much used for the hair. Odours, employed in incense. Next come articles of food--wine, oil, fine meal, wheat, cattle, and sheep. Then come the equipages--horses and chariots. The chariot (rheda) was a vehicle much used in Rome by the wealthy classes. Lastly, the traffic in human beings closes the list. Slaves (literally, bodies, and souls of men. There is perhaps an allusion specially to those slaves who were attached to the chariots or litters used by the rich. The traffic in slaves ("persons of men") is mentioned as part of the commerce of Tyre (Ezekiel 27:13). The number of slaves in Rome was enormous. "Souls of men." The climax of wicked worldliness is reached in this last; it gives the finishing touch to the picture of society wholly engrossed in pleasure and indolence and selfishness, which lays every market under tribute to add to its luxuriousness, and sacrifices not only the happiness, but the lives and liberties of their fellow-creatures, to their own enjoyment. It has been said that the general description here does not suit Rome, as Rome never was, and never could be, a commercial centre; but the picture is designed to show the corrupt luxury and voluptuousness of society in great Babylon, not necessarily the accumulated merchandize of a great commercial city. The various wares are "for her use and consumption," not for her to sell. All the avenues from every distant spot of the earth found their focus in Rome; her existence, her political supremacy, and her luxuriousness of living, created and sustained all the commercial activity here described; with her fall, the hope of their gains passed from the merchants of the earth. Compare the language of Gibbon:--"The most remote countries of the ancient world were ransacked to supply the pomp and delicacy of Rome. The forests of Scythia afforded some valuable furs; amber was brought from the shores of the Baltic and the Danube; and the barbarians were astonished at the price which they received for so useless a commodity. There was a considerable demand for Babylonian carpets and other manufactures of the East; but the most important and unpopular branch of foreign trade was carried on with Arabia and India. Every year, about the time of the summer solstice, a fleet of an hundred and twenty vessels sailed from Myos-hormos, a port of Egypt on the Red Sea. The coast of Malabar or the island of Ceylon was the usual term of their navigation, and it was in those markets that the merchants from the more remote countries of Asia expected their arrival. The return of the fleet was fixed to the months of December or January; and as soon as their rich cargo had been transported on the backs of camels, from the Red Sea to the Nile, and had descended that river as far as Alexandria, it was poured without delay into the capital of the Empire. The objects of Oriental traffic were splendid and trifling: silk, a pound of which was esteemed in value not inferior to a pound of gold; precious stones also, among which the pearl claimed the first rank after the diamond, and a variety of aromatics that were consumed in religious worship and the pomp of funerals. The labour and risk of the voyage was rewarded with almost incredible profits; but the profits were made upon Roman subjects, and a few individuals were enriched at the expense of the public" (Gibbon's Decline and Fall, vol. i., Rev. ii.).

Verse 11. - And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her. Weep and mourn; the historical present (see on ver. 9). The kings have been mentioned; the merchants and next the seamen are referred to, showing the wide distribution of "Babylon," and forbidding the application to a single state or city. The description which follows is analogous to that in Ezekiel 27; Isaiah 23. For no man buyeth their merchandise any more; their cargo. We are naturally reminded of the action of the second beast in forbidding to buy and sell (Revelation 13:17). Alford here recognizes the difficulty in applying the prophecy to Rome, either pagan or papal, and adds, "I leave this difficulty unsolved .... The details of this mercantile lamentation far more nearly suit London than Rome." (See the interpretation given of the harlot and Babylon on Revelation 17:1.)

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
And
Καὶ (Kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

the
οἱ (hoi)
Article - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

merchants
ἔμποροι (emporoi)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 1713: A merchant, trader; one on a journey. From en and the base of poreuomai; a tradesman.

of the
τῆς (tēs)
Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

earth
γῆς (gēs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1093: Contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe.

will weep
κλαίουσιν (klaiousin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 2799: To weep, weep for, mourn, lament. Of uncertain affinity; to sob, i.e. Wail aloud.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

mourn
πενθοῦσιν (penthousin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 3996: To mourn, lament, feel guilt. From penthos; to grieve.

over
ἐπ’ (ep’)
Preposition
Strong's 1909: On, to, against, on the basis of, at.

her,
αὐτήν (autēn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Feminine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

because [there is]
ὅτι (hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

no one
οὐδεὶς (oudeis)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3762: No one, none, nothing.

left
οὐκέτι (ouketi)
Adverb
Strong's 3765: No longer, no more. Also ouk eti from ou and eti; not yet, no longer.

to buy
ἀγοράζει (agorazei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 59: To buy. From agora; properly, to go to market, i.e. to purchase; specially, to redeem.

their
αὐτῶν (autōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

cargo—
γόμον (gomon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1117: A cargo, freight. From gemo; a load, i.e. a cargo, or wares.


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NT Prophecy: Revelation 18:11 The merchants of the earth weep (Rev. Re Apocalypse)
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